Effective legal writing

How to pass your law school exams and the bar exams (with limited free offer of practical coaching for law students and bar examinees) Bar exams 2011 MCQ (all subjects; with time limit and automatic scoring; Javascript required) Reviewers (interactive, Javascript required): Cloze tests on the Family Code; Flashcards: Legal Ethics; Criminal Procedure; Evidence Free seminars: 1. “English Proficiency Course” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups; free interactive English grammar and vocabulary exercises based on Korean historical dramas - external link) 2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; test yourself with the interactive exercises) Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at mobile 0927-798-3138.

Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices:

• Introduction (what is good legal writing?)
• Free resources in grammar
• Classic advice on good writing
• Warren Buffett’s advice on good writing
• Avoid legalese
• Free resources from the Michigan Bar Journal
• Legal writing and oral advocacy
• Keep your text concise
• Use short sentences
• How to write clear, concise, and direct sentences
• Revising wordy sentences using the Paramedic Method
• Use the active voice, minimize the passive
• Use simple, clear sentence structures
• Asian Development Bank’s Clear Writing guidelines
• Use gender-free language
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Principles of Style 
• Avoid using and/or
• Avoid nominalization or hidden verbs 
• Avoid dummy subjects and unnecessary preambles 
• “Legal Writing in Plain English” by Bryan A. Garner
• Plain Language guidelines from government regulatory offices (US, Australia, New Zealand, British Columbia, Malaysia, Hong Kong)
• Using software — StyleWriter 4, Drivel Defence, MS Word — to improve your writing
• Typography and visual design for pleadings, motions, court and other legal documents (in relation to “Rule for the Efficient Use of Paper” A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC and “Proposed Rules on E-Filing” A.M. No. 10-3-7-SC)
• 20 Writing Mistakes Even Native Speakers Make (infographic)
• Million-dollar comma case; resources and infographics on commas
• Oxford comma (serial comma) cases, resources, and infographics
• Commonly misunderstood, misused, or confused words (resources and infographics)
• Grammar resources and infographics
• Punctuation resources and infographics

Previous seminars:

1. Plain English writing seminar for National Museum employees, June 27, 2019



Early birds







Seminar participants working on the interactive exercises for Plain English and basic grammar





2. “Legal Writing for Non-Lawyers” for FERN-C staff; FCC Building, J. Escriva Drive, Pasig City, August 2, 2016; organized by Christopher Cardino (Treasury and Budget Manager).



3. "Clear, concise English for effective legal writing" seminar for Baker & Mckenzie Global Services Manila editors and document analysts, July 1, 2015, Bonifacio Global City

4. Manila Law College seminar on "Clear, concise English for effective legal writing" April 11, 2015; attended by 20 bar candidates.

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This blog focuses on family law and legal procedures. For my articles on freedom of religion, separation of church and State, etc. please surf to:

Are church clerks, ACE teachers, drivers, janitors, etc. considered “employees” under the Labor Code of the Philippines? (Landmark 2012 US Supreme Court ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran vs. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its implications for Philippine churches)

Estrada vs. Escritor case: Did the Supreme Court legitimize live-in relationships in the name of freedom of religion?

Secular courts do not have jurisdiction over expulsion or excommunication of church members (Supreme Court decision in Taruc et al vs. Bishop de la Cruz et al, 2005)

Instances when secular courts can intervene in church disputes (Supreme Court ruling in Fonacier vs. Court of Appeals and Isabelo De los Reyes, Jr., 1955)

Due process must be observed in terminating church membership

Doctrine of Church Autonomy: secular courts and church disputes

Caution for pastors in solemnizing an “ecclesiastical marriage” or “marriage in the eyes of God and the church”

Life after life: medical criteria of “death,” its legal definition in the Philippines, related issues, and Biblical perspectives

Registering a local Baptist church with the SEC as a religious society or aggregate; what is a corporation sole?

Separation of church and State: Should Baptists be involved in politics, civil disobedience, the debate on reproductive health bill, etc?

Should Bible schools apply for recognition from the CHED? (2005 Texas Supreme Court ruling in Tyndale Theological Seminary vs. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and implications for Bible schools in the Philippines)