Have an Oral Argument? Bring Your Thesaurus
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly told lawyers at a dinner of the 7th Circuit Bar Association dinner earlier this month that when writing briefs and giving arguments, lawyers should "use words that would make people look at you funny if you were to use them at a cocktail party."
If you arguing to the United States Supreme Court, by all means, bring your thesaurus and have at it, those folks are used to dealing in big words. Otherwise, I think that you might want to consider the judge and the case before taking that advice.
