The following is an excerpt from the NJLAP's Lawyer Well-Being Newsletter.
Plenty of lawyers appear in crime fiction – some of the best ones written by both practicing and non-practicing attorneys. With Halloween approaching, finding lawyers appearing in horror fiction and lawyers writing horror were a little harder to find – but we did find a lawyer/horror writer in our area, and he tells his story below.
But first, the most surprising thing revealed by exhaustively searching Google, was how many lawyers credit the writing of Stephen King in helping them become better lawyers. Not because of Thinner, a novel that features a lawyer who faces supernatural retribution after accidentally killing a woman with his car. Neither is it because of The Dune, a short story involving a lawyer in King’s anthology Bazaar of Bad Dreams. In a world full of writing manuals, tutorials, and legal writing classes; King’s book, On Writing, has struck a chord in the legal community.
Charles P. Golbert, writing a review for the NAELA News and Journal said: “Although On Writing is intended for authors of fiction, it offers wisdom for attorneys struggling to write compelling motions and briefs.” He highlights practices that are especially useful to legal writing, including using plain language and avoiding the passive voice. He especially likes King’s admonition against adverbs. “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
Golbert adds, "King maintains that, in addition to telling a story, all writing should have a theme that appeals to a moral force. … Similarly, legal pleadings, in addition to advancing a theory of the case, should have a theme. Lawyers, in their trial advocacy, are adept at using both theory and theme to the best advantage. But for some reason, attorneys sometimes forget about theme, which is an invaluable advocacy tool, when they write. Just as a good novel has a story and a theme, a legal pleading — like a trial — should be a persuasive synthesis of theory and theme."
Below are More articles by lawyers praising On Writing for its usefulness.
https://www.naela.org/NewsJournalOnline/OnlineJournalArticles/OnlineMarch2019/BookRevGolbert.aspx?subid=1049
https://nysba.org/thoughts-on-legal-writing-from-the-greatest-of-them-all-stephen-king/
https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2011/10/stephen-king-on-writing/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stephen-king-taught-me-better-bankruptcy-attorney-larry-a-pittman-ii/
https://abovethelaw.com/2019/09/dont-be-a-nerd-sit-down-shut-up-and-write-something/
Read the full newsletter
here.
The New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program (NJLAP) is a confidential, free and independent program that assists New Jersey lawyers, judges, law students and law graduates with substance use and mental health issues affecting personal and professional well-being. NJLAP is funded by all members of the bar and with administrative support from the New Jersey State Bar Association. To contact NJLAP, call 800-246-5527 or visit njlap.org.