T LAW Writing Competitions List

Pennsylvania Bar Association Plain English Writing Competition

The PA Bar Association has released the following information about the Plain English Writing Competition. There is no link - the entire announcement, including the client letter to be redrafted, is contained in the text of this post.

Once again, the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Plain English Committee is inviting students to take part in its Plain English Writing Competition. The Competition is open to all current law students in Pennsylvania law schools and all Pennsylvania students at other law schools in the United States.

To participate in the competition, the students must redraft the client opinion letter (below) in plain English so that it will be comprehensible to the client.

The competition rewards the winners with prize money: $1000 for first prize, $500 for second prize.

To enter students must redraft the client letter and email it to Karen DiBattista Wilson, DiBattista@law.villanova.edu. Ms. Wilson will delete the names of the students and distribute their entries to the judges.

Deadline: We must receive your application by noon, Thursday, April 8, 2010

As you can see, the competition’s assignment is fairly light, and the prize money is significant.

The draft letter in this document was meant to be sent to a client following an initial meeting with an attorney. The client, a woman who has been a stay-at-home mother whose husband left her, has little experience in dealing with finances. The letter is meant to give her an idea of what to expect in her divorce case. Your assignment is to make the letter comprehensible – more “client-friendly”.

Dear Ms. Jones,

This serves to acknowledge our conference this week in which it was determined that you intend to retain our law firm in connection with the litigation intended to be pursued by you involving the domestic relations matter with your spouse and the confirmation of our dialogue which while it was aspirational that the matter will reach a resolution short of legal proceedings before a judicial officer we conversed and noted that this eventuality is far from a certainty and we cannot foreclose the prospect of no resolution short of actual court litigation. While the time parameters for ultimate resolution are incapable of being ascertained with certainty at this juncture of the proceedings, I must conclude that frequently the time frame exceeds one annum. To reach a resolution that is favorable to the position we hold, the optimum way to attain a successful result is to carry forward the similar preparations as if we contemplated full litigation.

For the purposes of effectuation the same, it becomes a requirement to ascertain, assemble, and compile books, records and other financial documents from you as well as taking steps to accumulate and determine the similar fiscal situation with respect to your husband, recognizing that the situation is somewhat complicate because Mr. Jones assumed control of the financial component of your marital circumstance and you had a limited role in these particularities, but nonetheless it still is incumbent upon you to carry out whatever efforts necessary to comply with discovery requests in this matter.

In dividing marital property, Pennsylvania is an equitable distribution state, requiring a court division by percentage of all marital property which includes the assets each party brought to the nuptials as well as all assets of whatever sort and nature acquired by either the party of the first part or the party of the second part during the marriage as well as appreciation or loss on an assets that predated the actual date of the marriage, after which the court will fix a percentage based on a variety of factors include age, physical condition, ability to further enhance one’s financial position, and other similar factors.

At your earliest convenience please transmit to the undersigned a full documentation of financial information include bank and brokerage information commencing with the date of separation and continuing through and including the present. If you cannot accomplish the foregoing without assistance, our office stands willing and able to assist you, and you can accomplish the same with telephonic communication with my paralegal, Sally Jones, who is available through our office number listed above.

Please be prepared to complete promptly all requests for discovery which we will forward to you in due course upon receipt from the other side and note that there may well be oral depositions for which we will of necessity need to prepare you.

To carry out the full panoply of divorce litigation the various aspects are divided into separate tracks consisting of support; custody; and equitable distribution. You may be entitled to alimony pendente lite as well as permanent alimony in addition to child support, which terminates at age 18 and under Pennsylvania law does not include higher education expenses. Custody includes both legal and physical custody, which vary from case to case and can be joint or in either party. Joint legal custody is generally dependent upon a reasonable level of cooperation with and between the parents, while partial custody can typically include primary custody in one parental unit with partial custody including alternate weekend and an evening visit weekly. Legal custody decisions can include physician, medical, educational, and other similar issues. Equitable distribution is discussed above and runs correspondingly with the divorce action.

Before achieving the ability to have a hearing directly with a judge, each of the tracks are assigned preliminarily to a master which proceedings because of their separate nature can frequently consume a great deal of time with the concomitant requirement for legal appearances enhancing the financial burden on the litigant.

In the immediate future I will transmit to you an agreement for retention which outlines the hourly rates of various personnel including associate lawyers and paralegals. I do anticipate favorably our relationship in this matter.

Very truly yours,