The 36 Rules of

Legal Writing

The most important rules for lawyers to

know to avoid their most common
mistakes in legal writing

John James McVeigh DTEFL, MBA, LLM

CEO, Nixedonia
The 36 Rules of Legal Writing
1st Edition – 20 November 2019
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Publisher.

First published 2019

This edition produced exclusively for the sole use of the Purchaser (legal entity).

Copyright © 2019 by John James McVeigh

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Written by John James McVeigh

Design & Illustrations by Andrei Lepsii
Research by Alexander Trofimov & Alexey Loskutov
Sales & Marketing by Daniil Craciun

First Printed in Scotland by Nixedonia

Nixedonia Limited - www.nixedonia.com

i
Foreword

ii
Foreword

Since establishing Nixedonia in 2015, having worked earlier for several years in a
legal training capacity across the various offices of the international law firm, DLA
Piper, I noticed that lawyers, regardless of their country, were commonly making
the very same mistakes in their legal writing. After doing numerous training
sessions on legal writing, I began to compile The Rules of Legal Writing whereby I
would concisely explain what specific rules were, in order to help the lawyers to
avoid the common mistakes I was seeing being made. In my experience, it was no
use handing a lawyer a fat book on grammar, or a style-guide, as they would be lost
in too much information – what was needed were clear and concise rules to know,
and then apply.

Finally, after a couple of years, I decided to put all these rules together as one book
of materials, which you now have before you. This work, The 36 Rules of Legal
Writing may prove useful for you to become aware of the main rules needed to
avoid common mistakes. Each rule has been given a name, in order to facilitate
ease of remembering. While a number of the rules do have a distinctively Russian
flavour to them, such as The 1-Ruble Rule, or The Babushka Rule, as I had been
based in Moscow and Saint Petersburg for twenty years, the rules, nevertheless,
will be applicable for all lawyers – both native and non-native speakers.

Further, please note that in an attempt to motivate and inspire readers, I have
included one famous quote related to writing after each of the 36 Rules. Anything
that can be done to make what can be a dry topic more interesting is certainly worth
attempting. The best writing done by lawyers will only be that writing which is
written with focus, interest, and enthusiasm – hence hopefully these quotes will
also, to some small degree, motivate the readers to proceed further with legal
writing and to attain that inspiration.

Should you wish to purchase an expanded Self-Study Legal Writing Book, building
on these 36 Rules, including exercises and answers for each of the 36 Rules, which
comes to €49.99, feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist you.

With best wishes for improving your legal writing,

John James McVeigh

John@nixedonia.com
Tbilisi, Georgia
20 November 2019

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Table of Contents

Foreword
1. The Plain English Rule................................................................................................. 5
2. The 1-Ruble Rule ......................................................................................................... 6
3. The SVO Rule ............................................................................................................... 8
4. The Shan’t Rule ............................................................................................................ 9
5. The Babushka Rule ................................................................................................... 10
6. The Nye-Nye Rule ...................................................................................................... 12
7. The KISS Rule & The Singular Rule .......................................................................... 13
8. The He-She Rule & The Ambiguous He Rule .......................................................... 15
9. The UOU Rule ............................................................................................................ 16
10. The Topics Rule ....................................................................................................... 17
11. The Parallelisms Rule.............................................................................................. 18
12. The Semi-Colon Rules ............................................................................................. 20
13. The Connectors & Signposts Rule ......................................................................... 21
14. The Who-Whom Rule .............................................................................................. 23
15. The Doublets & Triplets Rule ................................................................................. 24
16. The Structures Rules............................................................................................... 25
17. The Articles Rules .................................................................................................... 26
18. The Apostrophe Rules ............................................................................................ 29
19. The SV-Agreement Rule.......................................................................................... 30
20. The Colon Rules ...................................................................................................... 31
21. The Which-That Rule............................................................................................... 32
22. The Tidy Prepositions Rule..................................................................................... 34
23. The Quotations Rule & The Left Rule of Commas ............................................... 35
24. The Salutations Rule ............................................................................................... 36
25. The Commas Rules & The Commaphobia Rule ................................................... 37
26. The Modifiers Rule .................................................................................................. 40
27. The Homophone Rule ............................................................................................ 40
28. The Ions Rule ........................................................................................................... 41
29. The Rules of Titles & Degrees ................................................................................ 42
30. The Dangling Modifiers Rule .................................................................................. 43
31. The Rule of Sentence Fragments........................................................................... 45
32. The Pronouns Rules ................................................................................................ 45
33. The Modals Rules .................................................................................................... 46
34. The Rules of Capitalization..................................................................................... 48
35. The Rules of Conditionals ...................................................................................... 49
36. The Its Rule .............................................................................................................. 50
Other Published Works by the Author
About the Author

4
1. The Plain English Rule
Lawyers often use words and terms that are unfamiliar to non-lawyers. However,
additionally, many lawyers use legal jargon (so-called Legalese) unnecessarily.
Using plain, simple English (the preferable Plain English) will make your legal
writing better and more easily understood by clients.

