Writer with attempt to capture US lawyer’s excessive precision (8)
I believe the answer is:
pedantry
'excessive precision' is the definition.
(being overly or excessively precise)
'writer with attempt to capture us lawyer's' is the wordplay.
'writer with' becomes 'pen' (I've seen this in other clues).
'attempt to' becomes 'try' (I've seen this in other clues).
'capture' is an insertion indicator.
'us lawyer' becomes 'DA' (abbreviation for District Attorney).
'pen'+'try'='pentry'
'pentry' placed around 'da' is 'PEDANTRY'.
(Other definitions for pedantry that I've seen before include "Fastidiousness" , "undue formality" , "hair-splitting?" , "a particular habit?" , "Over-attention to detail" .)