In Legal Writing, Dross Disappears and Points Emerge as Groupings Improve

Legal writing is all about groupings -- sets, subsets and categories. These are the building blocks of logic, writes Sills Cummis & Gross' Kenneth F. Oettle, and can increase the efficiency with which information is delivered and force a writer to confirm that the message is on point. Regrettably, the kind of precise grouping that typically takes place late in the editing process is sometimes skipped in the rush to get product out the door, Oettle says. He offers some examples and guidance to help avoid this pitfall.