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Legislative Drafter's
Deskbook
A Practical Guide
"One of the best features of the book is
that the author does not just tell you the rules for
drafting legislation, he shows how they work; and, even
better, he shows how they can be used to turn an acceptable
draft into one that is more organized and precise."
-- David DeVries,
The Public Lawyer, Summer 2007
(click for full review - 3-page pdf) (chair of the Government
and Public Sector Lawyers Division of the ABA from
2000-2001)
"The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook:
A Practical Guide is a masterful work. It is
comprehensive and exceptionally well written. It is an
essential tool for anyone who drafts legislation or interprets
the law."
-- William K. Suter,
Clerk of the United States
Supreme Court
"The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook:
A Practical Guide is exactly that. It should be a part of every Federal practitioner's library. Even the experienced legislative attorney will find things in the Deskbook that he or she did not
know. It is an essential and indispensable book, both as a reference work and as a thorough introduction to Federal legislative drafting."
-- Frank Burk,
Legislative Counsel of the United States Senate 1991-1998
"The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook is
an invaluable resource for any legislative drafter working to hone her skills or student seeking to become proficient in legislative drafting. Uniquely among drafting guides, this book demonstrates a sophisticated institutional awareness, devoting substantial attention to statutory methods and techniques that will be used by courts to interpret statutes and to the approach that agencies are likely to take when interpreting or implementing Congress' directives. It is clear that this
Deskbook was written by an expert with experience in actual legislative drafting; it carefully analyzes the role of the drafter relative to the policymaker and includes helpful discussions of professional norms and expectations. Although the
Deskbook is focused on legislative drafting at the federal level, where Tobias Dorsey works in the House of Representatives' Office of Legislative Counsel,
the succinct and thorough assessment of good legislative drafting techniques provides a set of
'best practices' for drafters at all levels of government."
-- Elizabeth Garrett,
Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, Political Science, and Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California
"Dorsey's Legislative Drafter's Deskbook is
the perfect companion for both drafters of legislation and students of statutory interpretation. It is a well-written and clear guide to the do's, don'ts and whys of writing effective legislation."
-- Rick Hasen, William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law, Loyola Law School
"Tobias Dorsey has created a valuable and practical tool for all legislative drafters. He correctly notes that much of the drafter's work involves helping the client think through and clarify the policy choices in the request and he provides clear tips on how to persistently carry out that work. His chapters on writing and organizing bill drafts similarly identify common mistakes and suggest better practices. Dorsey's obvious drafting skills play out on every page of the book, as readers will find solid thinking and clear writing throughout his publication. Although the book has a federal perspective,
state legislative drafters will also greatly appreciate this work."
-- Bruce Feustel, Senior Fellow, National Conference of State Legislatures
"Comprehensive yet still accessible,
thorough yet refreshingly clear--Dorsey's new book, the Legislative Drafter's Deskbook, is a
stellar reference. If you are drafting federal legislation, you need
this book. If you work with legislative drafters, you need this book.
Even if you are just interested in the drafting process generally, you
will want this book."
-- Mary Barnard Ray,
Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Wisconsin, and author of "Legal Writing: Getting It Right and Getting It Written," "The Basics of Legal Writing," and "Beyond the Basics: A Text for Advanced Legal Writers"
"The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook is
essential reading for both professional and occasional legislative drafters. Dorsey's solid experience as a journalist, lawyer, and professional drafter shines through as he delivers scores of vital tips for successful drafting and provides keen insight into how our laws are made and how they are interpreted by the courts. Highly readable and thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover, Dorsey's deskbook
offers practical guidance to the aspiring drafter in not only polishing essential writing skills, but also in asking tough questions, spotting thorny issues, and offering creative solutions that will capture the intended choices of policymakers. If each legislative draft is indeed a puzzle, as Dorsey suggests, he has given us in this book the tools by which we can solve even the most vexing of legislative drafting problems."
-- Louis S. Rulli, Practice Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
"Legislative Drafter's Deskbook: A Practical Guide presents legislative scholars, legislation drafters, and quite frankly anyone interested in the construction of statute with a meticulous exploration of the planning and thought processes that must occur in order for clear, understandable laws to be written. Dorsey accomplishes his desired missions of providing practical advice to drafters and interesting insight to scholars (and normal people) on the drafting process."
-- Curtis Ellis,
American Political Science Association's Legislative Studies Section Newsletter
"The
Legislative Drafter's Deskbook is my most prized possession in my office. I am constantly highlighting and quoting from the book, and I
guard it with my life so nobody walks off with it! We recently went through government reform and transitioned from a tribal council form of government
to a three branch system. The Legislative Drafter's Deskbook has been fundamental in establishing our drafting procedures - thank you for this wonderful resource!"
