After reading the other reviews, I felt it was necessary to add my thoughts to the list. I found out about this book a few months ago while talking to a rising 1L about his legal writing course. As a looked through it, I realized that the format of this book would be a great tool for me to edit my writing samples for prospective employers. Most of the advice in this book about techniques and strategy is great, at least for the way I learn. I made an outline of some of the chapters for myself, including the authors' guidelines and underlying reason for why those techniques and strategies work. (I know, it's like a class outline.)
This is the kind of guidance I find helpful. Our class used the Neumann book. Some people love the Neumann book, but it's not the best learning tool for me. Everyone learns differently. All I know is if I can't learn from it, it's of no value to me. The lack of examples is a legitimate point. I was lucky to have a legal writing professor who supplied us with copies of his own briefs for us to study. So, that was not much of a problem for me. In the end, Writing and Analysis in the Law is the legal writing guide I wish I had read the summer before law school and during the first year.