In today's April 1 DJ, PJ Gilbert has April Showers, where he notes that:
The California Legislature and a few forward-thinking state legislatures elsewhere have hired Professor Bryan Garner, editor of Black’s Law Dictionary, to redraft past legislation and to aid in the drafting of new legislation. This, occasioned by the complaint in some quarters, that much of the legislation is unintelligible. One goal is to limit the number of words in sentences to no more than 25 – yes, count them, 25 words. No longer will we have to read a single sentence of 177 words as found in Penal Code section 1203.2a.
Numerous Supreme Courts and appellate courts in various states including California are set to adopt new rules. Among them are the following: a. reasonable page limits for opinions: 25 is a good maximum. In unusual circumstances, that limit may be exceeded by a majority vote of the particular court. b. Opening paragraphs must be written in clear, concise language that informs the reader what the case is about. The opening paragraph or second paragraph shall include the holding, as a legal principle, not simply a factual conclusion. ... c. Opinions will clearly inform readers what they may and may not do. d. Except in unusual cases, opinions will be issued with reasonable promptness.
And Myron Moskovitz has Screening The Good From The Bad Before Filing an Appeal, about his screening process when evaluating a new matter.
Remember to click the "include footnotes box" when doing a word-count, or else you'll end up in a situation like this one (or worse) reported on Law360: Attys Dodge Sanctions Over Microsoft Word Error, Judge Rules
Also of note from Law360: Hogan Lovells Vet's High Court Debut A Study In Contrasts
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