PRACTICE AREA

Writing for In-House Lawyers

This workshop explores simple, proven techniques for elevating in-house legal writing. Whether writing for colleagues, the public, courts, or somewhere in between: Attorneys and professionals will hone their style, tighten their message, and get confident with their writing. 

Type

Workshop

Audience

In-house counsel

Versions

90 minutes

Format

In-person or live

Topics

Building Sentences • Word Choice • Emails and Other Functional Documents

SEE IT IN ACTION

Take a sneak peak at the Writing for In-House Lawyers workshop

Explore sample techniques and skills featured in this workshop.

SMART DEFINITIONS

Define Terms with Care

01
Don’t define terms you only use once or twice. 
02
Define terms only one way and one time
03
Go simple: Bank means “Chase Bank, Corp.”  Don’t use “shall mean.”
04
Check for client-preferred shorthands. 
05
Avoid “ee” ending nouns like lessee, grantee, licensee. (They’re confusing.)
06
Avoid nested definitions: “‘Engagement’ means the day an application for remittal (‘The Application’) is filed.”
07
Never embed rights and obligations.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Who could possibly want to read this?

1.6 Conflicts of Interest. It is agreed that any direct or indirect interest in, connection with, or benefit from any outside activities, particularly commercial activities, which interest might in any way adversely affect Company or any of its affiliates, involves a possible conflict of interest. In keeping with Employee’s fiduciary duties to Company, Employee agrees that Employee shall not knowingly become involved in a conflict of interest with Company or any of its affiliates, or upon discovery thereof, allow such a conflict to continue. Moreover, Employee agrees that Employee shall disclose to Company’s General Counsel any facts which might involve such a conflict of interest that has not been approved by Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”). Company and Employee recognize that it is impossible to provide an exhaustive list of actions or interests which constitute a “conflict of interest.” Moreover, Company and Employee recognize there are many borderline situations. In some instances, full disclosure of facts by Employee to Company’s General Counsel may be all that is necessary to enable Company or its affiliates to protect its interests. In others, if no improper motivation appears to exist and the interests of Company or its affiliates have not suffered, prompt elimination of the outside interest will suffice. In still others, it may be necessary for Company to terminate the employment relationship. Employee agrees that Company’s determination as to whether a conflict of interest exists shall be conclusive. Company reserves the right to take such action as, in its judgment, will end the conflict.

WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS

Identify the parties’ questions

01
What is a conflict of interest?
02
What things must employees do to comply with the conflict policy?
03
What things may the employer do or not do?

REWRITE

Rewrite using categories

1.6.1. Definition. A conflict of interest is any connection with any outside activities that may adversely affect Company.
1.6.2. Company’s right to identify conflicts. Company reserves the sole right to determine whether a conflict exists.
1.6.3. Employee’s duty to avoid conflicts. Under Employee’s fiduciary duties to Company, Employee shall not knowingly engage in a conflict of interest with Company.
1.6.4. Employee’s duty to report and remove conflicts. If Employee discovers a conflict, he shall remove the conflict. As part of that duty, Employee shall disclose to Company’s General Counsel any facts that might involve a conflict of interest that the Company’s Board of Directors has not yet approved.
1.6.5. Employee’s right to remove conflict without reporting conflict to Company. If Company has suffered no harm, Employee may eliminate the outside interest without reporting the conflict to Company.
1.6.6. Company’s right to eliminate conflicts and to invoke remedies. Company reserves the right to take such actions that, in its judgment, will end the conflict, including, but not limited to, terminating the employment relationship.
1.6.7. Company may determine the proper remedy for a conflict that meets the definition in this Section. 

Ready to level up your team’s legal writing?

WORKSHOP TOPICS

See what’s covered in Writing for In-House Lawyers

This workshop empowers in-house practitioners to write confidently in any setting. We’ll start by building foundational writing skills for every situation. And then we will explore simple techniques for improving drafting and other core in-house skills. 
  Workshop topics can change due to regular updates and improvements

Workshop Agenda

   Introduction

How to Thrive as a Writer
Developing Writing and Drafting Skills

  The Techniques

Building Strong Sentences
Smart Word Choice
Organizing Points in Functional Documents
Emails and Other Short-Form Writing

   Review & Wrap-Up

Workshop Recap
Introduction to the Companion Course

COMPANION COURSE

Level up your team’s legal writing

This workshop comes with a companion course that covers key writing techniques that will help your team cement their skills before and after the workshop.

