Words Count: The Empirical Relationship Between Brief Writing and Summary Judgement Success

Authors

Shaun Spencer, University of Massachusetts School of Law - DartmouthFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

Summary judgment motions are critical tools for lawyers trying to resolve cases. This Article is the first to empirically examine whether lawyers are more likely to prevail when they file more readable summary judgment briefs. After controlling for multiple factors internal and extraneous to the briefs, we find that brief readability is significantly correlated to summary judgment success, but that it has a stronger relationship in federal than state courts.

Comments

Originally published in 2018 by Legal Writing: Journal of the Legal Writing Institute.

Recommended Citation

Shaun Spencer, Words Count: The Empirical Relationship Between Brief Writing and Summary Judgement Success, 22 LEGAL WRITING: J. LEGAL WRITING INST. 61 (2018).