Scribes—The American Society of Legal Writers—is an organization dedicated to encouraging legal writers and improving legal writing throughout the entire legal community: in court, in the law office, in the publishing house, and in law school.[1] Founded in 1953, Scribes is the oldest organization of its kind. Scribes has almost 2,700 members, including state and federal judges, practicing lawyers, law-school deans and professors, and legal editors.
Scribes' executive office is in Los Angeles, at Southwestern Law School. Before Southwestern, it was located at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law, and Wake Forest University School of Law. The executive director is Bradley Yost.[2]
Scribes was formed in 1951 by Arthur T. Vanderbilt, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. That year he invited several like-minded lawyers to join him in creating an organization to assist those who would write about the law as well as to promote better legal writing. Membership was initially limited to members of the legal profession who had published at least one book or three articles on legal subjects; new members were required to be nominated by an existing member. Later, the eligibility requirement was reduced to one book or two articles, and nominations are no longer necessary.
As written in its Constitution, Scribes' goals are:
In 1990, Scribes printed its first volume of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing. The initial circulation was 3,000 copies; its editor in chief was Bryan Garner, then a young law-school professor at the University of Texas. Today, Garner is recognized as the preeminent authority on legal writing and language.
From 2001 through 2013, the editor in chief was Professor Joseph Kimble, who is widely known for his plain-language advocacy and his work restyling the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence.[3] From 2013 to 2022, Professor Mark Cooney served as editor in chief.[4] The current editor in chief is Professor Megan E. Boyd.
The Journal is widely read and cited.[5] Its distribution exceeds 6,000 copies, and it has published articles by some of the best-known figures in legal writing, including Bryan Garner, Joseph Kimble, Charles Alan Wright, Judge Richard Posner, Lawrence M. Friedman, Richard Wydick, Reed Dickerson, Dean Darby Dickerson, Irving Younger, Steven Stark, Ken Adams,[6] Ross Guberman,[7] and Wayne Schiess.
Volume 13 of the Scribes Journal featured the transcripts of interviews with justices of the United States Supreme Court.[8] The interviews were conducted by Bryan Garner.
The Scrivener has been Scribes' newsletter since 1974.[9] Originally it was used for membership updates and organizational news, but today it also includes shorter pieces about legal writing and publishing. The editor of The Scrivener is Professor Maureen Kordesh of UIC John Marshall Law School, The University of Illinois at Chicago.
In 1960, Scribes issued Advocacy and the King's English, published by Bobbs-Merrill Company. Forty years later, the book was reissued under the title Classic Essays on Legal Advocacy, published by The Lawbook Exchange in Clark, New Jersey.
The Scribes Lifetime-Achievement Award[10] is presented to persons who have had a great influence on legal writing or distinguished themselves in their own writing:
Since 1961, Scribes has presented its annual Book Award for the best legal work published during the previous year. The Scribes Book-Award Committee reviews up to 40 submissions each year, and the award is presented at Scribes' annual meeting or CLE where the author usually speaks and signs copies of the book. A list of winners of the Scribes Book Award is posted on the Scribes website.[14]
Since 1987, Scribes has presented its annual Law-Review Award for the best student-written article published in a law review or law journal. Each year, the editors of every law review and law journal are encouraged to submit their best student-written note or comment. Volunteer legal-writing professors and attorneys review the submissions and nominate the finalists to the Scribes selection committee. The committee selects a winner, and the award is presented during the annual meeting of the National Conference of Law Reviews.
In 1996, Scribes began an annual Brief-Writing Award for the best student-written brief. Each year, any law student who won best brief in a regional or national moot-court competition may submit the brief to Scribes, which then honors the best of the best. As with the Law-Review Award, volunteer legal-writing professors review the articles and decide on the finalists. The Scribes committee selects a winner, who receives the award at Scribes's annual meeting or CLE.
In 2007, Scribes created the National Order of Scribes to honor graduating law students who excel in legal writing. Each year, every law school that is an institutional member of Scribes may nominate law students to be inducted into the National Order of Scribes. As with other Scribes awards, a list of all honorees, past and present, appear on the Scribes website.[15]
Scribes has on several occasions participated in legal-writing programs at the American Bar Association's annual meetings. In 2007, Scribes participated in the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C., where it presented a panel discussion on "Jury Instructions in Plain English." In 2008, Scribes teamed up with the New York City Bar Association's Legal History Committee to cosponsor a symposium on Abraham Lincoln's legal writing.
Recently, Scribes has also made a point of speaking directly to law students about legal writing. Since 2006, institutional-member law schools have hosted Scribes's annual board meetings. In return, Scribes conducts legal-writing programs for the school's students.
In 2016, Scribes began hosting annual CLEs for legal professionals. The first CLE was hosting at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. The second CLE was hosted in Houston, Texas.
Scribes had 41 members at its first meeting in the early 1950s. Today, membership has grown to almost 2,700 members, including state and federal judges, practicing lawyers, law-school deans and professors, and legal editors. Any member of the legal profession is eligible to join.
In 1990, President Roy M. Mersky helped develop a new category of membership for law schools: institutional membership. Since then, 37 law schools have become institutional members. Once a law school becomes an institutional member, professors at those schools automatically become a Scribes member if they meet the other eligibility requirements. In the mid-2000s, institutional membership expanded to include appellate courts; once an appellate court becomes an institutional member, the judges on that court automatically become members of Scribes as well.
For a historical list of past award winners and other executive board members, see Thomas M. Steele and Norman Otto Stockmeyer, Scribes After More Than 50 Years – A History, 12 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing 1 (2008–2009).[20]