A few examples of Legalese words include the following:

Aforementioned Aforesaid Hereto Heretofore

Herewith Said (Adj) Hereby Therein
Thereof Thereto Therefor Therewith
Whereby Wherefore Wherein Whereto.

I call these abovementioned words Archaisms – don’t use them in your writing –
try to stick to Plain English. Also, it goes without saying that Latinisms should not
be used either.

Some further points to keep in mind in order to follow the Plain English Rule are
as follows:

• Use consistent language

When expressing a concept, use the same word or phrase consistently throughout
the document. Any changes in words or phrases will lead to confusion as your client
is forced to consider why a change occurred in the first place.

Therefore, if you do not intend to change the meaning, do not change words or
phrases.

• Use euphemisms to create an impression

To be politically correct and in other areas, euphemisms are used to replace words
or expressions that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant, for
example: This man is underprivileged (not) This man is poor.

I think this above approach ties in nicely with my advice that it is better to be “wrong
in a nice way” than to be “wrong in a wrong way”. What I mean by this is that it is
best to err on the side of being too polite, and it coming across as rather formal or
unusual, than to risk coming across as blunt and direct.

5
 “This is how you do it: you sit down at the
keyboard and you put one word after
another until it’s done. It's that easy, and
that hard.”

Neil Gaiman

2. The 1-Ruble Rule

Regardless of the country where I do training, I see that one of the most common
mistakes lawyers are making, especially young lawyers, in their legal writing is quite
simple: they write too much. The writing is Fluffy. It is too verbose. In order to avoid
Fluffy Writing, and to have good concise legal English, we might follow the steps
below:

• Write down all your ideas without censoring. Then return and summarize
each paragraph in one sentence. This one sentence may be enough to
communicate the gist of the paragraph.

• Simplify Legalese – turn complex wordy legalistic language into Plain

English. Subject repetition under synonyms should be avoided.

• Review your text to make sure that words and ideas are not repeated
unnecessarily. It's not difficult to catch repeated words, but repeated
ideas can slip through.

• If each word would cost you 1 Ruble… which words would you cut? How
many Rubles can you save without changing the meaning of the writing?
This is the 1-Ruble Rule – how much more concise can we get?

• Choose simple words over complex ones. It will make your writing easier
to read e.g. “use” instead of “utilize”, “working” instead of “operational”.
Use a long word only if it’s necessary for clarity or to convey a precise
meaning.

• Replace noun expressions with verbs. “Develop a full understanding of” =

“understand fully”

Below we can see some examples of Legalese and their more concise translations
into Plain English:

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Legalese Plain English

aforesaid already mentioned; above;

along the lines of; as a matter of fact, like
at all times always
at the present time; at this point in time now; currently
because of the fact that because of
by means of by
by reason of because of
despite the fact that although; even though
due to the fact that because (of)
for the purpose of to; in
for the reason that because of
has the ability to can; be able to
henceforth from now on
hereafter after [and state date or time]
hereinafter below
hereunder below
in accordance with under
in favour of for; to
in order to to
in spite of the fact that although; though
in the event that If
in the nature of like
not less than at least
pertaining to about
prior to before
procure ensure; cause; arrange
provided that but; if; except that
pursuant to the provisions of under
retain keep
subsequent to after
thereby by
thereinafter afterwards; from then on; later
thereunder under it; under the [document]
therewith with it
the same it; them
whereupon after which
with a view to to
with reference to; with respect to about; concerning
with regard to about; concerning; in; to
with the exception of except for
until such time as until
until to

7
 “All the fun is in how you say a thing.”

Robert Frost

3. The SVO Rule

English loves the SVO word order. Subject-Verb-Object. It is best to stick to this.
English is not as flexible in word order as some other languages – for example,
Russian. So, if translating into English, you might have to rearrange the word order
to reflect SVO.

• The plaintiff sued the defendant. (the actor does the action to the receiver
of the action)

The SVO is the heart of our sentence. We can then add other parts of speech around
our SVO.

So, time expressions can be added at the start or end of the SVO.

• Yesterday, the plaintiff sued the defendant.

• The plaintiff sued the defendant, yesterday.

Do not insert extra information, between commas, between the elements of the
SVO as this can lead to confusion regarding which subject refers to which verb, and
which verb to which object. Keep It Simple. We can call this extra information
Embeddings.

Avoid Embeddings

Hence, as mentioned already, do avoid using Embeddings, as they make a

sentence difficult to follow, for example:

• Everyone must do the pro-bono work, except Natasha, Masha, and Sasha.
(clear)
• Everyone, except Natasha, Masha, and Sasha, must do the pro-bono
work.
(not clear)

In the above example, with the Embedding, we are splitting the SVO.

Another example of ambiguity caused by Embedding can be seen below:

8
 • The client has to, on the day the payment is transferred from the account
of the supplier, close the account.
(not clear)
• The client has to close the account on the day the payment is transferred
from the account of the supplier.
(clear)

“The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence

is written.”

