I posted\u00a0five blogs in the past three years on writing expert reports. (Refs 1 to 5) \u00a0And referenced two excellent texts. (Refs 6 and 7) \u00a0These are guidelines for experts, as well as for those of you practicing law and insurance claims management and consulting – to help you recognize well written, technical reports. \u00a0I emphasized\u00a0the need for well written reports because of the intent of civil procedure rules governing experts – like Rule 55 in Nova Scotia, to expedite the settling of disputes.<\/p>\n
However, missing\u00a0from my blogs were guidelines on\u00a0composing a report<\/em> – selecting the words, assembling them into sentences, the\u00a0sentences\u00a0into paragraphs, and the paragraphs into report sections.<\/p>\n William K. Zinsser’s book “On Writing Well”<\/em> solves that problem. (332 pages for $19.99 at Chapters) (Ref. 8) \u00a0This is one of the most informative, engaging and humorous books on writing non-fiction – e.g., expert’s reports, that I’ve seen. \u00a0And his book is well written, as you might expect, pulling\u00a0you right along page after page.<\/p>\n Mr. Zinsser’s book has\u00a0been in print for 39 years –\u00a0longer than most of us have been practicing.\u00a0 It was first published in 1976.\u00a0 The 7th edition<\/em> came out in 2006.\u00a0 I learned about the book when I read his obituary in the Globe and\u00a0Mail in May. (Ref. 9) \u00a0By then it was recognized as a classic, like Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style”<\/em> which it complemented. (Ref. 10)<\/p>\n Strunk and White’s little book noted the dos and don’ts of writing.\u00a0 Zinsser’s big book applied those principles in 25 chapters to the different methods and forms of writing non-friction. \u00a0Chapter 15 on writing for Science and Technology is most relevant to expert report writing. \u00a0It is based on a simple principle: Writing is thinking on paper<\/strong>. \u00a0Another chapter on Clutter\u00a0is also\u00a0good – getting rid of jargon and useless words.<\/p>\n Zinsser says that in making scientific and technical material accessible to the lay person – the purpose of an expert’s report – “Nowhere else must you work so hard to write sentences that form a linear sequence (sequential writing).\u00a0 This is no place for fanciful leaps (of faith) or implied truths.\u00a0 Fact and deduction are the ruling family.” \u00a0Put another way, “Go from what you know to what you don’t know”. (Ref. 11)<\/p>\n He tells us to imagine technical writing as an upside-down pyramid<\/strong>. \u00a0Start at the bottom with the one narrow fact the reader must know before he can learn any more. \u00a0For example, the technical issue in a case or claim. \u00a0The second sentence broadens what was stated first, making the pyramid wider, and the third sentence broadens the second, so that you can gradually move beyond the facts into analysis, interpretation, conclusion and opinion – the reason the man slipped and fell, the cause of the bridge failure, the location of the plume of contamination, why inadequate foundations, the source of the flood water.<\/p>\n Does “sequential writing” resonate with expert report writing?\u00a0\u00a0This phrase appears often in Zinsser’s book in\u00a0chapters on all forms of non-friction writing but nowhere is it more relevant\u00a0than writing for\u00a0Science and Technology – expert report writing.<\/p>\n Civil procedure Rule 55 requires experts to state the basis of their opinions.\u00a0 Writing “sequentially” – thinking on paper, ensures we do this.<\/p>\n I recommend that you buy this book and give it to the next expert you retain. \u00a0Those of you practicing law, and insurance claims management and consulting, will also benefit from reading it.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I posted\u00a0five blogs in the past three years on writing expert reports. (Refs 1 to 5) \u00a0And referenced two excellent texts. (Refs 6 and 7) \u00a0These are guidelines for experts, as well as for those of you practicing law and … Continue reading \n