Here are my biggest pet peeves in legal drafting—primarily contracts and statutes. I’ve already posted my list for analytical writing here. This isn’t a list of the biggest problems in legal drafting, just the ones that bug me.

Sentence length

• Sometimes sentences in a contract run to hundreds of words in length. A former student sent me a change-of-control provision that was a single sentence of 379 words.

Witnesseth

• Huh?

Archaic words that are not terms of art.

• whereas, herein, said

Shall

• It’s not just the word you use whenever you feel the sense should be “mandatory.”

Doubling text and numerals

• This practice has annoyed me for nine (9) years.

Unnecessary or redundant word strings

• right, title, and interest
• transfer, convey, and set over