The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts

Easy to followVery useful and helpfulHighly recommend

This book is a must. Even though it has the hideous word "tips" in the title, the book is organized and clear. Every time you turn the page you'll find another gem that will improve your writing. Some tips are global and overarching. For example, Garner at once exposes and destroys unconscious assumptions of the reader. Other tips are on a practical level like how to simplify the heading-subheading scheme so the reader understands your progression of arguments. And still other tips sound like a life coach teaching self discipline methods like clarifying what you need to know before you write. Worth the price. Keep on the shelf for long time to come.

Very informative

Admission -- I own and have read the prior edition. While I can't go line by line over the differences, this book is substantially thicker (yes, I know that thickness is a profound yardstick to compare the two editions), which indicates that a great deal of work has gone into this book.I disagree with Garner on some issues (such as defining parties in briefs), I really love the overall guidance. Keep in mind, though, that this is guidance. If you routinely appear in certain courts, you would be well served to go to a CLE at which one or more of the court's judges is speaking and try to determine his or her preferences. For instance, while my local federal appeals court has highly qualified and hard-working law clerks, the court of appeals for the state has no law clerks, which shifts certain burdens to the lawyers (e.g., if your adversary misstates the holding of an opinion, you can't assume that the court will catch it). Also, you should know whether to slavishly follow the local rules (some judges either ignore them or have their own orders which impose other requirements). Garner should have included a section dealing with these practical points.While this book is really good for younger attorneys, even old dogs like me can learn new tricks.

As a practitioner, this was a must for me. Great book. If your position requires heavy amounts of writing and editing (and you DESIRE to improve your writing while impressing your audience in the legal community), bite the bullet and get this resource. PS - the author advises against cliches and idioms.