Lawson Huck Gonzalez Sets One Standard for Every Brief

The opportunity

• One standard: Create a shared, objective framework for evaluating legal writing across the appellate practice
• Smarter triage: Help senior attorneys see quickly whether a draft needs line edits or structural work
• Built-in coaching: Support junior attorneys in building strong writing habits

Writing as a decision-making tool

For Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC, a brief must do more than summarize the law. It is a tool for judges and clerks that answers their questions, tells the client’s story, and makes the path to the right decision easier to follow.

The firm needed a consistent way to help attorneys sharpen structure, flow, tone, and clarity, so that writing feedback would reflect a shared professional standard rather than one reviewer's preferences. Less-experienced writers needed a framework to help them revise and improve their work, so senior attorneys could spend review time where it would add the most value.

BriefCatch gives legal writers this standard: an objective framework for clarity, organization, flow, cohesion, tone, precision, and punch. 

“I first used BriefCatch as a career staff attorney at the Florida Supreme Court, and I really liked it because it measures what matters — clarity, organizational structure, and tone.”
— Jessica Slatten, Founding Shareholder and Co-Chair, Appellate Practice Section, Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC

Implementation and integration

Jessica Slatten first encountered BriefCatch during her time at the Florida Supreme Court, and at her recommendation Lawson Huck Gonzalez adopted BriefCatch. She also estimated that roughly 10 attorneys in the appellate group use or are familiar with the platform, with a core group using it regularly on active appellate drafts.

The timing was also helped by internal champions. Alan Lawson, the firm’s founder and chairman, is a former Florida Supreme Court Justice, and fellow shareholder Anthony Sirven had used BriefCatch in private practice and was already interested in bringing it to the firm.

“I don’t necessarily use BriefCatch when I first start writing. I wait until I have a loose structure, especially some propositional point headings, and then I start running reports and scores pretty early on.”
— Jessica Slatten

A smarter first pass on every draft

Slatten runs every new draft through BriefCatch before she redlines it. If the scores are strong, she moves to line edits. If structure, flow, or cohesion are weak, she gives big-picture guidance first, and the scores give her an objective basis for explaining why. 

Some drafts need only polish; others need fundamental work. BriefCatch shows which.

“It helps me start interacting with the document and see where we’re starting from, so I can focus my revisions…”
— Jessica Slatten

A writing coach on the desktop

The biggest value, Slatten said, is that BriefCatch teaches attorneys what to notice. Over time, writers internalize stronger habits. 

BriefCatch is also useful for attorneys in leadership and review roles.  Reviewers can point writers to concrete, measurable elements instead of vague statements like “this needs to be clearer” or “the tone is off,” making feedback more actionable.

“BriefCatch is literally like having a writing coach on your desktop. No matter how good you actually are, you can always get better.”
— Jessica Slatten

An objective layer for high-stakes writing

BriefCatch also gives the firm a common language for writing quality. For Slatten, it provides an objective layer that helps reduce debates over personal style and focuses the conversation on what makes the writing stronger for the reader.

That objectivity is important in appellate practice, where judges and clerks often read dense, highly technical material under significant time pressure. Slatten noted that many Florida courts, including the Florida Supreme Court, have access to BriefCatch. For Slatten, that reinforces the importance of submitting writing  that has been tested for clarity, structure, tone, and cohesion before it reaches the court.

Results: stronger drafts, better feedback, and more targeted review

• More objective writing feedback: tied to measurable elements rather than personal preference
• More efficient senior review, with time spent where it adds the most value
• Stronger self-editing habits among junior attorneys
• More reader-focused briefs: BriefCatch helps attorneys keep the judge or clerk in mind and make dense or technical legal issues more accessible

“As legal writers, we know most judges don’t wake up wanting to read a 60-page brief… I want the brief to be a tool that helps them decide the case.”
— Jessica Slatten

The takeaway

For Lawson Huck Gonzalez, BriefCatch is a teaching tool, a review filter, and a shared standard, all aimed at briefs that help the court decide the case.

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