Why don't we write like this anymore?
The Dallas Historical Society believes they found a letter written by President Abraham Lincoln to a mother who lost 5 sons in the war. The contents of the letter have been published, but before now the original had not been found. While this discovery is interesting, what caught my attention was the letter itself.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five (5) sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln
Lincoln's ability as an orator and a lawyer is well known. His eloquence is certainly displayed in this letter. What I find sad is that this was probably not all that exceptional in its time. Lawyers were great orators, and also great writers. It was accepted that if you were a lawyer, you wrote well.
Unfortunately, writing among lawyers is a lost art. Very few lawyers write well; few even know how to write in manner that can be understood by the general public. Legal writing is taught in law school, but its focus is on how to write "like a lawyer". That generally means write in a manner no one can understand what you are saying. Over time, I hope I have learned to write more like a "normal" person, but old habits die hard. I big part of my practice involves written advocacy, so its important for me. I also believe judges welcome briefs and pleadings that are direct, and written in a less formal manner. Despite conventional wisdom, less is usually better.
Maybe its because the importance of written communication has waned over the years. We have become a visual society; television, and now the internet, has replaced the written word. Lawyers have recognized this shift, and now focus more on audio/visual communication. Power Point is now a common occurrence in courtrooms across the Country. You cannot go to a CLE program without a power point, and many offer sessions on how to communicate visually.
We will probably never go back to a time when the written word was so coveted. In my mind, we are worse for it.