Joyce Carol Oates, WD

4. The Shan’t Rule

It would be better to not use Shall. Despite its popularity in some British and
American law firms, Shall is itself an Archaism. Shall has a different meaning in
legal English than it does in common English. It sounds formal, cold, and distant.
There are further reasons not to use Shall in your legal writing:

• First, lawyers regularly misuse it to mean something other than "has a

duty to." It has become so corrupted by misuse that it has no firm
meaning.

• Second, and related to the first, it breeds litigation. There are 76 pages in
"Words and Phrases" (a legal reference) that summarize hundreds of
cases interpreting "shall".

• Third, nobody uses Shall in common speech. It's one more example of
unnecessary Legalese. Nobody says, "You shall finish the project in a
week." Unless we wish to sound like somebody from a Jane Austen book,
it is best to use Plain English expressions.

So, what can we use instead of Shall?

Don’t use must or have to. Must can show an internal desire, “I must do the work”,
and has to can show an external obligation, “I have to do the work” Neither of these
are suitable in legal writing.

In a similar light, never use the awful constructions of “is obligated to”, or “is obliged
to” – neither show the modal strength required.

9
Thus, instead of these, we have some other options for replacing Shall:

• To be to describe a current or future obligation;

• May to describe a discretion or right; and
• Will to express a future event or intention.

One final option is to use the present simple form.

• The seller shall sell to the buyer…

(Archaic Legalese)
• The seller is to sell to the buyer…
(Plain English)

“For your born writer, nothing is so

healing as the realization that he has
come upon the right word.”

Catherine Drinker Bowen

5. The Babushka Rule

The word Babushka means Grandmother in Russian.

If we have good communication skills as lawyers, we should be able to express the

most complex of transactions, in Plain English, so that a non-specialist, such as a
Babushka can understand.

If a Babushka does not understand what you are communicating, then it is not that
she is a bad listener, it is that you are a bad explainer.

So, how can we help the non-specialist understand what we are saying? As we have
seen already, we should apply two of the earlier learnt foundation Rules of Legal
Writing:

• The Plain English Rule

• The 1-Ruble Rule

Additionally, take these tips into consideration:

10
Use short words instead of long ones

Never use long and complex words if short ones will do.

Long and complex words are usually of French origin in English. Anglo-Saxon words,
which are of Germanic origin, are usually preferable for Plain English for example,
commence (French origin) v. begin (Germanic origin), or terminate (French origin)
v. end (Germanic origin).

Avoid using and/or

Avoid using the phrase and/or because it is often inaccurate. Normally, you can just
use or on its own, for example:

• All board members have at least ten years’ experience in directly

executing functions in financial institutions, insurance companies and/or
related regulatory authorities.

However, if you need to be more precise, work out what you mean and choose the
construction that fits your meaning, even if it makes the sentence longer. If three
or more options exist, consider using a list, for example:

• All board members have at least ten years’ experience in directly

executing functions in:

- financial institutions;
- insurance companies; or
- related regulatory authorities.

Substitute an Adverb for a Prepositional Phrase

• The politician responded to the allegations with vehemence.

• The politician responded vehemently to the allegations.

Use a Genitive in Place of a Prepositional Phrase

• She was disturbed by the images in the movie.

• She was disturbed by the movie’s images.

Omit Prepositions by Eliminating Nominalizations

• Their attempt to provide a justification of the expense was unsuccessful.

• Their attempt to justify the expense was unsuccessful.

11
Delete Prepositional Phrases

• The best outcome for this scenario would be an incremental withdrawal.

• The best outcome would be an incremental withdrawal.

“The difference between the right word

and the almost right word is the
difference between lightening and the
lightening bug.”

Mark Twain

6. The Nye-Nye Rule

Take a look at the conversation below between Prince Charming, and Pinocchio,
from the movie “Shrek The Third”:

Prince Charming: You! You can't lie Pinocchio! So, tell me, where is Shrek?
Pinocchio: Uh, I don't know where he's not.
Prince Charming: You're telling me you don't know where Shrek is?
Pinocchio: It wouldn't be inaccurate to assume that I couldn't exactly not say that
it is or isn't almost partially incorrect.
Prince Charming: So, you do know where he is!
Pinocchio: On the contrary. I'm possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the
idea that in no way with any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably…
Prince Charming: Stop it!
Pinocchio: ...do or do not know where he shouldn't probably be, if that indeed
wasn't where he isn't. Even if he wasn't at where I knew he was...

— Shrek The Third

Pinocchio is breaking all the Rules of Legal Writing that we have seen so far. His
speech is not in Plain English, nor does it follow the 1-Ruble Rule since it is too
Fluffy, he is splitting his SVOs, and it is unlikely that any Babushka could
understand what he is saying.

Moreover, to make his communication even harder to understand he is usually

multiple negatives. He is breaking the Nye Nye Rule. (Nye is the negative form in
Russian)

12
As lawyers we should be careful when using multiple negatives. There does remain
a correct meaning to a sentence with double or multiple negatives – you we might
not know what it is.

Hence, is usually better to draft in the positive, particularly if a clause is qualified by

exceptions and restrictions.

In contrast to Russian, and many other languages, a double negative in English

produces a positive meaning.

