Mailbag, 0421 COBJ, Vol. 50, No. 4 Pg. 10

• Position: Vol. 50, 4 [Page 10]

50 Colo.Law. 10

MAILBAG

Vol. 50, No. 4 [Page 10]

Colorado Lawyer

April, 2021

From Our Readers

Colorado Lawyer welcomes reader feedback. Letters are published with their sender's consent and may be edited for clarity, length, or grammar. The opinions expressed are those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the CBA or the sender's employer. Please send feedback to Susie Klein at sklein@cobar.org or contact article authors directly.

Modern Legal Writing: Demystifying Spaces

As a practitioner devoted to effective legal writing, I enjoyed the article by Ginette Chapman on "Legal Writing Demystified" [Feb. 2021, p. 18]. I have one small quibble—extremely small in the context of what everyone is dealing with these days. Ms. Chapman directs that all double spaces after periods must be removed, in favor of one space. Perhaps this is generational, but to me, one space after a period, instead of two, is just wrong. From various legal writing seminars I have attended, I am not alone. Maybe the answer is one or two, depending on preference. In any event, thanks to Ms. Chapman for writing the article and to the Colorado Lawyer for running it.

Marilyn S. Chappell

Special Counsel, Sweet baum Sands Anderson PC

I appreciate Marilyn Chappell's letter. It's always heartening to hear from people who care about the nuances of legal writing! I agree my article would have done well to clarify that some of my recommendations are not iron-clad rules.

I do, however, stand by my suggestion to use only one space after a period. Though two spaces was at one time de rigueur, standards have swung sharply in recent decades, and today major...