Even when he was a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill, where his duties included speech writing for a U.S. Congressman, he didn't envision one day he would be coaching others how to write. The Milwaukee resident’s career was still evolving as he wrote a syndicated column and presented commentary on that city’s public television station for many years.

Based on his years of writing experience, which included not only penning speeches and columns, but also ghostwriting, Horowitz’s love of writing became even more embedded in his psyche. He also started noticing how writing created by lawyers, in letters to clients, opposing counsel and judges, for example, lacked persuasiveness, clarity and conciseness.

In early 2017, he was set to collaborate with a colleague who provided continuing legal education courses to attorneys interesting in improving their writing capabilities. Unfortunately, she died unexpectedly before the pair was able to actually embark on their collaboration.

Horowitz was then connected by that woman’s business partner with the D.C. Bar, which presents various CLE programs on a myriad of topics. He had already been toiling in his business, known as Prime Prose, since 2011, and decided to expand his company’s scope to include CLE courses in writing skills for attorneys.

He has since presented his six-hour CLE course, entitled “More Effective Writing Makes More Effective Lawyers,” to several bar associations, including in Louisville, Kentucky and Boston. He presents it monthly in Washington, D.C.

“I show a slide early in my session suggesting 95% of lawyers think they write well and 95% of what they read is lousy. Lawyers are so busy, they don’t have time to think clearly,” says Horowitz.

According to Horowitz, some of the worst offenses attorneys commit when writing include redundancy and the use of legalese. “Most of the time, writing is more effective when it is more succinct,” he says.

When drafting a written message, Horowitz suggests lawyers “be aware of who you’re writing for.” Not only does he dislike when attorneys inject often complex legal jargon in letters written to clients, he urges lawyers to remember that sometimes, even judges are not subject matter experts.

In those instances, inserting legal terms that may otherwise be foreign to the reader serves to complicate a communication rather than simplify it. Utilizing language that confuses the reader is not an effective way to express oneself, he contends. “You need to be clear to be more persuasive,” he says.

Horowitz is also a proponent of brevity. “Concise is better than not,” he says.

If a lawyer wants the reader to understand what they are trying to convey in a written communication, “you need to write more clearly, watch your sentence structure, word choice and other strategies. Even lawyer to lawyer, you can’t assume your reader has the same level of understanding or comprehension” that you do, he says.

“Situational” writing is key, Horowitz says. That ensures the goal of the document, whether it is to persuade, inform or even express compromise, is adjusted appropriately for the audience for whom it is intended.

Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.