Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BY GERALD LEBOVITS
GERALD LEBOVITS is a judge of the New York City Civil Court, Housing Part, in Manhattan. He thanks
court attorney Alexandra Standish for assisting in researching this column. His e-mail address is
GLebovits@aol.com.
I
n the last two columns, the Legal cite fact and law accurately, using the “It was Judge Beta who wrote the
Writer discussed 26 things you record for facts and original sources for opinion.” Here, the author emphasizes
should do in legal writing. We con- law. But don’t obsess. Obsessing over Judge Beta’s authorship even though
tinue with a baker’s dozen of things accuracy leads to including irrelevant it would have been more concise to
you shouldn’t do: 13 things writers details. Obsessing will make you over- write “Judge Beta wrote the opinion.”
should hate. ly cautious, force you to over-explain, Rhythm example: “To everything there is
1. Hate Boilerplate. Boilerplate is cause you to submit a document late, a season.”1 This example would have
laziness. It’s boring and intimidating and lead you to hate being a lawyer. been different had the author written
at the same time. Readers know when Exaggerating is a form of misrepre- “To everything is a season.” Climax
you do a cut-and-paste job. They won’t senting. Understate not only to show example: “There is a prejudice against
read boilerplate. Don’t recycle your integrity but also because understating sentences that begin with expletives”
legal arguments. If you or the person persuades. Understating calls atten- is better than “A prejudice against
from whom you’ve copied your boil- tion to content, not the writing or the sentences that begin with expletives
erplate made errors in the original writer. Also, concede what you must to exists.” The climax should not be on
document, you’ll repeat them in your make you honest and reasonable. “exists.”
boilerplate. Each client and case is 4. Hate Expletives. “Expletive” 5. Hate Mixed Metaphors, Puns,
unique. Boilerplate won’t be specific means “filled out” in Latin. Avoid Rhetorical Questions, and False
to your case. Boilerplate is fine for con- expletives: “there are,” “there is,” Ethical Appeals. Metaphors com-
tracts or forms. It’s unacceptable in a “there were,” “there was,” “there to pare two or more seemingly unre-
legal argument. be,” “it is,” and “it was.” Examples: lated subjects. Metaphors make the
2. Hate Clichés. Avoid clichés like “There are three issues in this case.” first subject equal to the second: “All
the plague. Clichés make writers look Becomes: “This case has three issues.” the world’s a stage/ And all the men
as if they lack independent thought.
They’re banal. Eliminate the following:
“all things considered,” “at first blush,”
Readers know when you do a cut-and-paste
“clean slate,” “exercise in futility,” “fall job. Don’t recycle your legal arguments.
on deaf ears,” “foregone conclusion,”
“it goes without saying,” “last-ditch “There is no fact that is more damag- and women merely players.”2 In this
effort,” “leave no stone unturned,” ing.” Becomes: “No fact is more dam- example, Shakespeare compared the
“lock, stock, and barrel,” “making a aging.” “The court found there to be world to a stage, and men and women
mountain out of a molehill,” “nip in prosecutorial misconduct.” Becomes: to actors. Mixed metaphors combine
the bud,” “none the wiser,” “pros and “The court found prosecutorial mis- two commonly used metaphors to cre-
cons,” “search far and wide,” “step up conduct.” Also eliminate double exple- ate a nonsensical image: “He tried to
to the plate,” “tip of the iceberg,” “wait tives: “It is obvious that it will be nip it in the bud but made a mountain
and see,” “wheels of justice,” “when my downfall.” Becomes: “My mistake out of a molehill.” Puns fail because
the going gets tough,” and “writing on will be my downfall.” Exceptions: Use they transform formal legal writing to
a clean slate.” expletives for emphasis; for rhythm; to informal writing. Puns are for children,
3. Hate Misrepresentations and climax (end with emphasis); or to go not groan readers. A pun is a figure of
Exaggerations. Be honest. Mistakes are from short to long or from old to new. speech that uses homonyms as syn-
excused. Purposeful misstatements and Emphasis examples: “It was a full metal onyms for rhetorical effect. Examples:
negligent misquoting aren’t. Honesty jacket bullet that killed John.” Here, “Whom did the mortician invite to his
is the best policy. It’s also the only the author emphasizes the object that
policy. To prevent misrepresentations, killed John, not that John was killed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
with these suffixes: “-tion,” “-sion,” attacks, and sarcasm have no place in 5. Id. (attributed to Goeff Tibballs).
“-ment,” “-ence,” “-ance,” and “- legal writing. Attacking others won’t 6. Id. (attributed to Phylbert).
ity.” Use strong verbs: “Allegation” advance your reasoning. This behav-
becomes “allege.” “Approval” becomes
“approve.” “Assistance” becomes
“assist.” “Complaint” becomes “com-
plain.” “Conclusion” becomes “con-
clude.” “Conformity” becomes “con-
form.” “Consideration” becomes “con-
sider.” “Decision” becomes “decide.”
“Description” becomes “describe.”
“Dissatisfaction” becomes “dissat-
isfied.” “Documentation” becomes
“documents.” “Enforcement” becomes
“enforce.” “Evaluation” becomes “eval-
uate.” “Examination” becomes “exam-
ine.” “Finding” becomes “found.”
“Holding” becomes “held” or “holds.”
“Identification” becomes “identify.”
“Indemnification” becomes “indem-
nify.” “Knowledge” becomes “know.”
“Litigation” becomes “litigate.”
“Motion” becomes “moved.” “Notation”
becomes “noted.” “Obligation” becomes
“obligate” or “oblige.” “Opposition”
becomes “oppose.” “Performance”