You know the feeling: you’re reading case after case and you find it! The perfect quotation for your brief. You make sure it’s not in the dissent—and then you copy and paste. But to get the best use of that quotation, don’t stop with pasting it in your brief and adding a colon after The court held.
Instead, advocate and put your slant on it—before you present it to your reader. Others have written about the mistake of using a quotation without a proper introduction, calling such an introduction “noncommittal” and “ultramechanical.” If you use a noncommittal and ultramechanical introduction, you risk the reader not reading the quotation or, worse, interpreting it the wrong way.
So take control: offer a preview of the quotation with a substantative introduction. Let the reader know how this quote helps your case. Not only will your reader benefit, but the exercise will require you to better understand the quotation, ensuring that it really is as perfect as you thought.
If you want to study this technique, the books and articles below all discuss the importance of proper introductions for quotations.
- Bryan R. Garner, The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts 353-56 (2d ed., Oxford U. Press 2003).
- Tom Goldstein & Jethro K. Lieberman, The Lawyer’s Guide to Writing Well 99 (2d ed., U. Cal. Press 2002).
- Gerald Lebovits, You Can Quote Me: Quoting in Legal Writing – Part I, 76 N.Y. St. B.J. 64 (May 2004).
- Kenneth R. Oettle, Give a Quotation a Good Introduction, 11 Scribes J. Leg. Writing 137 (2007) (addressing the “noncommittal” introduction).
- John R. Trimble, Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing 138-39 (2d ed., Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2000) (discussing the mistake of the “ultramechanical” lead-in).
And if you need a brief writer or editor for your legal writing, contact me.