Max Beall A survey from lawyers and

Excel Application Assignment judges on why legal briefs

February 12, 2017 are poorly written
Supreme Court Federal Appellate Court
Time Management 4 42
Poor Writing Skills 3 37
Lack of Training 1 24
All Three 1 11
None 0 5

Total 9 119

Average Number of Responses 110.8

Federal District Court State Supreme Court Lower State Courts Commissioners
45 37 41 32
41 35 39 29
28 23 31 24
17 28 27 21
7 9 6 11

138 132 144 117

Lawyers/Judges Responses t

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

Time Management Poor Writing Skills Lack of Training All

 Staff Attorneys Law Clerks Law Professors Magistrates Total Percentages
34 55 49 34 373 34%
21 45 47 26 323 29%
13 31 11 21 207 19%
8 22 2 10 147 13%
2 14 1 3 58 5%

78 167 110 94 1108

udges Responses to the Survey

ls Lack of Training All Three None

Minimum: 35