We at Casetext have encouraged lawyers to develop good writing habits even outside the litigation context. Why? Because lawyers who foster a daily writing habit can improve that skill before they need it. Good writing can also help build a firm’s business.
How does that work? Specifically, how can writing for lawyer-focused publications like those produced by state bars lead to more clients?
We put the question to Ben Wright, former attorney editor in the books division of the Wisconsin State Bar. Ben runs his own practice now and helps other lawyers with their writing. Here’s what he had to say:
It’s really all about building your reputation with other lawyers. This is maybe the most overlooked but powerful way to do that.
Many a practice advisor would tell you that building a firm through referrals is the fastest way to grow. Referrals allow you to borrow the trust built by other lawyers in their practices. The trouble, of course, is that those other lawyers must first know and trust you. Bar publications are a great way to get in front of local attorneys and establish that kind of trust.
When you write well and can explain what you do and it’s beamed out directly to all the relevant lawyers in your jurisdiction — especially in the case of a mandatory bar that sends out a free magazine each month — that’s a powerful way to get in front of everybody who might be a referral source.
Ben’s suggestion is a proactive one. He advises that you use writing opportunities like bar publications to do what mere lawyering can’t. Despite our common assumptions, there aren’t many lawyers watching our work. We need to make sure the good we do for clients gets real visibility in the legal community.
Many lawyers take the approach that their reputation simply is what it is, that as they practice and appear before judges and opposing counsel, that’s how their reputation is built.
However, Ben says, reputation can and should be managed. It’s easy to believe that the big name lawyers in our area have always been that way, that they were destined for fame and we should just get back to work. I’ve felt that imposter syndrome myself many times. But you can use writing opportunities available through state bars to map out your own fame.
If you want your name to be known more broadly and to get the benefit of that for your business practice, then writing is really the most powerful way to do that.
Quality writing satisfies all three of the know-like-trust prongs necessary for another lawyer to refer cases to you.
Check with your state bar’s publication office to ask how you can submit proposals for articles that communicate your particular focus. As Ben explained, bars are constantly on the hunt for good content. Their need for words never ends, and yet the quality doesn’t always deliver. If you take the time to write well and persuasively, publishing offices would be happy to feature your work.
And so, all the benefits that come from having a good reputation in your legal community can be supercharged by writing for bar publications. That’s really what it’s all about.
Once you get your first article published, we hope you’ll share it with us. We love to support our Casetexter friends and are happy to see good work rewarded.
To see the entire interview with Ben, check out the video below…
And take a look at the other articles in this series on better writing for lawyers. We’re happy to support the development of good writing habits and would love a chance to explain how you can incorporate Casetext’s AI-enabled research tools to enhance your skills.
Please take a moment to schedule a demo of Casetext’s research tools, and take advantage of our free trial. As you’ll see, we aim to help good lawyers like you improve their craft.
Rapidly draft common legal letters and emails.
How this skill works
Specify the recipient, topic, and tone of the correspondence you want.
CoCounsel will produce a draft.
Chat back and forth with CoCounsel to edit the draft.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.
How this skill works
Enter a question or issue, along with relevant facts such as jurisdiction, area of law, etc.
CoCounsel will retrieve relevant legal resources and provide an answer with explanation and supporting sources.
Behind the scenes, Conduct Research generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identify the on-point case law, statutes, and regulations, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), along with the supporting sources and applicable excerpts.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.
How this skill works
Enter a question or issue, along with relevant facts such as jurisdiction, area of law, etc.
CoCounsel will retrieve relevant legal resources and provide an answer with explanation and supporting sources.
Behind the scenes, Conduct Research generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identify the on-point case law, statutes, and regulations, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), along with the supporting sources and applicable excerpts.
Get a thorough deposition outline in no time, just by describing the deponent and what’s at issue.
How this skill works
Describe the deponent and what’s at issue in the case, and CoCounsel identifies multiple highly relevant topics to address in the deposition and drafts questions for each topic.
Refine topics by including specific areas of interest and get a thorough deposition outline.
Ask questions of contracts that are analyzed in a line-by-line review
How this skill works
Allows the user to upload a set of contracts and a set of questions
This skill will provide an answer to those questions for each contract, or, if the question is not relevant to the contract, provide that information as well
Upload up to 10 contracts at once
Ask up to 10 questions of each contract
Relevant results will hyperlink to identified passages in the corresponding contract
Get a list of all parts of a set of contracts that don’t comply with a set of policies.
How this skill works
Upload a set of contracts and then describe a policy or set of policies that the contracts should comply with, e.g. "contracts must contain a right to injunctive relief, not merely the right to seek injunctive relief."
CoCounsel will review your contracts and identify any contractual clauses relevant to the policy or policies you specified.
If there is any conflict between a contractual clause and a policy you described, CoCounsel will recommend a revised clause that complies with the relevant policy. It will also identify the risks presented by a clause that does not conform to the policy you described.
Get an overview of any document in straightforward, everyday language.
How this skill works
Upload a document–e.g. a legal memorandum, judicial opinion, or contract.
CoCounsel will summarize the document using everyday terminology.
Find all instances of relevant information in a database of documents.
How this skill works
Select a database and describe what you're looking for in detail, such as templates and precedents to use as a starting point for drafting documents, or specific clauses and provisions you'd like to include in new documents you're working on.
CoCounsel identifies and delivers every instance of what you're searching for, citing sources in the database for each instance.
Behind the scenes, CoCounsel generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identifiy the on-point passages from every document in the database, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), citing applicable excerpts in specific documents.
Get a list of all parts of a set of contracts that don’t comply with a set of policies.
Ask questions of contracts that are analyzed in a line-by-line review
Get a thorough deposition outline by describing the deponent and what’s at issue.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.