The New York Times called him "a silver-penned legal-writing specialist" and "the persnickety stylist for a linguistically challenged profession." The acclaimed novelist and essayist David Foster Wallace wrote that "Bryan Garner is a genius." And the Green Bag has added, "he teaches a mean seminar."

Editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary since its seventh edition, Garner has remained a prolific author. His works include The Elements of Legal Style, The Winning Brief, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style, Legal Writing in Plain English, Securities Disclosure in Plain English, and many other books and articles. In 2003, The Chicago Manual of Style incorporated his restatement of English grammar into its 15th edition.

He tackles many hands-on projects. A member of the American Law Institute since 1992, he served as lead reviser on its committee on bylaws and council rules. From 1992 to 1999, he helped restyle federal rules for the U.S. Judicial Conference's Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. He has done the same for courts in other states as well, including California and Texas. The Association of Reporters of Judicial Decisions recognized his contributions to judicial writing in 1994 with the prestigious Henry C. Lind Award, and in 2005 the Plain Language Institute presented him its Lifetime Achievement Award. But perhaps his toughest drafting challenge was sorting out that tangle of British and American laws governing his favorite sport. The result was published in 2004 - The Rules of Golf in Plain English.