-- Rebecca L. Hillock, J.D., Director of Legislative Services, Osage Nation Congress
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Table of Contents html
pdf
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The Author
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Chapter 1.00 Being a Drafter
pdf
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§ 2.90 Resolving Conflicts among Published Versions of Law html
pdf
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§ 3.01 Courts: The Most Important Audience html
pdf
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§
4.00 Thinking Through the Policy: Introduction html
pdf
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§ 4.10 The Perils of Ineffective Thinking html
pdf
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§
4.20 The Elements of Thinking Through the Policy
html
pdf
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§
4.27 Conducting a Reality Check
html
pdf
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§
4.32 The If-Then Model
html
pdf
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§
6.00 Writing Effectively: Introduction
html
pdf
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§
6.55 "Shall" and "May"
html
pdf
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§
6.90 No Such Thing as a Perfect Draft
html
pdf
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7.00 Organizing and Arranging: Introduction
html
pdf
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§
7.50 Using Definitions
html
pdf
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§
9.41 Notwithstanding Any Other Provision of Law
html
pdf
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§
9.70 Avoiding Damage to the Statute Book
html
pdf
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§
10.00 - 10.02 Working in, and Working with, the Executive
Branch
pdf
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Index
pdf
Legislative drafting is -- to the extent it is writing at all -- the form of writing used for legislative measures, a category that covers original bills and resolutions as well as amendments. Ultimately, legislative drafting is the form of writing used for enacted law. The focus of this book is on legislative drafting for the Congress of the United States, but many, if not most, of the principles described here apply just as well to drafting for other legislatures.
Within the profession, legislative drafting is known simply as drafting, so this book prefers that simpler term throughout. Likewise, this book uses "drafter" to mean one who drafts, "client" to mean one for whom the drafter drafts, and ``draft'' (as a noun) to mean the text prepared by the drafter for the client.
As forms of writing go, drafting is not freewheeling like poetry, nor showy like rhetoric, nor personal like a novel. Drafting is disciplined, rigorous, and analytical. Done well, drafting can also be creative, elegant, and clever. (Unfortunately, drafting is not always done well.)
Drafting is done by a wide variety of people with a wide variety of qualifications. Some drafters specialize in drafting, some do not. Some are full-time drafters, some not; some are in public service, some not. A drafter may or may not be a lawyer, though for some of the more advanced tasks, being a lawyer may be useful or even required.
The purpose of this book is to provide practical advice on drafting to anyone who does, or may, engage in drafting, and indirectly to provide insight into the drafting process to other interested people. For example, this book is for people who are more interested in policy than in drafting, but want to understand why drafters operate the way they do. It is also for people who are more interested in reading and interpreting the law than in drafting, but want to understand why laws are drafted the way they are. It is hoped that this book will be accessible to beginners while remaining valuable to veterans.
The traditional method of training drafters is to train them on the job; the consensus is that drafting is best learned holistically, on a case-by-case basis. For that reason this book is best used as a resource, not a course. It is a supplement to, not a substitute for, the learning that comes from experience.
The author has nearly 20 years' experience in writing and the law, first as a journalist, then as a trial and appellate lawyer, and finally as an assistant counsel in the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the United States House of Representatives. (The views expressed here are solely his own.) Based on his experiences, the author designed this book to answer the variety of questions about drafting that arise daily in the work of individuals with a professional interest in how bills, resolutions, and laws are drafted. The approach used here is pragmatic: You will find no linguistic theories or esoteric conundrums discussed here. What you will find is solid advice for everyday drafting projects.
TOBIAS A. DORSEY is an attorney in the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Within that office, he works primarily on issues relating to national defense, homeland security, and civil and criminal justice. He has taught at drafting seminars and is an active member of various drafting and professional associations. He serves on the governing council of the Capitol Hill Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Before joining the office, Mr. Dorsey was a trial and appellate lawyer in private practice. He has brought appeals to the highest State court of Maine and of California and to the Supreme Court of the United States. He has written articles, edited a legal magazine, and directed the in-house research and writing program at several law firms. He is a member of the bar in Maine, Massachusetts, and California, and a member of the bar association of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Dorsey was a reporter and editor for several newspapers. He earned his bachelor's degree from Cornell University and his law degree from UCLA School of Law.
Mr. Dorsey lives in Maryland with his wife, children, and border collie.
Clint Brass
wrote Chapter 10,
Working in, and Working with, the Executive Branch.
Legislative Drafter's
Deskbook
By Tobias A. Dorsey
Contributing Author: Clint
Brass
$150
Multiple copy discount
for single order to single shipping address.
Plus shipping and handling (6% of order, $7.95 minimum).
Discount for bookstores and classroom use.
VA sales tax added when shipped to VA address.
Ships within 1 business
day
Hardbound: 640 pages
ISBN 10: 1587330156
ISBN 13: 978-1-58733-015-5
LCCN: 2006923333
Published 2006
Dimensions: 7.25 x 10.25 x 1.25
Weight: 3.4 pounds
Publication descriptions and Order form (10-page pdf)
Also available:
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Drafting Federal Grant Statutes
Originally published in 1990, this
book was intended to aid congressional staff, legislative counsel,
lobbyists, and others involved in drafting grant-related
legislation on subjects ranging from drafting dispute clauses, to
addressing third party rights, to writing maintenance of effort
provisions, as well as providing sanctions for noncompliance.
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Last updated:
May 07, 2008
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