Legal writing is the most important skill for being successful in law school, but learning how to become an effective legal writer does not begin in law school. It begins long before when you learned your basic writing skills.

The ability to write a grammatically correct sentence does not mean you have strong writing skills. Understand this, everyone entering law school knows how to write, but many entering law students are not strong writers.

Below are three questions testing you knowledge of basic writing.

•  What is a topic sentence?
•  What is the difference between active voice and passive voice?
•  When a word ends in "s", how is a possessive for that word created?

If you cannot answer the three questions above do not be embarrassed because many entering law students also cannot answer them despite being college graduates. But if you cannot answer the questions you should seriously consider working on your basic writing skills prior to law school because once school begins you will not have enough time to do so.

A person who is an effective writer focuses on three levels of writing. Those three levels are: 1. the overall structure of the writing; 2. paragraphs and topic sentences; and 3. sentences and words.

Regarding the first level of writing, each profession has its own unique structure. The structure used in the law is IRAC. IRAC is a reader-focused writing structure, and it is the structure of writing that every law school uses.

To effectively communicate at the second and third levels of writing strong basic writing skills are necessary. A few books that can help you improve your writing at these levels are Plain English for Lawyers by Richard Wydick, Painless Grammar (Barron's Book) by Rebecca Elliot, PhD, Grammar in Plain English (Barron's Book) by Harriet Diamond & Phyllis Dutwin. In addition to these books your local book store also has books with writing exercises and answers.

Other related articles on this website include Speed Reading Courses and Grades & Writing.

Good luck in law school!

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.