Positive sentences are shorter and easier to understand than their negative
counterparts. Readers like to think in the positive and automatically convert
negative messages into the positive to understand them. A negative sentence
forces the reader to take an unnecessary step to grasp the meaning, for example:

• A lawyer is not prohibited from acting as an arbitrator.

• A lawyer may act as an arbitrator.

“What’s the point in being able to talk if

you have to keep secrets?”

Shrek’s Donkey

7. The KISS Rule & The Singular Rule

Again, I think it is worth labouring the point, but we should keep our writing clear,
concise and short.

The KISS Rule stands for “Keep It Simple, Silly”.

We need not over-complicate our lives with horribly long and complex sentences.
In fact, if you translate directly from one language into English, for example Russian,
this might be exactly what happens.

If you can take out a word from your writing, without harming your message, then
take it out. We have seen this already under the 1-Ruble Rule.

Take a look at the writing sample below:

13
At our meeting between representatives of the parties to the joint venture ABC Ltd
and their separate lawyers on the 21st day of June 2015, you, the representatives
of the parties, instructed us to prepare and produce as quickly as possible, because
the matter was extremely urgent, a new draft of the Joint Venture Agreement which
could be based on the draft document that we have discussed and marked up
during the course of our meeting and I now attach hereto the new draft of such
Joint Venture Agreement for your thoughts and for your comments thereon.

Clearly, you can put this much more simply and briefly. On the other hand, do not
omit words that are necessary for grammatical and logical completeness. Do not
be afraid to cut long sentences into shorter parts. In fact, this is what we should do
in order to follow The KISS Rule.

However, if you cannot shorten a long sentence, consider breaking the sentence
into a list by using introductory wording followed by subparagraphs. Although
using a list in this way does not reduce sentence length, it makes the sentence
easier to follow. When using introductory wording, followed by linked
subparagraphs that are all grammatically one sentence, ensure that:

• the introductory wording is followed by a colon (:);

• each subparagraph agrees, in content (pattern) and grammar, with the
introductory wording;
• each subparagraph begins with a lower-case letter;
• no full stop occurs within a subparagraph; and
• the last subparagraph ends with a full stop.

On a related note to The KISS Rule, try to write in the singular rather than the plural.

This is called The Singular Rule. Compare the two sentences below:

• Employees who have earned more than 100 points are eligible for
positions under Section 78.
• Any employee who has earned more than 100 points is eligible for any
position listed under Section 78.

The singular is easier to understand than the plural.

“If my doctor told me I had only six

minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type
a little faster.”

Isaac Asimov

14
8. The He-She Rule & The Ambiguous He
Rule
It is better to use gender-neutral language in Plain English when making general
statements that do not relate to a specific person or group. This means we should
avoid using gender specific references (for example, his, her, he, she).

Also, note, we should never use the messy structure of he/she in legal writing! This
breaks the flow of reading and looks clumsy.

There are some simple techniques that will help in following gender-neutral
language:

• replace the gender pronoun with their;

The contractor will sign his invoice…

The contractor will sign their invoice…

• use a strong verb;

The GM is to make his payments each quarter…

The GM is to pay each quarter…

• use you;

Any employee must do his best.

You must do your best.

• use a neutral word or phrase such as “person”, “any person”, “every

person” or “no person”.

After his term as a member ends, he may carry out his duties as a
member…
After a person’s term as a member ends, the person may carry out the
person’s duties as a member…

On a related note, keep in mind that it is better to refer to subjects by name rather
than gender pronoun, in any case, in order to avoid subject ambiguity:

15
The Ambiguous He Rule

The plaintiff sued the defendant. He was angry.

- who was angry? Plaintiff or defendant?
The plaintiff sued the defendant. The defendant was angry
- now this is clear

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the

reader. No surprise in the writer, no
surprise in the reader.”

Robert Frost

9. The UOU Rule

A passive construction is when you make the object of an action into the subject of
a sentence. That is, the one performing the action is not the grammatical subject of
the sentence, for example:

• The contract must be amended by the counterparty.

The counterparty is the actor in this sentence, but the contract is the grammatical
subject. Thus, we can think of passive sentences as not being SVO, but, rather, as
being OVS.

• I wrote a contract (SVO)

• A contract was written by me (OVS)

A more familiar and straightforward phrasing places the actor as the subject – a
subject is doing something:

• The counterparty must amend the contract.

The latter follows The SVO Rule and is easier to understand.

Thus, it is generally better in Plain English to switch the OVS into an SVO. However,
note, when we change a passive sentence into an active sentence, then the ending
“by somebody” is generally redundant and can be excluded. So, quite often, our
passive sentence will only be OV rather than OVS.

The contract was drafted. (rather than) The contract was drafted by the lawyer.

16
Still, we can be justified in using the passive voice if it occurs when the subject is
Unknown, Obvious or Unimportant. This is The UOU Rule. In fact, in these cases,
active voice would appear strange. Compare the examples below:

Active Sentence Passive Sentence

Unknown Subject
Somebody burgled the property. The property was burgled.

Obvious Subject
The judge makes judgments in court. Judgments are made in court.

Unimportant Subject
The police interviewed witnesses. Witnesses were interviewed.

