Technola : Public Interest Law & Technology Updates & Commentary : Matthew Burnett & Kate Bladow : Tech Advice for the Non-Profit Legal Sector

Jeff Hogue at Legal Assistance of Western New York (LAWNY) and Maria Mindlin of Transcend Translations have created three free CALI lessons on plain language for legal advocates:

• Plain Language School - Lesson 1: Analyze a Document
• Plain Language School - Lesson 2: Readability Concepts
• Plain Language School - Lesson 3: Case Study

LAWNY and Transcend are also behind the Plain Language Library, which includes an online library of plain language resources and a plain language gadget to help you write more clearly. -M

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I come across so many articles that I'd like to blog about. Instead of saving them until I have time, which could be a while, here's a quick review of what I've been reading.

• Why is Microsoft offering free software to Russian NGOs? Microsoft is now offering NGOs outside of the United States a lot of free software, and this article explains why.
• The Who and Why Show (Episode 34): Brian Krebs Okay, so it's not reading material, but I still enjoyed it. In this episode of the security video podcast, computer security expert Brian Krebs talks about what keeps him up at night with host Steve Santorelli.
• Typography for Lawyers While reading this quick run through the rules of how to lay out documents so that they are readable, I've enjoyed the comments from readers almost as much as the author's initial posts.

Enjoy! - K

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TechSoup has made their Editorial Style Guide public. Similar to the AP Stylebook or The Bluebook, this guide helps people produce content with a consistent style and a more professional look. Style guides are a terrific resource. They prevent staff and others from wasting time wondering whether they should be using "internet" or "Internet," or "Web site" or "website." (Checking TechSoup's quick reference guide, they say it's "Internet" and "website." )

Does your organization have a style guide? You should, and it doesn't have to be cumbersome to draft one. Simply create a document that specifies how to treat your organization's global identity and then use TechSoup's guide for everything else. Your writing will look more professional and be easier to read. - K

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I've suggested before that lawyers need to write more plainly. Turns out that Alan Siegel, a well-recognized branding and design expert, agrees. At TED 2010, he lectured on the importance of plain language and also suggested that interactive tools are key to making resources for the public more effective. Video of his presentation is available on the TED website.

If you are not familiar with TED,  this small nonprofit has been bringing remarkable people together to talk about "ideas worth spreading" since 1984. Originally the focus was on technology, entertainment, and design; however, that focus has expanded over time. You can view many of the speeches given at the conference online. - K

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The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center scoured through the Firefox Add-on Directory and found four add-ons that lawyers can use to simplify research. Check out their blog post Firefox for Lawyers to learn more about CiteGenie, Jureeka, Iterasi, and Zotero. - K

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Kenneth W. Davis writes a blog called Manage Your Writing, where he suggests weekly goals that his readers can use to improve their writing. His post from August 3 is especially relevant for those in the poverty law community:

. . . pay special attention to the results of your speaking and writing. Notice when you're understood and when you're not. Identify at least one communication strategy that works especially well for you.

What strategies have you come up with to make yourself understood, especially when it comes to website content, interactive forms, and other information that is being delivered online? - K

 

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My first BlogHer breakout session, Owning Your Expertise, was an interactive session that fell a little short because of the large number of people that attended. However, I did take away a few key bits.

• Women write only 10 to 20 percent of newspaper opinion pieces, but they are prolific bloggers. The Op-Ed Project works with women, nonprofits, corporations, universities, and others to teach women to submit more op-eds.
• To get attention from media and other influencers, you need to figure out what you are an expert in and let them know.
• Use the sentence "I am an expert in [specific subject] because [reasons] to craft a good statement of why these influencers should listen to you.
• Don't feel like you are bragging. Sharing knowledge is good.

So what does this mean for legal aid/pro bono blogs? Public interest lawyers are smart, well-spoken people. You are experts in many diverse legal issues: divorces, parenting plans, debt collection, public benefits, health care, and so on. The media covers these topics daily. Why shouldn't they be using public interest advocates as their experts? The media gets good information, and your organization gets some publicity and attracts new donors, volunteers, and clients. - K

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I like word clouds. You can quickly get a feel for how often a word is used in a speech, article, or other block of text. For example, below is a word cloud, which was created with Wordle, based on Technola's front page.

Technola Word Cloud

With the many free online tools available, word clouds are extremely easy to make. There is even a tool for Twitter. TwitterSheep lets you create a word cloud from the bios of a user's followers. For example, a lot of @accesstojustice's followers use "lawyer," "attorney," "law," or "justice" in their bios.

