The Brief is published quarterly by the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) of the American Bar Association. The magazine reaches more than 6,000 attorneys who represent civil plaintiffs, defendants, insurers, and insurance organizations.
Content
The Brief publishes articles of interest to plaintiffs and defense lawyers and in-house counsel who practice in the areas of personal injury, torts, and insurance law. Feature articles offer in-depth treatment of the many facets of tort and insurance law, including emerging issues and recent legal developments. “Practice TIPS,” “Trial TIPS,” and “Solo and Small Firm Practice TIPS” are short articles that give practical, how-to advice on practice and litigation matters.
Style
The Brief publishes articles that are lively, insightful, and pertinent to TIPS members’ practices. Authors should use a style that is readable, journalistic, and less formal than a law review article. Key style guidelines for authors include:
- Use gender-neutral language.
- Strive for an interesting opening and closing.
- Avoid long quotes, excess verbiage, and overworked figures of speech.
- Avoid the passive tense when the active tense can be used instead.
- Avoid using a long word when a short one will do.
- Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word, or jargon if a more common English equivalent exists.
The Brief article style allows for two levels of subheads: first-level subheads are flush left in boldface type; second-level subheads are in boldface type and run-in, preceding the first sentence of a paragraph. Citations should appear as endnotes and follow Bluebook style (e.g., case names are italic in textual sentences but roman in citations). Limit citations to complete, accurate source documentation and, occasionally, brief textual comments. The Brief prefers to minimize the number of citations in feature articles. “Id.” citations are particularly discouraged. Avoid string cites; if necessary, use no more than three in a single endnote.