{"id":161148,"date":"2026-08-21T04:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/21\/judge-bibas-on-opinion-writing-skip-the-5-words-read-more-fiction\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T04:44:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:44:59","slug":"judge-bibas-on-opinion-writing-skip-the-5-words-read-more-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/21\/judge-bibas-on-opinion-writing-skip-the-5-words-read-more-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Bibas on Opinion Writing: Skip the &#8216;$5 Words,&#8217; Read More Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A lot of [lawyers] have stopped reading enough good fiction and journalism, and need to unlearn the habits of using fancy Latinate legalisms. Why do we say \u2018forthwith&#8217; rather than \u2018at once&#8217;? Why do we talk about the perpetrator exiting the vehicle and being apprehended, like we are cops trying to sound important?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\" hspace=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/~\/i\/968088407\/0\/law\/legal-news\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div><a title=\"Add to FaceBook\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/2\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/fbshare20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Like on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/28\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/fblike20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Pin it!\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/29\/968088407\/law\/legal-news%2Chttps%3A%2F%2Fimages.law.com%2Fcontrib%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F292%2F2023%2F07%2FStephanos-Bibas-2018-97-767x633-2.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/pinterest20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Stumble This\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/12\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/stumble20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Post to X.com\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/24\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/x.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Subscribe by RSS\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/20\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/rss20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a rel=\"NOFOLLOW nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/2024\/10\/11\/which-1-judge-division-districts-have-adopted-anti-forum-shopping-guidance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Which 1-Judge Division Districts Have Adopted Anti-Forum Shopping Guidance?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;A lot of [lawyers] have stopped reading enough good fiction and journalism, and need to unlearn the habits of using fancy Latinate legalisms. Why do we say \u2018forthwith&#8217; rather than \u2018at once&#8217;? Why do we talk about the perpetrator exiting the vehicle and being apprehended, like we are cops trying to sound important?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\" hspace=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/~\/i\/968088407\/0\/law\/legal-news\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div><a title=\"Add to FaceBook\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/2\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/fbshare20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Like on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/28\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/fblike20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Pin it!\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/29\/968088407\/law\/legal-news%2Chttps%3A%2F%2Fimages.law.com%2Fcontrib%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F292%2F2023%2F07%2FStephanos-Bibas-2018-97-767x633-2.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/pinterest20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Stumble This\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/12\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/stumble20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Post to X.com\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/24\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/x.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<a title=\"Subscribe by RSS\" href=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedblitz.com\/_\/20\/968088407\/law\/legal-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/assets.feedblitz.com\/i\/rss20.png?fit=1080%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a rel=\"NOFOLLOW nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.com\/2024\/10\/11\/which-1-judge-division-districts-have-adopted-anti-forum-shopping-guidance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Which 1-Judge Division Districts Have Adopted Anti-Forum Shopping Guidance?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A lot of [lawyers] have stopped reading enough good fiction and journalism, and need to unlearn the habits of using fancy Latinate legalisms. Why do we say \u2018forthwith&#8217; rather than \u2018at once&#8217;? Why do we talk about the perpetrator exiting the vehicle and being apprehended, like we are cops trying to sound important?&#8221; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Related [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":161141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-com"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/legal-news-bl54R1.jpg?fit=767%2C633&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}