As a lawyer, your ability to communicate with the written word is the key to your success. Join a practical skills-based session, led by a renowned expert in legal writing. In this interactive workshop, you will explore a range of best practice writing principles (and some "worst practice" ones as well!) to help ensure your documents — memoranda, reports, submissions, correspondence, emails, advices are models of clarity, persuasion and conciseness.
Friday, 21 March 2025
Description
Attend and earn 2 CPD units in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Professional Skills
9.00am to 11.00am The Lawyer as a Professional Communicator: Tips on Clear, Concise, Persuasive and Reader- Focused Writing
An American legal scholar once unkindly observed that there are only two things wrong with most legal writing: one is its style; the other is its content.
Perhaps these concerns were overblown, or are less relevant these days. But it does reinforce the key point that writing — indeed, strong writing — is a fundamental skill required of all lawyers. And it's always good to get a bit of a refresher.
In this interactive workshop, you will explore a range of best practice writing principles (and some "worst practice" ones as well!) to help ensure your documents — memoranda, reports, submissions, correspondence, emails, advices, whatever — are models of clarity, persuasion and conciseness. In the session you will explore:
- The classical legal writing style: what it looks like, and why it doesn't always work
- Plain English writing for lawyers: what it is, and what it isn't
- The professional legal writing voice: myths and realities
- An international standard on plain language — including a soon-to-be-released standard on legal writing
- Email writing: the special challenges
- Clarity in advice writing: an ethical requirement
- Words, sentences and paragraphs: tips and techniques, including writing for persuasion
- Grammar and punctuation: problem areas for lawyers
Presented by Bob Milstein, Principal, Milstein and Associates; Principal, Words and Beyond
Chair
Helen Lewin, Director, Privacy Risk Management
Presenters
Helen Lewin, Founder & Director, Privacy Risk ManagementHelen is a lawyer and an accomplished privacy expert. She has a significant depth of experience in providing strategic advice and driving significant privacy projects in both corporate and government sectors. With a background in commercial law, Helen has a diverse set of skills that include leadership in setting vision, providing strategic direction, developing policy, building capability and expertise and managing relationships within complex stakeholder environments. Helen is skilled at providing clear advice to senior executives and reporting to Board and Audit committees on a range of privacy, policy and corporate compliance issues focused on risk management and reputation and aligned to commercial objectives. Most recently Helen was the acting Deputy Privacy Commissioner for Victoria and prior to that was Telstra’s Chief Privacy Officer and Head of Corporate Compliance. Helen has well developed networks across professional, legal and government services and consults widely in both sectors keeping abreast of developments in privacy law both in Australia and internationally.
Bob Milstein, Principal, Milstein & Associates
Bob is a practicing health lawyer, with a background in medical negligence litigation. He is also involved in a business that provides training on clear writing/plain English writing. With a background in professional medical negligence litigation, Bob has long been aware that clear communication — or its absence — often lies at the heart of legal disputes. This awareness triggered his original interest in plain legal communication. His involvement in open disclosure goes back many years, to when he was the primary author of the legal review that underpinned and informed the creation of the original National Open Disclosure Standard (as it was then known).