HOW IT WORKS

Writing workshops made easy

Write.law makes it easy to plan your next workshop or workshop series. From choosing your topics to onboarding your team—we’re here to help every step of the way.
STEP 1

Choose your workshop

Pick a workshop (or workshops) from our online menu. Or contact our team to discuss the best workshops for your team.
STEP 2

Seamless scheduling

Our automated scheduling tool makes it easy and convenient to find dates and times that work for you and your team.
STEP 3

Onboarding

After you schedule your workshop, the Write.law team will reach out with detailed information about next steps and how to onboard your team.
STEP 4

Workshop day!

We host virtual workshops on Zoom. If you chose an in-person workshop, our trainer will travel to your preferred office or other location.
STEP 5

Post-workshop practice

Learning doesn’t end after workshop day! Your team can keep practicing their skills with online, self-paced lessons related to your workshop topic.
STEP 6

Workshop debrief

After your workshop, the Write.law team will share a debrief covering key stats and info about how everything went with your program.

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

Writing workshops  that deliver real results

Write.law workshops are led by legal writing expert and Write.law co-founder, Joe Regalia. No more boring talking heads. Your team will write, interact, and explore their new skills together. Plus each workshop comes with its on self-paced companion course.
Presentation
Workbook
Companion Course
Virtual or In-Person
Onboarding
WORKBOOK

Follow along and revisit later

Companion workbooks feature pre-workshop homework, as well as a breakdown of all the writing techniques covered in the workshop. Participants can download and save workbooks to revisit later. 
PRESENTATION

Engaging and interactive presentations

Write.law workshops feature engaging and interactive presentations from Write.law co-founder and trainer, Joe Regalia. Each presentation covers concrete techniques for improving your writing, real-world examples from top advocates, and practice to cement what you’ve learned. 
COMPANION COURSE

Companion courses for additional practice

Write.law Workshops comes with self-paced companion courses hosted on Write.law’s online training platform. Participants can learn and practice new writing skills before and after workshop day.
VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON TRAINING

Virtual or in-person training

Virtual and in-person workshops both have a lot to offer. Go virtual to let your team learn from anywhere—all from the convenience of their office or home. In-person workshops are great for team building or all-day programs.
ONBOARDING

Onboarding your team is a breeze

We make it easy to schedule and show up for workshop day. Use our automated workshop scheduler to book your dates in under five minutes. The Write.law team will send onboarding instructions, workbooks, and everything you need before workshop day.

PRO SERVICES

Add coaching or a writing review

Get more from your writing workshop by adding virtual coaching or an in-depth writing review.

Virtual Coaching

1-1 coaching • 30 minute sessions
Add one-on-one coaching to your workshop. It’s the fastest way to improve individual writing skills.
  • Pre-coaching survey
  • 1-1 sessions (30 minutes each)
  • Flexible packages

Writing Review

1 document • Up to 15 pages
Have Write.law co-founder and renowned writing expert, Joe Regalia, review up to ten pages of your writing.
  • Review by Write.law co-founder Joe Regalia 
  • Inline comments and feedback 
  • Writing report and recommendations

MEET YOUR TRAINER

Elite Training by 
World-Class Talent

About Joe Regalia

Joe is a law professor, trainer, and attorney with a passion for legal writing, persuasion science, and technology.
Joe is a law professor, trainer, and attorney with a passion for legal writing, persuasion science, and technology. He combines his experience as both practitioner and professor to create exciting new ways to teach legal skills. Before co-founding Write.law, Joe graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, clerked for the Ninth Circuit, and worked as an associate at top AmLaw 100 firms.
Joe heads up Write.law's legal skills training team. He is also a member of the faculty at the William S. Boyd School of Law—the number one ranked law school for legal writing skills and research. Joe regularly leads training for leading firms and organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, the Department of Justice, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. 

About Write.law

We are on a mission to make legal skills training effective, easy to use, and engaging.
The legal industry is undergoing a tectonic shift. Technology, new business models, and evolving client needs are reshaping what it means to practice law. And that means the skills attorneys need to thrive are changing, too. 
Write.law’s core goal is to help attorneys see real results in their legal writing and other practice skill. We spent years studying and compiling science-backed and effective legal writing techniques used by the world’s best lawyers. Then we built courses and workshops using the latest educational science so that lawyers can become better legal writers step-by-step.

GET STARTED TODAY

Level up your legal writing

Join today and start improving your legal writing in as little as five minutes a day.