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Omit needless details
If a detail isn’t relevant or useful, omit it. In legal writing, needless details often appear as names and dates.
Larding a statement of facts with dates annoys some readers, including judges: “Most dates are clutter,” says Judge Mark Painter in his book The Legal Writer. And names can be clutter, too, if the people named aren’t important or won’t be mentioned again.
Using a specific name or date tells the reader it’s important; often it’s not. Here’s an example with a date and three full names:
As you edit this sentence, think about the story you’re telling and the points you’ll argue. If April 4 isn’t important and won’t appear again, omit it. As for the names, let’s imagine that Isam Yasar and James Lira are important characters you’ll mention several times. Leave them alone. But let’s imagine that Russell Dunagan is not important, so you can call him the supervisor.
Same content, but now it’s down from 35 words to 30. Concision.
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Legal Eggcorns
An “eggcorn” is a word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another and often appears as a misspelling of the original. The term itself derived from a mishearing of the word “acorn.” Another term for these errors is malaprop. Some examples you might be familiar with are could of for could’ve, last stitch effort for last ditch effort, and for all intensive purposes for for all intents and purposes.
The following law-related eggcorns are real, and I have the citations to prove it. Some are certainly genuine eggcorns, and others are probably just typos, but they’re all entertaining. All but one are from judicial opinions.
illicit a response (elicit a response)
“The flavor of plaintiff’s counsel’s conduct throughout the trial is perhaps best illustrated by the following episode, in which plaintiff’s counsel was supposedly trying to illicit a response from plaintiff which would describe the size of the warehouse where the accident took place.”
mute point (moot point)
“For forensic patients, the discharge planning process and treatment did not include an initial, meaningful discussion of housing. Aftercare was a mute point.”
flush out (flesh out)
“It is not the role of this Court to construct arguments for the parties, or to flush out incomplete arguments.”
quickclaim deed (quitclaim deed)
“In support of her assertion, she has directed the court’s attention to a quickclaim deed executed by Burns McFarland on March 27, 2003.”
preemptory challenge (peremptory challenge)
“In his application for habeas relief, Jones argued that at trial the prosecution used its preemptory challenges to strike black persons from the jury in violation of his right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
collaborating evidence (corroborating evidence)
“The IJ noted that Liu had failed to provide any additional collaborating evidence.”
tenants of the Constitution (tenets of the Constitution)
“To allow the Respondent the ability to flippantly hide behind a state statute in order to avoid compliance with one of the tenants of our Constitution that proper notice of a property interest must be given, is contrary to that authority and should be corrected.”
pass mustard (pass muster)
“While it may not pass mustard under the statutory standard for § 1325, most people in the community would not consider such an expense—if not manipulated—to be abusive.
Deflate compound prepositions.
Compound prepositions are prepositions on steroids. Instead of being concise and simple, they’re puffed up, like for the purpose of, by means of, and with reference to.
In Plain English for Lawyers, Richard Wydick says they “suck the vital juices from your writing.” He offers some of his least favorites: by virtue of, in relation to, and with a view toward. And in The Grammatical Lawyer, Morton Freeman calls them “drawn-out prepositional phrases” (an apt name). He particularly dislikes during the course of, in terms of, and on the part of.
They’re almost always unnecessary, so deflate them. For example, the compound prepositions in the next sentence can be easily shortened to one word:
Put them on your editing checklist.
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