Rachel H. Smith (legal communication and research skills, U. of Miami School of Law), has created a short, practical, how-to survival guide for those who must produce legal writing. It is largely a guide to the principles of expository writing that everyone should have learned in high school, many people did not, and many more have forgotten. Smith's mission is to make sure that people remember, even when the sentences they must write are incomprehensible to those of us who do not have a legal education, and that they be able to apply these rules in technical ways to legal forms. As a former working lawyer, Smith understands legalese, but her most valuable point is that good legal writing has very little to do with legal jargon: make an outline. Use topic sentences. Know the point of each paragraph. Stay within your page limit. The book is divided into practical chapters: Surviving Legal Writing (simplifying text, shortening text, figuring out a document you do not understand), Surviving Memos, Surviving Briefs, Surviving Correspondence, and a Survival Toolbelt (basic rules of grammar and usage, citation, and style for writers who may never have heard of Strunk and White). Smith has the direct style of a writer and teacher who has learned not to waste any time; subject headings include how to write "I was wrong," "I need help," and "I did not mean to send that earlier email" emails. Along the way, the book offers the kind of practical emotional advice that will be valuable to those who are trying to produce highly technical documents in a highly competitive environment without adequate sleep. This writer knows her audience. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)