INTRODUCTION

Then

I started a law career about thirty years ago. Looking back, I always struggled with legal writing, even though I believed I was a good creative writer. After all, my essays were published in the school magazine. An ‘Aerial View’ sealed my fate - I can still remember it now with little specks turning into sheep as the plane descended on a small country town airfield. A legal career was suitable for someone who could write so well but couldn’t add up. Given the choice between describing the sheep and counting how many there were, the pen was mightier than the calculator.

But when it came to drafting legal documents and letters I floundered. Legal writing was a different world. Precedents saved me – someone else had done the writing and I only had to fill in the gaps. But when I was asked to draft a difficult clause and couldn’t find a precedent, it wasn’t the same as turning the specks into sheep. More like staring at a blank page and trying to turn a twenty-year old novice lawyer into Lord Denning.

There wasn’t much help. Plain English was barely a whisper. Drafting and writing skills were not taught at law school. Knowledge of the substantive law was how you were judged. Remember a few cases and put pen to paper (hopefully with the right cases for the correct reasons) and you were soon a lawyer. Practice wasn’t much different, except you didn’t have to remember so many cases.

Now

But now I view legal writing differently. Two events brought on the change. Teaching law to non-law students gave me the chance to critically reflect on the legal language. Then I started to write short stories. Teaching and writing were all about engaging your audience. It was a luxury to step outside legal practice, dabble in different interests, and then come back with a fresh approach.

I’m now funnier than I used to be as a young lawyer. I’m braver too. Standing up and talking to a classroom or audience is levelling. It takes away much of the lawyer’s pomposity. I’m also older but that’s not so bad because people will excuse me for being a bit dippy. Writing can make you who you want to be and where you want to go. So allow me to unravel how Dolly Cruickshank changed me, and hopefully, the writing culture of a law firm.