UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS NEWS CENTER — Try “because” instead of “in view of the fact that.” Consider using “under” the contract rather than “pursuant to” the contract. Write “among other things” and not “inter alia.” Use just enough relevant examples to make your point. Prune extraneous details. First-year law students arriving on UNLV’s campus tend to feel obligated to sprinkle legal jargon, pack every contingency, and pour all precedents into documents they write, says UNLV Boyd Law professor Joe Regalia. That’s why one of the faculty’s top priorities is to help those students understand that judges and attorneys aren’t remote 15th-century barristers keen on elegant turns of phrase. They’re time-pressed people who appreciate and even reward brevity, clarity, and simplicity — especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which made concise writing even more imperative. Lawyers who can refine a bloated 10-page draft into two tightly crafted pages thrive in any situation. “What is the rule? What are the relevant facts? Why do you think I should rule one way or the other?” Regalia said. “Succinct writing makes it exponentially easier for the judge to do their job and move on to the next case. And they are so grateful for that.”