Generally, legal English needs a concrete subject, so don't use passive voice unless
the subject really is UOU.

“People say, ‘What advice do you have

for people who want to be writers?’ I
say, they don’t really need advice, they
know they want to be writers, and
they’re gonna do it. Those people who
know that they really want to do this
and are cut out for it, they know it.”

R.L. Stine, WD

10. The Topics Rule

In good Plain English, a topic sentence should state the main point of a paragraph.

When read in sequence, your topic sentences will provide a sketch of the whole
writing's argument. Thus, it becomes possible to quickly read a document from
each of the topic sentences. This style of writing is following The Topics Rule.

To get into a little more detail, we can say that our topic sentence contains a couple
of elements:

Topic Sentence = Topic + Controlling Idea

17
The topic sentences below contain a topic (underlined) and controlling idea (bold).

• People can avoid burglaries by taking certain precautions.

(The precautions for…)

• There are several advantages to growing up in a small town.

(The advantages of…)

• Most US universities require a 550-point TOEFL score for a number of

reasons.
(The reasons for…)

• Air pollution in Mexico City is the worst in the world for a number of
reasons.
(The causes of…) or (The effects of…)
• Fixing a flat tire on a bicycle is easy if you follow these steps.
(The steps for…)

A typical paragraph starts with a topic sentence which has a controlling idea or
claim, which it then explains, develops, or supports with evidence.

Paragraph Sprawl is a common mistake where digressions are introduced into an

otherwise focused and unified discussion.

“I would advise anyone who aspires to a

writing career that before developing his
talent he would be wise to develop a
thick hide.”

Harper Lee, WD

11. The Parallelisms Rule

The Parallelisms Rule means that we should use the same pattern of words to
show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance.

This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level.

The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions
such as "and" or "or."

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Parallel:
Mary likes drafting, researching, and litigating.

Not Parallel:
Mary likes drafting, researching and to litigate.

Parallel:
The paralegal was asked to write quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

Not Parallel:
The paralegal was asked to write quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.

Parallel:
The Legal Professor said that she was a poor student because she waited until the
last minute to study for the exam, completed her tasks in a careless manner, and
lacked motivation.

Not Parallel:
The Legal Professor said that she was a poor student because she waited until the
last minute to study for the exam, completed her tasks in a careless manner, and
her motivation was low.

Parallel:
The Partner expected that he would present his recommendation at the meeting,
that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that the
prospective clients would ask him questions.

Not Parallel:
The Partner expected that he would present his recommendation at the meeting,
that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that questions
would be asked by the prospective clients.

Applying The Parallelisms Rule can be tricky. However, this is necessary as having
non-parallel structures are not only less elegant in style, but they can have different
meanings.

Be sure to structure your writing of sentences containing multiple parts with

parallel structure from the beginning, rather than trying to apply it in editing
afterwards which can take you a lot of time and effort.

19
 “Write the kind of story you would like to
read. People will give you all sorts of
advice about writing, but if you are not
writing something you like, no one else
will like it either.”

Meg Cabot

12. The Semi-Colon Rules

After the full stop, the exclamation mark, and the question mark, the semi-colon is
probably the easiest of the Legal English Trio of punctuation marks that lawyers
need help with. The Legal English Trio consists of the colon, the semi-colon, and
the commonly misunderstood comma. The comma is by far the most difficult of
all the punctuation marks in English, but we will come back to that later.

The semi-colon represents a break within a sentence that is stronger than a

comma, but less final than a full stop. It enables a lawyer to avoid overuse of the
comma and preserves the finality of the full stop. Semi-colons are used to
separate items in a list and to link closely related sentences.

• To separate items in a list

Use the semi-colon to separate items in a list when one or more items contain a
comma. In this regard, we can view this use of the semi-colon as it being a Super
Comma.

The attending partners were: Dr Sally Meadows, Tax; Mr Fred Eliot, Real Estate; Ms
Gerri Taylor, IP; and Prof. Julie Briggs, Corporate.

• To link sentences which are closely related

Closely related sentences are often linked to emphasise their relationship. For
example:

I read the memo in one evening. It was not very helpful.

One way to link these sentences is with a comma and a word such as and, or, but,
nor, for, so, yet (called co-ordinating conjunctions).

I read the memo in one evening, but it was not very helpful.

20
For variety in sentence structure, the semi-colon can be used to link closely related
sentences instead of a co-ordinating conjunction and comma. (NB – just using a
comma instead of the full stop would be wrong in English)

I read the book in one evening; it was not very helpful.

The semi-colon tells the reader that the second clause is closely linked to the first
clause. Note how sentences joined in this way are similar in either theme or
grammatical structure.

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every

experience of his life, every quality of his
mind, is written large in his works.”

Virginia Woolf

13. The Connectors & Signposts Rule

As a lawyer, it is vital to link your ideas. If your writing is not properly connected,
ideas may not be understood.

Some words and phrases are called Connectors. Using such words and phrases
helps give text coherence – that is, a natural, reasonable, and logical connection
between parts of the text.

The result of this is text that is easier for your client to understand.

Often, a first draft lacks Connectors, and it is normal to add these at revising the
text.

