Shrink that sentence.

I love a short sentence.

Too often, I read a brief that asserts a point, but then qualifies that point in the same sentence with a "but"—maybe even additionally caveating that point with a hyphen—and then introduces another thought with an "and" (with a parenthetical explanation following that point), before finally finishing with a conclusory remark.

That sentence was a lot to read, right? I wouldn't blame you for skimming. When we read what other people have written, it's obvious when a sentence is too long and confusing. But when it's our own work, we're often so embedded in the material that a long sentence doesn't phase us. It's a challenge to pull yourself out of the headspace of an expert and put yourself in the shoes of someone who's reading your brief for the first time.

Reading something for the first time is already tiring enough (especially if you're a judge or a clerk and you're reading different briefs all day). It's even more tiring when the sentences in a brief are so long that you have to decipher what each one is saying. The last thing you want to do is make your reader spend additional energy understanding your point. So, break your sentences up wherever you can. Don't be afraid to use a period instead of a comma.

Don't get me wrong: there's a time and a place for a long sentence. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. included a sentence containing 310 words in "Letter from Birmingham Jail." This sentence listed out the countless injustices that Black Americans experienced on a daily basis. The length of the sentence hammered home the unending weight of these experiences. Should that sentence have been broken apart? Of course not. That would have eviscerated the emotional impact.

Ultimately, as with all writing, this comes down to intentionality. A well-placed run-on sentence can be effective when done right. But don't just throw in a long sentence because that's the way you wrote it in your first draft. If there isn't a clear reason for your long sentence, break it apart. Your readers will thank you for it.