Appellate attorney John O’Herron authored a piece for the VBA Fall Journal titled “Legal Writing for the Digital Reader”, which can be read in its entirety here. It is becoming much more standard practice for judges to read briefs on an iPad or tablet and because digital reading is different, writing for the digital reader should be too. From formatting (like white space and footnotes) to substance (like headers and argument organization), this article offers suggestions to make your brief more readable and persuasive for the digital reader.
…with e-filing now the norm in Virginia’s appellate courts, this is especially true at the appellate level. This is a monumental shift in how judges are consuming your argument, and it should change how you write your briefs.
