THE LEGAL WRITING
CORNER
BRING ON THE BULLET POINT: Boost Clarity and Emphasis in Your Legal Writing
By Jennifer Cook and Denitsa Mavrova Heinrich
Good legal writers continually search for ways to communicate more effectively with their audience. Finding ways to improve communication can be particularly challenging today,“ in the age of information overload,” where a reader’ s attention tends to wander off whenever a point is not made quickly enough or the information appears too complex to digest. 1 But a reader’ s wandering mind, often toward information that is more easily attainable, is a clear signal of ineffective communication.
To help keep the reader’ s attention, consider using bullet points— a plain-language, powerhouse tool that receives less love from writers than it ought to. Bullet points, in a vertical list, can increase the clarity of your legal writing and provide a visual punch to your prose. In fact, brain science supports the use of a bullet point list.
Science reveals our brains cannot perform numerous complex tasks at the same time.“[ T ] o function as competently as possible, processing both high-end tasks and lower-end tasks, [ the brain ] must take shortcuts. One of these shortcuts is to follow patterns. These patterns enable us to arrive at destinations without being conscious of how we got there.” 2 For example, in legal writing,“ patterns( like IRAC) or signals( like“ Here”) enable attorneys and judges to swiftly process information in voluminous documents.” 3 These patterns allow readers to spend more time on understanding complex ideas( higher-end tasks) rather than parsing out or“ translating what the words are conveying.” 4 Another pattern or shortcut that can lead a legal writer’ s audience to higher cognition: a bullet point list. Grouping and organizing important information into manageable pieces permits the legal reader’ s brain to function more efficiently and thus the legal writer communicates their point more effectively. 5
Not only does brain science support the cognition pattern or shortcut created by the bullet point list, but the use of bullet points also garners the support of one of legal writing’ s infamous plainlanguage advocates, Bryan Garner. Garner points out that bullet dots, in a list, highlight ideas without burying the salient points— a technique that is“ vital to readability and punchiness.” 6
Jennifer Cook and Denitsa Mavrova Heinrich are faculty members at the University of North Dakota School of Law.
If you choose to use a bullet point list, follow these rules to keep the writing snappy and clear:
• Put a colon at the end of the sentence leading into the bulleted list. 7
• Use headings to help the reader categorize related pieces of information. For example, if a client letter describes the rules and remedies for a tenant keeping a pet on a landlord’ s premises, consider creating two separate bullet point lists with headers, such as“ Pet Ownership Rules” and“ Remedies for Violating Pet Ownership Rules.” 8
• Choose either a semicolon or period to end the listed items. Use a semicolon if each listed item contains a phrase or clause. Begin with a lowercase letter and put a semicolon at the end of each listed item except for the last one, which should end with a period. If the list contains at least one complete sentence, then capitalize the first word and use a period at the end of each listed item. 9
• Remember to use hanging indents. Each bullet should“ hang” out to the left without any text under it. 10
• Avoid overusing a bullet point list. Too many can dilute their punchiness and power. 11
• If you have the room for it, keep some white space between listed items to improve readability.
So, bring on the bullet point to highlight material facts in the factual background section of a legal brief, emphasize the requirements of a statute in a judicial opinion, or clarify information or documents needed for a discovery response in an email to a client.
1. Karin Mika, Lists in Legal Drafting: How Brain Science Can Help Student Drafters Produce Documents that are Easier to Read and Comprehend, 21 SCRIBES J. LEGAL WRITING 75( 2023). 2. Id. at 78-81. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id. 6. Bryan A. Garner, Legal Writing in Plain English( 2d ed. 2013). 7. Garner, supra note 6. 8. Mika, supra note 1, at 76, 81-83. 9. Garner, supra note 6. 10. Id. 11. Joseph Kimble, Give Bullet Points a Try, M
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