Wayne Schiess
Director of Legal Writing
The University of Texas School of Law
wschiess@law.utexas.edu
wayne@legalwriting.net
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Mr. Schiess directs the legal-writing program at the University of Texas School of Law and teaches legal writing, legal drafting, and plain English. He is a seminar speaker, a legal-writing tutor, and a legalese reviser. His blog was recently named by the American Bar Association to the Blawg 100. He practiced law for three years at the Texas law firm of Baker Botts, and in 1992 joined the faculty at Texas.
Books
Plain Legal Documents Real People Can Read and Understand (ABA 2008)
Better Legal Writing (Wm. S. Hein & Co. 2005).
Writing for the Legal Audience (Carolina Academic Press 2003).
Selected articles
What Plain English Really Is , 9 Scribes J. Leg. Writing 43 (2004).
What Transactional Drafters Should Know About Plain English , 39 Tex. J. Bus. Law 515 (2004).
Ethical Legal Writing , 21 Rev. Litig. 527 (2002).
Writing to the Trial Judge: Part One--for Motions , 83 Mich. B.J. 54 (Jan. 2004).
Writing to the Trial Judge: Part Two--for Affidavits , 83 Mich. B.J. 44 (Feb. 2004).
The Five Principles of Legal Writing , 49 Prac. Law. 11 (June 2003).
Writing for Your Audience: The Client , 81 Mich. B.J. 50 (June 2002).
Write Effective Letters to Opposing Counsel , Trial 70 (June 2002).
The Bold Synopsis: A Way to Improve Your Motions, 63 Tex. B.J. 1030 (Dec. 2000).
Online seminars hosted at CLEonline.com
Legal Writing: Effective Correspondence in Letters and Email
Legal Writing: Ethics in Court Papers
Legal Writing: Plain English Myths and Misconceptions
Legal Writing: Some Fine Points of Legal Drafting
Revising work
Texas Pattern Jury Charges Plain-Language Task Force
Washington Mutual Bank
Jim Walter Homes
CLE seminars
Social Security Admin. Office of General Counsel--Dallas, Denver, Seattle, New York
Andrews & Kurth
Locke Liddell & Sapp
Fulbright & Jaworski
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
University of Texas System Office of General Counsel
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Education
J.D., Cornell Law School
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What I believe:
I believe a well crafted legal memo is true art.
