Not all lawyers litigate, negotiate, or speak in front of groups. But every lawyer writes.
Writing is a lawyer’s super power.
Write well and you can persuade people to write you, call you, and hire you. Write well and you can get clients to hire you again, share your content, and tell others about you. Write well and you can create content that gets more people to your website, to learn more about what you do and how you can help them.
Write well and you can get more leads, better clients, and bigger cases. Write well and you might even generate an additional source of income through books, courses, and consulting.
Writing gives you space to think, to figure out what you want, and why, and discover what you’re willing to do to get it.
Writing can make you a better lawyer, and a more successful and happy one.
Years ago, I took a look at my work product and realized that form letters and boilerplate documents might make my work easier but did nothing to improve my writing. And I wanted to improve my writing because it was stilted and boring.
I started by writing more creative demand letters. I got some adjusters and lawyers to notice and while I can’t say this lead to better outcomes (or it didn’t), I enjoyed it and was encouraged to continue.
So then, I wrote articles, reports, and ads that were different than most lawyers write. Later, when I started a newsletter and blog, and wrote books and courses, my commitment to liberating my writing served me well.
It will serve you, too.
What’s the best way to improve your writing? By reading about good writing, by reading good writing itself, and mostly by writing more.
Write something every day. Practice. Play with words and ideas. You’ll get better at explaining the law, telling stories, and crafting persuasive arguments—the kind that win cases and new clients.
And have fun with it. Start small if you want to. A single colorful sentence or turn of phrase can be enough to make you stand out and convince yourself that there’s more to writing than form letters and boilerplate.
How to write emails that bring in more clients
