“Be Wise: Revise,” Lisa A. Mazzie Advises in Latest Wisconsin Lawyer Magazine
For nearly a year, several of the Law School’s legal writing professors have been offering legal writing advice in a semi-regular column in the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine. The latest such contribution is Lisa Mazzie’s “Be Wise: Revise,” which provides “guidelines for creating effective style through revising – guidelines on when to revise, how to revise, and when to quit.” Her helpful advice highlights the importance of an objective attitude and critical eye during revision of one’s own work.
Professor Mazzie contributed another column, in June of this year, entitled, “Conciseness in Legal Writing.” Past legal writing columns from Marquette’s legal writing faculty also included Jill Koch Hayford’s November 2008 piece, “Style Books, Websites, and Podcasts: A Lawyer’s Guide to the Guides,” as well her March 2009 advice, “Update Contract Language to Meet 21st Century Readers.” A column about split infinitives, “Dispelling Grammar Myths: ‘To Split’ or ‘Not to Split’ the Infinitive,” by Rebecca K. Blemberg, appeared in the December 2008 issue.
The legal writing faculty will continue to write about legal writing for Wisconsin Lawyer magazine during the coming year.


The timing of released Wisconsin Supreme Court opinions is a popular topic this time of year among many members of the legal community. The Wisconsin Supreme Court begins hearing cases in September every year and generally hears between six and ten cases each month through April. In May, oral argument dates are set but not always used. No oral arguments are held in June, and the term officially ends at the end of June. This year, the court decided 57 cases. Of those decisions, 23 cases (40 percent) were released after the term ended, i.e., on or after July 1. In May and June, a total of 18 cases (32 percent) were released. Does it really matter that over 70 percent of the court’s cases were released either after the term ended or in the last two months of the term? I m not sure what the answer is to that question, but I do believe the Wisconsin Supreme Court should take measures to improve its appellate judicial efficiency.