Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Fall 2015, Vol 41, No. 3 | Page 21

by Stephen A. Reynes, Esq. & Professor Greg Johnson

The Connection Between Writing Effective
Briefs and Remaining Fully Human
This article arose from the experience of
presenting an annual guest lecture on effective brief writing to first-year students in
Professor Greg Johnson’s class at Vermont
Law School. With many years of experience as a lawyer in both the private and
public sectors, I thought it might be interesting to add some thoughts at the end of
the class on the topic of being an effective
lawyer while remaining fully human. Just
those words tend to draw a variety of reactions, which might be categorized under
the heading of “Good luck with that.” Yet,
over time I came to see the two topics as
not only related, but part of the same cloth.
This is not just wishful thinking. Although it
may not often be expressed this way, advocacy through civility and restraint is consistent with the wisdom and experience
of judges and others who have read many
briefs, decided many cases, and know what
is effective. Being fully human makes you
a better lawyer. This article will offer some
reflections on how good attributes of being human—including civility, respect and
humility—are also essential to effective advocacy.
A good starting place is to reme X