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If it's in drafting, I use the read aloud feature in word. Hearing mistakes helps me catch them since my eyes often read over it since I knew what I intended to write.
Print it out and review it. And make an attention to detail checklist for all the things you should look out for. Tedious but it helps.
Rising Star
Slow down and double-check your work. Printing things and reviewing hardcopy rather than just on the computer helps some people.
Don’t submit anything unless you do the double check (or even triple check). Your supervisor will see your improvement.
If you have a legal assistant, ask them to proofread your drafts. They can often catch small errors or even suggest improvements if something doesn't make sense.
use ai to polish
Ok
Checklists. Each pass focused on something you often miss. Breaks between passes so you revisit with fresh eyes.
Totally understand. Can be frustrating but truly don’t rush, use technology (AI / definitions checkers, and other tools), and I always print and hand mark my edits and then make those edits in Word. Surprising how much better you get on paper! You can do it!
Some great suggestions here. If you have a staff member who is good at proofreading, they can help too.
We all make mistakes. Don't beat yourself up about it. The objective is to learn from our mistakes and don't make the same mistake twice. Find a mentor in your firm. Someone that you can have review your work and give you honest feedback. I also agree with the other comments. Check and double check your work and then let someone you trust check your work. That way you can learn and gain more confidence. We all go through this stage. The fact that you are working to address it speaks volumes. You are on your way.
Zoom in to 200% or more as you work to literally make mistakes bigger and easier to see
I work in 200% and had firm purchase a huge screen. So my work looks like a poster. Plus I can't see. 😎
So I started using AI for this and it is amazing! You just need to make sure that you have an enterprise version of the AI program that lets you upload client documents. If you can’t use AI, the best thing to do is to do a read through later (like first thing next morning) before submitting.
Read the document backwards in hard copy one sentence at a time. Sometimes reading from start to finish, you end up skimming and your brain essentially autocorrects any errors. By taking it from the computer to the page and reading out of order, you force yourself to pay more attention to the spelling and grammar of each sentence.
I've been an attoprney for 29 years and still make small mistakes. You can proof read it over and over and just not see them. I think most judges understand that small mistakes get made all the time.
My mentor always told me “Mel, there is nothing that can’t be fixed except for missing the statute and you may can successfully toll the statute.”
Make a checklist of your most common mistakes. Read the document multiple times, checklist in hand, to make sure you capture those mistakes. This is what I did as a first-year after making a particularly embarrassing mistake, and it really helped.
If you have a secretary or paralegal, you can also ask them to proof your work and let them know about your most common errors so that they’ll be on the lookout.
I stand up and read the work out loud slowly with a pen in my hand as I point to each word with the pen. I have ADD and this really helps me.
Double check your work, print a draft make corrections and print again. Ask your paralegal or secretary to proof it for you before you pass it to a partner or for filing. It's a good idea to always keep this practice. My reason, I've seen judges dress down young attorneys for just that reason. Seems like your working solo. Find an older paralegal and ask for her help. Trust me you will not be the first and certainly not the least. She possibly can show you a few tricks that can assist you. No one comes out of law school with writing skills to perfection. You got this.
I know this is hard to do with tight deadlines, it try and give yourself enough time when drafting that you can put a near-finished draft totally away for 1-2 days, then review a hard copy. This helps you catch nits, and also to see larger structural issues that you may not have seen when you were knee deep in the drafting.
Early in my career I found that I made frequent minor mistakes that were pointed out by the partner. I swear the harder I would review and proof my work I would still make small minor mistakes. Drove me crazy. Eventually, I am not sure why- it just all clicked. I think a lot of it is nerves and trying to hard which causes you to make more mistakes than you would normally make.
Having said that, I am very anal about contract drafting and my paralegals must think I am crazy. Heck, other attorneys send me contracts and some of them are so sloppy (undefined capitalized terms, incoherent clauses, not justified paragraphs all pet peeves).
In the end you’ll be fine, just keep at it.
Can you slow down some? Do you have a good paralegal who can help?
Triple check. Use read aloud.