However, other than quickly gauging a piece of content's focus, how would poverty law advocates benefit from word clouds? Or are word clouds just pretty images? - K

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I don't enjoy reading legalese, so when I found Wayne Schiess' article, "Legal Writing Isn't What It Should Be," in the Fall 2008 MIE Journal, I was intrigued. Perhaps Schiess, the Director of Legal Writing at the University of Texas, could tell me why lawyers cling to such confusing language. (A note--for those who don't subscribe to the MIE Journal, you can find posts on Schiess' UT website that cover similar topics.) The article does explain some of the reasons why lawyers write like they do, and I now understand more about what causes them to develop their bad habits. However, reading the article convinced me that public interest lawyers need to kick these habits and write plainly all of the time, not just when they are drafting client legal education materials. Two of the quotes that Schiess used in his article made this point clear to me.

We cannot in justice to our job expect the client to employ us to interpret our own documents nor should we require him to consult our professional brethren for this purpose. -Sidney F. Parham, Jr., The Fundamentals of Legal Writing 72 (Michie Co. 1967).

If the clients can read the contract more easily and resolve contract questions themselves, doesn't that mean fewer billable hours for the lawyer? My experience is that clients--on both sides of the negotiation--respect the lawyer's ability to express ideas clearly. When they see good writing, they are less likely to try to do it themselves. While most business people can fake "legalese," writing in plain English takes practice. It takes real talent to express complicated legal, technical, financial, and commercial ideas in a straightforward way. -David T. Daly, Why Bother to Write Contracts in Plain English?, 78 Michigan Bar Journal 850 (1999).

Interested in learning how to write plainly? Check out these resources.

• SelfHelpSupport.org Plain Language Resources (Membership required.)
• Plain Language: Legal Examples
• Scribes--The American Society of Legal Writers

Whether you're a lawyer or not, I'd encourage you to try to write plainly. I know that it isn't easy, and, at least at first, it takes more time. But by expending a little effort, your writing style overall will improve. Two tips for how to get started and not become overwhelmed:

• Focus on one thing at a time. Start with a simple concept, like using bullet points for lists or avoiding Latin words, and once it has become second nature, add a few more.
• Find an editor. For me, feedback from others has been key to improving my writing. Often, another person can help me see what I've missed. (You know--like the person who sees instantly where the puzzle piece that you've been staring at forever goes.)

So try it. What do you have to lose? Perhaps it will save your writing from being one of Schiess' examples. - K

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A blog post from Kenneth W. Davis, Sending Fewer Envelopes, caught my eye, reminding me that good writing encourages people to keep reading. Particularly for our client community, many of whom may not be strong readers, we need to remember that less really is more. - K

 

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The National Legal Aid and Defender Association's Cornerstone Magazine recently published an excellent article entitled "Meaningful Web Access for LEP Clients: Examples from the Net" by Liz Keith, Leah Margulies and Michael Mulé. The article "discusses the obligation to translate website content and highlights emerging and distinctive ways that programs are using Web technology to help ensure essential resources and information are accessible to LEP clients." If you are responsible for client-facing websites, including your own organization's website, please take a few minutes to give it a read. -M

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When writing instructions, your word choice isn't the only factor that determines whether people follow through. The font that you choose also plays an important role. Lifehacker reports that using clear fonts, like Arial, makes instructions seem easier to follow and the tasks more likely to get done. - K

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In a recent podcast, Lisa B. Marshall, the host of The Public Speaker: Quick and Dirty Tips For Improving Your Communication Skills, covered a topic that trips up most attorneys at some point in their career--communicating with people who have different expectations for how conversations and communications should proceed. - K

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It's always helpful to have a few interesting fonts on hand to spruce up a report, distinguish your PowerPoint, or to help ensure that your marketing materials attract attention. Most fonts cost money, but not at dafont.com, where all of the fonts are absolutely free. To load a new font on your machine, first download the font and unzip it. Next, if you're using Vista, simply right-click on the font file and select "Install" (same goes for Mac OS X, but double click and select "Install font"). If you're using XP, just save the font file to C:\Windows\Fonts. After the font is is installed, you can select it from the drop-down list as you would any existing font on your machine.

