This informative one-day course is to help you improve your written communication skills and is relevant for both lawyers and support staff. The course will give you tips on best practices; covering all types of professional business documents (e-mails, letters, attendance notes and reports). It is essential for those who want to get their message across in a clear and concise manner and avoid the possibility of oversight or misunderstanding.
Law firms work on the principle that their employees communicate with their clients using plain English. The writing is always professional and representative of the firm, but it is quick and easy for the reader to understand.
This course will help you transform the way you write to make it more effective and reader friendly. You will be able to structure your content, produce clear sentences and confidently use appropriate punctuation which can impact the tone of your writing. By attending this well-constructed and engaging course you will leave with practical strategies, tools and techniques that can be applied daily.
Audience
This course is suitable for trainee, newly qualified and qualified solicitors.
Key Benefits
The key benefits of attending this course are that you will:
- Know how to create your content in a clear and concise manner;
- Develop a planning structure to help you with the type of document you are writing and maximise its potential;
- Identify the best options in terms of layout and space for the type of document you are writing; and
- Develop an approach to enable confident use of different types of punctuation which can impact the tone of your message.
TBC: Please contact us for future course dates
- Knowledge
- Interpersonal Skills
This is an interactive course with a range of individual and group exercises that allow you to experience and practise how the concept of plain English works. There will also be group discussions with an opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas.
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The topics will include:
- Planning Stage (who, why, what, when and how)
- Tone
- Writing Clearly and Concisely
- Pyramid Principle
- Active Voice and Passive Voice
- Misused Words (when two words sound the same – which one to use)
- Punctuation and Grammar
- Different Types of Jargon.
No prior knowledge is required for this course.
Trainees or junior lawyers who would like to learn how to structure their work so that it is more concise and clear and those who want a refresher on how to confidently use punctuation and grammar correctly should attend this course.
Pre-Course Work
To optimise the time available during the course, you will be required to come to the course with an email prepared in advance. The email instructions will be the same for everyone attending the course, so you get an opportunity to review, edit and develop it throughout the day.
Those who require Professional Skills Course (PSC) training credits will be required to complete all the exercises in accordance with the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) requirements.
Those who do not require training credits will be required to only complete the email exercise, as it will form a key part of the day.
Post-Course Work
The post-coursework aims to consolidate what you learnt on the course and is an opportunity for you to address any knowledge gaps and improve your writing skills.
Please see the Preparation and Post-Coursework – Delegate Instructions and Business Writing Skills – Preparation and Post-Coursework documents for details of what you are required to do.
Those who require PSC training credits will be required to submit all of the exercises to Kaplan Altior in accordance with the SRA requirements.
If you are a solicitor, the reflective element of the post-coursework (which includes a Personal Development Plan (PDP)) can be referenced to the SRA Competence Statement and will count towards your responsibility to maintain the required competencies to continue in practice.
C1 Communicate clearly and effectively, orally and in writing
C2 Establish and maintain effective and professional relations with clients.