General Writing Guides
Baker, Sheridan. The Practical Stylist. 8th ed. N.Y.: Longman, 1998.
Graves, Robert; and Alan Hodge. The Reader over Your Shoulder: A Handbook for Writers of English Prose. 2d ed. N.Y.: Random House, 1979.
Payne, Lucile Vaughan. The Lively Art of Writing: Understanding Forms. Reprint, Chicago: Follett, 1982.
Strunk, William, Jr.; and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. N.Y.: Macmillan, 2000.
Trimble, John R. Writing with Style. 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2011.
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. 30th anniversary ed. N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2006.
Usage Guides
Bernstein, Theodore M. The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage. N.Y.: Athenaeum, 1965.
Burchfield, R. W. The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage. 3d rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
Evans, Bergen; and Cornelia Evans. A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage. N.Y.: Random House, 1957.
Follett, Wilson. Modern American Usage: A Guide. 1st rev. ed. Revised by Erik Wensberg. N.Y.: Hill & Wang, 1998.
Fowler, H. W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2d ed. Revised by Ernest Gowers. N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1965.
Garner, Bryan A. Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage. 3d ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011.
Garner, Bryan A. Garner’s Modern American Usage. 3d ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.
Garner, Bryan A. “Grammar and Usage.” In The Chicago Manual of Style, 201–304. 16th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010.
Partridge, Eric. Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English. New ed. Revised by Janet Whitcut. N.Y.: Norton, 1994.
Plain English
Adler, Mark. Clarity for Lawyers: The Use of Plain English in Legal Writing. 2d ed. London: Law Society, 2007.
Eagleson, Robert D.; Gloria Jones; and Sue Hassall. Writing in Plain English. Canberra: AGPS, 1990.
Flesch, Rudolf. The Art of Plain Talk. N.Y.: Harper & Bros., 1946.
Gowers, Ernest. The Complete Plain Words. 1st Am. ed. Revised by Sidney Greenbaum and Janet Whitcut. Boston: D. R. Godine, 2002.
Gunning, Robert. The Technique of Clear Writing. Rev. ed. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1968.
Lauchman, Richard. Plain Style: Techniques for Simple, Concise, Emphatic Business Writing. N.Y.: AMACOM, 1993.
Steinberg, Erwin R., ed. Plain Language: Principles and Practice. Detroit: Wayne State Univ. Press, 1991.
Style Manuals
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Darrell Christian, Sally Jacobsen & David Minthorn, eds. 2013 ed. N.Y.: Basic Books, 2013.
The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010.
Sabin, William A. The Gregg Reference Manual: A Manual of Style, Grammar, Usage, and Formatting. Tribute ed. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Law Dictionaries
Garner, Bryan A., ed. Black’s Law Dictionary. 9th ed. St. Paul: West, 2009.
Greenberg, Daniel, ed. Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law. 3d ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010.
Words and Phrases. 90 vols. & supps. St. Paul: West, 1940–.
Legal Language Generally
Freedman, Adam. The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese. N.Y.: Henry Holt, 2007.
Garner, Bryan A. Garner on Language and Writing. Chicago: ABA, 2009.
Mellinkoff, David. The Language of the Law. Boston: Little, Brown, 1963.
Mertz, Elizabeth. The Language of Law School: Learning to Think Like a Lawyer. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2007.
Robinson, Marlyn, ed. Language and the Law: Proceedings of a Conference. Buffalo, N.Y.: William S. Hein, 2003.
Schauer, Frederick, ed. Law and Language. N.Y.: N.Y. Univ. Press, 1993.
Tiersma, Peter M. Legal Language. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1999.
Tiersma, Peter M. Parchment, Paper, Pixels: Law and the Technologies of Communication. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2010.
Tiersma, Peter M.; and Lawrence Solan, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law. N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2012.
Legal-Writing Style
Asprey, Michèle M. Plain Language for Lawyers. 4th ed. Sydney: Federation, 2010.
Charrow, Veda R.; Myra K. Erhardt; and Robert P. Charrow. Clear and Effective Legal Writing. 4th ed., N.Y.: Aspen, 2007.
Garner, Bryan A. The Elements of Legal Style. 2d ed. N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002.
Garner, Bryan A. The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style. 3d ed. St. Paul: West, 2013.
Good, C. Edward. Mightier than the Sword. Charlottesville, Va.: Blue Jeans, 1989.
Kimble, Joseph. Lifting the Fog of Legalese: Essays on Plain Language. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic, 2006.
Painter, Mark. The Legal Writer. 3d ed. Cincinnati: Jarndyce & Jarndyce, 2005.
Schiess, Wayne. Better Legal Writing: 15 Topics for Advanced Legal Writers. Buffalo, N.Y.: William S. Hein, 2005.
Schiess, Wayne. Writing for the Legal Audience. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic, 2003.
Volokh, Eugene. Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review. 4th ed. N.Y.: Foundation, 2010.
Wydick, Richard C. Plain English for Lawyers. 5th ed. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic, 2005.
Brief-Writing
Garner, Bryan A. The Winning Brief: 100 Tips on Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts. 2d ed. N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004.
Peck, Girvan. Writing Persuasive Briefs. Boston: Little, Brown, 1984.
Rossman, George, ed. Classic Essays on Legal Advocacy. 1960. Reprint, Clark, N.J.: Lawbook Exchange, 2010.
Scalia, Antonin; and Bryan A. Garner. Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges. St. Paul: West, 2008.
Commercial Drafting
Burnham, Scott J. The Contract Drafting Guidebook. Charlottesville, Va.: Michie, 1992.
Burnham, Scott J. Drafting and Analyzing Contracts. Newark: LexisNexis, 2003.
Butt, Peter; and Richard Castle. Modern Legal Drafting: A Guide to Using Clearer Language. 2d ed. N.Y.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006.
Child, Barbara. Drafting Legal Documents. 2d ed. St. Paul: West, 1992.
Dickerson, Reed. The Fundamentals of Legal Drafting. 2d ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1986.
Felsenfeld, Carl; and Alan Siegel. Writing Contracts in Plain English. St. Paul: West, 1981.
Flesch, Rudolf. How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers. N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1979.
Garner, Bryan A. Securities Disclosure in Plain English. Chicago: CCH, 1999.
Kuney, George W. The Elements of Contract Drafting. 3d ed. St. Paul: Thomson/West, 2011.
Piesse, E. L. The Elements of Drafting. 10th ed. Revised by J. K. Aitken and Peter J. Butt. Sydney: Lawbook, 2004.
Schiess, Wayne. Preparing Legal Documents Nonlawyers Can Read and Understand. Chicago: ABA, 2008.
Wincor, Richard. Contracts in Plain English. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
Legislative Drafting
Cutts, Martin. Lucid Law. 2d rev. ed. High Peak, U.K.: Plain Language Commission, 2000.
Haggard, Thomas R.; and George W. Kuney. Legal Drafting in a Nutshell. 3d ed. St. Paul: West, 2007.
Scalia, Antonin; and Bryan A. Garner. Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. St. Paul: Thomson/West, 2012.
Jury Instructions
Tiersma, Peter M. Communicating with Juries. Williamsburg, Va.: National Center for State Courts, 2006.
Legal Citations
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. 19th ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law Review, 2010.
Dickerson, Darby. ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation. 4th ed. Frederick, Md.: Aspen, 2010.