And remember: just because you can use a fancy font doesn't mean that you should. Accessibility is important, so be sure to use fonts that are legible. -M

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'alif ba' ta' by erinscafeamerician

This summer, I've been taking Introduction to Arabic. Most introductory language classes cover greetings, numbers, and days of the week first; however, with Arabic, my class has focused on learning the alphabet. So far we're twenty-four letters in with four more to go. I can't quite pronounce many of those letters right and I get my ya' confused with my ta', but going through the process of learning the Arabic alphabet has made me think a lot about language acquisition. In particular, I had one big "Whoa! That's what it feels like." moment. A DVD came with the book and has a section that shows pictures from street signs. The fonts that are used are decorative and not the fonts that we've been learning to recognize. Most of the letters were incredibly difficult to make out. I made it through a few signs but got really tired and frustrated fast. But then came the "Aha." People learning English feel this way, too. This is why legal forms and community education materials need to use legible fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica.  Fancy fonts, though pretty, are a barrier for people struggling to read. When you learn to read, you get big letters and clear fonts because it is easier to recognize the letters. (Check out Dick and Jane if you've forgotten.) As you become a stronger and more competent reader, you start to see and understand more variation because you recognize the underlying letter patterns. If you don't become a strong reader or haven't had the chance to become a strong reader yet, those variations are going to be difficult to see and interpret. So now, except for certain very special occasions, I'll be sticking to Arial- and Times-like fonts.  It will make my writing more accessible for everyone. - K

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It's likely that every one of you spends a good portion of your day writing -- or perhaps avoiding writing -- briefs, reports, e-mails and so on. So today, technola points out some free tools and resources to help you put words on the page.

• Garbl's Writing Resources Online - If you are looking for a writing resource, this is the place to go. Garbl's lists cover everything from punctuation to overcoming writer's block. He even points out a few word games, like The Engima Device.
• Manage Your Writing - Kenneth W. Davis posts weekly tips on how to write better. These little reminders are mostly about the process of writing, which Davis recommends that you manage like you would projects or people.
• OneLook Reverse Dictionary - If you ever know the meaning of the word that you want but don't know or can't remember the word, this is the dictionary for you. You describe the meaning, and it will provide you with guess. It's like having someone available at all times to play the "oh, you know the word . . . it means angry, but starts with an 'i'" game.
• 50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Online Writers - Christina Laun put together a list of free online writing resources. If your desktop word processor isn't working for you or you are looking to try something new, perhaps something on this list will fit your needs. (If your writing or researching includes looking at any XML, I second her recommendation of Notepad++.) - K

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Yesterday, I introduced you to Andy Goodman. Today, I want to direct you specifically to his April 2008 newsletter - Why Do You Do What You Do? While there have been several topics that have caught might attention - How High Is My Eye-Q?; Like This, Only Better; Click. Damn. Click. Damn. Click. Goodbye! - and briefly made me think, the April newsletter has stayed with me for a while.

Why do I do what I do? I definitely didn't have an answer when I opened the envelope. I know that I don't do it for the money. I don't do it because it is easy to leave the work at the office. My husband's answer, "For God and Country. Well . . . at least Country." wasn't very helpful. And copying from someone else on the WDYDWYD website seems wrong. For right now, I guess, I do what I do because I've asked to be given work where I could do the most good, and this is where I've ended up.

Through the process, I've realized that having an answer is important. It doesn't necessarily have to be the "right" answer, but on the days when everything goes wrong, you get yelled at and criticized, and your clients are calling repeatedly just to tell you that you're dirt, don't you need to know why you put up with it all?

So, why do you do what you? - K

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From the title, you might be hoping for a guide to online romance in the legal aid and pro bono community. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint. This is not that article. (Maybe you want to head over and check out the networking opportunities at the ABA Equal Justice Conference?)

This article is really an ode to Andy Goodman and the resources that he and his colleagues produce to help progressive businesses and public interest groups "reach people more effectively." Usually, that means getting them tell their stories better. I stumbled upon Andy Goodman accidentally. I was looking for marketing and outreach best practices and picked up The Communications Toolkit from Cause Communications. Andy Goodman's name seemed to be everywhere, so I looked him up online to see what else he might know. My online research ended with me signing up to receive two books - Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes and Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes - and his newsletter, Free-Range Thinking. It took me a while to pick up the books, and I regret not reading them earlier. They look dense but are quick reads with lots of useful images and valuable information.

• Bad Presentations is a simple discussion of what works and how to give a great presentation. It should be a necessary read for everyone advocating for good causes. At the very least, if you use PowerPoint, for your audience's sake, please read Chapter 4.

• Bad Ads is also a great resource. While this book concentrates on creating big, glossy ads with great design, the principles that Andy lays out aren't just about those big glossy ads. Getting people's attention and having them remember your message is just as important if you are creating simple fliers that promote your website or a fundraising event.

The newsletter is just as impressive. In this day of e-newsletters, it refreshing to have a small four page newsletter arrive by snail mail each month. It covers a wide variety of topics related to advocacy and communications. And true to his message, Andy tells stories to involve the reader. You can sign up for several of Andy's workshops on his site. However, if you want to hear how he presents for free, you can check out a recording at the Social Innovation Conversations' website. - K

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