Below is a list of common Connectors:

Amplification or addition:

also in addition equally important

and many in other words
besides moreover similarly
first, too likewise

21
Cause and effect; consequence or result:

and so So due to
accordingly İf thus
as a result Then it follows
because (of) Since hence

Comparison or analogy:

in the same way equally again

likewise similarly also
analogously whereas while

Contrast or alternative:

But conversely on the one/other hand

However in contrast although
in spite of nevertheless (even) though
on the contrary contrary to alternatively
still Yet despite

Condition or concession:

Although if unless
even though provided that no doubt
of course to be sure it is true

Conclusion:

Finally in short as a result

at last in summary consequently
in conclusion to conclude accordingly
therefore thus to summarise

Emphasis:

of course after all to repeat

obviously above all unquestionably
again in fact indeed

Illustration or example/clarifying:

for example specifically as an illustration

for instance that is in effect

22
 particularly in particular namely
in other words to illustrate this means

Relationship in time:

Next then at times

as soon as until beforehand
Last later earlier
Before afterwards after
When recently eventually

In a similar light, we can also see that good legal writing needs Signposts. These
are simply like big Connectors.

Signposts signal key aspects of the work, such as purpose, structure, the lawyer’s
stance, main points, direction of the argument, and conclusions, while the
Connectors simply link between sentences and paragraphs.

Signposts: Connectors

The aim of this article is to …. firstly, secondly, finally, …

The purpose of this letter is to….
This essay argues that ….
The main questions addressed
in this paper are ….
also, besides, in addition, furthermore, …
however, nonetheless, on the other hand, …
for this reason, because of, due to …
therefore, thus, as a result, consequently, …
in other words, to put it simply, that is ...
for example, for instance, to exemplify, …

“Don't be afraid your life will end. Be

afraid that it will never begin.”

Grace Hansen

14. The Who-Whom Rule

Both who and whom are relative pronouns used to introduce subordinate clauses.

They are also interrogative pronouns used to open questions.

23
If this sounds complicated, for use in our legal writing, we can think of the word
who as often being the subject, while whom is an object.

• The paralegal who helped me was very enthusiastic.

• The paralegal whom I helped was very enthusiastic.

However, consider the following:

• You will work with our senior associates, who whom you will meet later.

In this case, whom is the direct object of the verb of the subordinate clause will
meet. This becomes clear if you mentally restructure the clause: you will meet
whom.

Whom is an archaic form, but, for good British English, we should use it when
appropriate. Fortunately, the relative pronouns that and which don’t have such
subject-object variations in form.

“A book is simply the container of an

idea—like a bottle; what is inside the
book is what matters.”

Angela Carter

15. The Doublets & Triplets Rule

There is a curious historical tendency in legal English to string together two or three
words to convey what is usually a single legal concept.

These forms are thus called doublets, when there are two words together, or
triplets, when there are three.

Examples of these include:

• null and void;

• fit and proper;
• perform and discharge;
• dispute,controversy or claim; and
• promise, agree and covenant.

24
These should be treated with caution, since sometimes the words used mean, for
practical purposes, exactly the same thing (null and void); and sometimes they do
not quite do so (dispute, controversy or claim).

Modern practice is to avoid such constructions where possible and use single word
equivalents instead.

When a doublet or triplet has the same meaning, then it should be replaced by an
umbrella term (one term conveying the meaning of the words). This can not be
done, and should not be done, where you have a true doublet/triplet. In this case,
in order to comply with legal meaning (whether under English Law or US Law), you
should leave the term as it is.

For example, the triplet phrase give, devise and bequeath could be replaced by
the single word give without serious loss of meaning.

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing

noise they make as they go by.”

Douglas Adams

16. The Structures Rules

The description of strong legal writing varies in different parts of the world.

Just as values for many other topics change from culture to culture, what
constitutes good writing from lawyers also changes.

Below we can see some different meta-structures that lawyers can use when
initially structuring their content:

• Chronology - starting at the earliest event and progressing toward the

most recent or vice versa.

• Familiarity and Importance - begin with most familiar topic and move
toward the most obscure (but keeping in mind who your target audience
is).

• Compare and Contrast - this organizational strategy works well when

you are trying to present one item as superior to another, to explain an

25
 unknown item by comparing it to a known item, or to show how
something has changed.

• General and Particular - this type of organization takes broad

generalizations and moves towards specific statements or starts with
specific statements and compiles them into a general conclusion or
statement.

• Problem and Solution - this type of organization will do one of two

things. It will state a problem and offer multiple solutions concluding with
a recommendation or it will begin with a question, make multiple
proposals or attempts and conclude with the outcome.

• Cause and Effect - a cause and effect organizational strategy examines

the causal relationships throughout a paper. There are three ways to
organize with a cause and effect scheme. The first begins with one event
and examines the multiple causes. A second strategy looks at the multiple
effects of one course of action or cause. A third strategy for cause and
effect organization is a chain of causes and effects which begins with one
event and follows the chain reaction.

Do you find yourself using certain structures more than others? Perhaps some
variety in approach might make for compelling reading rather than repeating the
same structure all the time (for example, Chronology).

