"We hold these truths to be self-evident."
With all the recent hub-bub about great writing and speechifying, my friends at What About Clients? showed great timing with yesterday's piece on great writing. After providing a rock-solid example of good editing of an overally legalistic contract, Dan Hull concluded with this imagery:
Either [editing alternative] would save trees, ink and space, be more to the point--and would help diminish the image of the self-important "I'm-special" lawyer rocking back and forth in his chair and talking to himself like a mental patient.
I'll never be able to read bad writing by a lawyer without this imaging seizing my brain. Thanks Dan.