W101 Skills – 1 cont’d

Summary or précis

A summary or précis is a shortened version of an original written piece of work, but which retains the key elements of the original. It is an important skill in academic studying but is also a skill that is used daily in almost all fields of employment. It is therefore, a transferable skill. An accurate summary not only helps to identify the important elements of what you are reading, but like note-taking, it helps to retain what you read, and can make revision easier and quicker than re-reading the longer original piece.

There are two important things to remember when making a summary:

• Identify the key elements – this is obviously a skill that needs to be developed.
• Write in your own words – this helps to clarify ideas and arguments present in the original work, and aids in your own comprehension, and writing skills.

As Lord Denning (Former Master of the Rolls) said (in The Discipline of Law):

To succeed in the profession of the law, you must seek to cultivate command of language. Words are the lawyer’s tools of trade. When you are called upon to address a judge, it is your words which count most. It is by them that you will hope to persuade the judge of the rightness of your cause. When you have to interpret a section in a Statute or a paragraph in a Regulation, you have to study the very words. You have to discover the meaning by analysing the words – one by one – to the very last syllable. When you have to draw up a will or a contract, you have to choose your words well. You have to look into the future – envisage all the contingencies that may come to pass – and then use words to provide for them. On the words you use, your client’s future may depend.

The reason why words are so important is because words are the vehicle of thought. When you are working out a problem on your own – at your desk or walking home – you think in words, not in symbols or numbers. When you are advising your client – in writing or by word of mouth – you must use words. There is no other means available. To do it convincingly, do it simply and clearly. If others find it difficult to understand you, it will often be because you have not cleared your own mind upon it. Obscurity in thought inexorably leads to obscurity in language.

Sometimes you may fail – without your fault – to make yourself clear. It may be because of the infirmity of the words themselves. They may be inadequate to express the meaning which you wish to convey. They may lack the necessary precision. ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ are clear enough at most times. But when does day begin and night end? Some may say at sunrise. Others would say at dawn. Then when does ‘dawn’ begin? No one can tell exactly. Or a word may mean one thing to one person and another thing to another. Take ‘punctual payment’ or ‘prompt payment’. To one it may mean immediate payment. To another it may permit of a little latitude and it may suffice if payment is made within a day or two. The difference between the two will remain unless it is settled by the House of Lords. Yet again the word may mean one thing in one context and another thing in another context. Thus ‘money’ may be limited to the money in your purse and cash at bank or it may include money owing to you for dividends and rents. Yet again a word may mean one thing in one situation and another in another. Take the words ‘insulting behaviour’. Blowing a whistle on the Centre Court at Wimbledon may be ‘insulting behaviour’; but blowing it at the Cup Final at Wembley would not. It depends on the meaning which you yourself choose to give ‘insulting’. The difference is not to be settled by authority, but by individual choice. Constantly you will find ordinary people giving different meanings to the same word. This gives full scope to the lawyer.

(Denning, 1979, pp. 5–6)

As I have said before, I am an advocate for writing plainly and as simply and as precisely as possible. As Mark Twain said, a writer should follow some ‘little rules’:

• Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
• Use the right word, not its second cousin.
• Eschew surplusage.
• Not omit necessary details.
• Avoid slovenliness of form.
• Use good grammar.
• Employ a simple and straightforward style.

[Note: I’m constantly learning, so don’t take me to task for any ‘mistakes’ you find.]

So, to summarise: Words are important, and building skills in how you use words is essential for any law student.