Editor’s Note
This is Wayne Schiess’ final column for Austin Lawyer. His first “Opening Statement” column appeared in the July/August 2007 issue. Since then, he has consistently contributed to our magazine. His dedication to the improvement of legal writing has been invaluable to Austin Lawyer and its readers. From everyone at the Austin Bar, we sincerely thank you, Wayne, for your commitment!
In summer 2023, I interviewed 23 attorneys to gather input for improving my teaching of legal writing. This project built on a similar project I carried out in 2022, as described in this column last year.1 This column summarizes what I did and what I learned.
My Questions
I sent these questions to the attorneys in advance:
• What kind of work writing projects do you ask new lawyers to do?
• What do you think of new lawyers’ writing abilities?
• What are your biggest pet peeves or the most common mistakes you see?
• What do you think of new lawyers’ ability to manage writing projects?
• What are some changes or additions to law school legal-writing instruction you would recommend?