Using Quotations Effectively in Legal Writing

Beginning legal writers often lack confidence in their own words and instead rely on others to express what the novice cannot.  This reliance on quotations results in bulky and clumsy legal writing.  Unfortunately, experienced legal writers overuse quotations.

Readers (judges, other attorneys, your clients) want to know what YOU know and what YOU think, not that you read something and picked the best language without putting it into your own words.  The most effective legal writers use quotations sparingly and only when the quoted language itself is critical.  Summarize and paraphrase whenever possible.  An article from earlier this year in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin lays out a few rules for quoting effectively as well as some caveats.  In “Notes on Quotes: When and How to Borrow Language,” Rebekah Hanley discusses appropriate and effective use of quotations and an alternative to excessive quotations.