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to

go after it with a club.”

Jack London

17. The Articles Rules

Except for occasional difficulty in choosing between a and an, native English-
speaking lawyers encounter few problems with articles.

However, to speakers whose native language is not English articles can prove
troublesome as the rules governing their use are surprisingly complex.

A, an, and the

26
The indefinite articles a and an and the definite article the signal that a noun is
about to appear. The noun may follow the article immediately, or modifiers (such
as only, even, almost, nearly) may intervene.

ART N ART N
a contract an old contract
the brief the Yukos brief

Articles are not the only words used to mark nouns. Noun markers also include
words such as the following, which identify or quantify nouns:

• possessive nouns, such as Elena’s;

• my, your, his, her, its, our;
• this, that, these, those;
• all, any, each, either, every, few, many, more, most, much, neither,
several, some;
• numbers: one, two, and so on.

Usually an article is not used with another noun marker.

Use a (or an) with singular count nouns whose specific identity is not known
to the reader

Count nouns refer to persons, places or things that can be counted: one judge, two
judges; one case, three cases; one paralegal, four paralegals. Non-count nouns
refer to entities or abstractions that cannot be counted: time, money, information,
knowledge, patience, experience.

If the specific identity of a singular count noun is not known to the reader – perhaps
because it is being mentioned for the first time, perhaps because its specific identity
is unknown even to the writer – the noun should be preceded by a or an unless it
has been preceded by another noun marker. A (or an) usually means one among
many, but can also mean any one.

• The lawyer arrived in a car.

• We are looking for a venue close to the office.

Do not use a (or an) with non-count nouns

A (or an) is not used to mark non-count nouns.

• An associate asked his colleague for an advice. (this is wrong)

Use the with most nouns whose specific identity is known to the reader

27
The definite article the is used with most nouns whose identity is known to the
reader. Usually the identity will be clear to the reader for one of the following
reasons:

The noun has been previously mentioned;

• A bag full of documents was lost. When the bag was finally found, all
documents were there.

A phrase or clause following the noun restricts its identity;

• Ivan warned me that the case involving Newcorp is very important to us.

A superlative such as best or most intelligent makes the noun’s identity specific;

• Our colleagues handled the biggest case to date.

The noun describes a unique person, place, or thing;

• During an eclipse, one should not look directly at the sun.

The context or situation makes the noun’s identity clear.

• Please do not slam the door when you leave the hearing.

Both the speaker and the listener know which door is meant and which hearing.

Do not use the with plural or non-count nouns meaning all or in general

When a plural or a non-count noun means all or in general, it is not marked with
the, for example:

• M&A cases are relatively hard to handle.

Do not use the with most singular proper nouns

Proper nouns – which name specific people, places or things – are capitalised.
Although there are many exceptions, the is not used with most singular proper
nouns, such as Judge Thomas, Sberbank and Lake Volga.

Note: most definite articles in English are optional. So, if in doubt whether to use
the or not, probably you need not. However, don’t make The Cat Mistake – this
means, a Count noun with no article becomes abstract or material. “I like the cat”
has a very different meaning to “I like cat”. …indeed, yum yum.

28
 “Either write something worth reading or
do something worth writing.”

Ben Franklin

18. The Apostrophe Rules

Apostrophes can cause problems in time expressions for many lawyers:

Three years’ insurance means insurance for three years.

The rule is that in a time expression, the apostrophe appears before the s for single
units of time:

• one week’s notice; one month’s salary

The apostrophe appears after the s for multiple units:

• four weeks’ advance warning; six weeks’ holiday a year; applicants should
be able to offer at least five years’ post-qualifying experience

One way to remember this is to think of the following:

• The paralegal’s review (it was done by one paralegal)

• The paralegals’ review (it was done by several paralegals)

For the time expressions, as an alternative, you can use the hyphen (that is, “-“) but
without using a plural s:

• one-week advance notice

• six-week holiday

Lastly, a common mistake made by native speaking lawyers is to use The

Greengrocer’s Apostrophe.

This has the original name as it is often seen at markets, written by greengrocers,
regarding the price of their produce: Apple’s – 60p per kilo

This is just wrong. We do not use the apostrophe for plurals. In the same way the
examples below are also wrong:

29
 • the 1990’s
• he got four A’s and two B’s in his exams
• he told me the “do’s and don’ts” of Russian tax law

The correct form for these would be “the 1990s”, “four As and two Bs”, and “dos and
don’ts”.

“History will be kind to me for I intend to

write it.”

Winston Churchill

19. The SV-Agreement Rule

Subject-Verb agreement is surprisingly difficult in English, even for native English-
speaking lawyers. The SV Agreement Rule is a bit of a misnomer, really, since it
actually is a series of several rules.

• When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or

pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.
She and her friends are at the meeting.

• When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or

nor, use a singular verb.
The book or the pen is in the drawer.
• When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or
pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the
subject that is nearer the verb.
The boy or his friends run every day. His friends or the boy runs every
day.

• Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the
verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the
phrase.
One of the boxes is open. The team captain, as well as his
players, is anxious.

• The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody,
anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and
require a singular verb.

30
 Each of these hot dogs is juicy. Everybody knows Mr Smirnov.
Either is correct.

• Note: the word dollars is a special case (as are other currencies). When
talking about an amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when
referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.
Five dollars is a lot of money. The dollars are in the account.

• In sentences beginning with "there is" or "there are," the subject follows
the verb. Since "there" is not the subject, the verb agrees with what
follows.
There are many questions. There is a question.

• Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are
considered singular and take a singular verb, such as group, team,
committee, class, and family.
The team runs during practice. The committee decides how to proceed.

“When I sit down at my writing desk, time

seems to vanish. I think it's a wonderful
way to spend one's life.”

Erica Jong

20. The Colon Rules

The colon has a number of uses in English which lawyers should know. While the
colon is a little more difficult to use than the semi-colon, it is a much easier
punctuation mark for us than the comma.

• Introducing a list

The colon is used to introduce a list of items.

The bookstore specializes in three subjects: art, architecture, and graphic design.
Do not, however, use a colon when the listed items are incorporated into the flow
of the sentence.

Correct: The bookstore specializes in art, architecture, and graphic design.

Incorrect: The bookstore specializes in: art, architecture, and graphic design.

31
 • Between independent clauses when the second explains or
illustrates the first

The colon is used to separate two independent clauses when the second explains
the first. Here, the colon functions in much the same way as the semicolon. Like
the semicolon, do not capitalize the first word after the colon.

I have very little time to learn the language: my new job starts in five weeks.
A college degree is still worth something: a recent survey revealed that college
graduates earned roughly 60% more than those with only a high school diploma.

• When two or more sentences follow a colon, capitalize the first word
following the colon.

The colon can be used to introduce sentences. (in this case, there is capitalization)

He made three points: First, the company was losing over a million dollars each
month. Second, the stock price was lower than it had ever been. Third, no banks
were willing to loan the company any more money.

• Emphasis

The colon can be used to emphasize a phrase or single word at the end of a
sentence.

After three weeks of deliberation, the jury finally reached a verdict: guilty.

“It's never too late to be what you might

have been.”

George Eliot

21. The Which-That Rule

The classic rule is that, in a relative clause, which gives extra information and that
defines with key information.

Therefore, which clauses are used to introduce relative clauses that supply
additional information and thus which clauses take commas (to show that they are
extra information clauses).

32
These relative clauses can be subtracted without making nonsensical the statement
of the main clause.

That, on the other hand, has a defining function when introducing clauses and the
reader is not presumed to know which thing was being specified.

That clauses cannot be taken away because that which is being identified is integral
to the meaning of the sentence. Consider the following:

• The law that has been enacted by the parliament will enter into force on
25 January.
• This law, which has been enacted by the parliament, enters into force on
25 January.

In option 1, the subordinate clause ... has been enacted by the parliament...
identifies the law (that is, it defines). In option 2, something else identifies the law:
the clause …, which has been enacted by the parliament, … merely gives additional
information about the law.

In normal English, the classic rule is regularly broken because which is often used
to define.

Therefore, the punctuation is important:

• if the that clause is defining, then do not use commas either before the
that or at the end of the defining clause. It is simpler to just remember
you can never put a comma before that.
• if the clause is defining and which introduces it, then do not use commas
either before the which or at the end of the defining clause (for example,
The law which has been enacted by the parliament will enter into force
on 25 January.). If this is confusing, just remember that which can either
take commas before or after or not.
• if the which clause is just informing extra information, it must be enclosed
in commas. Be sure to include both the opening and the closing commas.

“It’s none of their business that you have

to learn to write. Let them think you
were born that way.”

Ernest Hemingway

33
22. The Tidy Prepositions Rule
The care when expressing dates, times and figures in legal English. When referring
to a period, make it clear whether it is inclusive or exclusive of the first and last days
of the period.

The following table addresses some of the common problems:

Instead of: Use:

By on or before; not later than

From after; from and excluding
within [x months] of [date]… within [x months] before
[date]…; within [x months] after
[date]…
to; until to and including; to but
excluding;
Between from and [ex/in]cluding [date]
to but [ex/in]cluding [date]

Beware of excluding the “middle”. The “middle” is sometimes left out when defining
an outcome by reference to a total, a limit, or the occurrence of an event, for
example:

The buyer will pay to the seller:

• EUR 10,000 if the share price is less than EUR 10;

• EUR 20,000 if the share price is more than EUR 10.

What happens if the share price is exactly EUR 10? Therefore, you should add “or
equal to” where relevant.

Of-Chains

Try to break Of-Chains. "The Directors of the Board of the Department of the
Environment of Egypt" = The Board of Directors at the Egyptian Department for the
Environment".

Of can be changed into other prepositions, compound nouns, or replaced by

apostrophe. Two ofs is too many.

34
 “You don't write because you want to say
something, you write because you've got
something to say.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald
-

23. The Quotations Rule & The Left Rule

of Commas
Do try to punctuate quotes correctly. The English punctuation of quotes is often not
the same as other European languages.

Commas and full stops have their place, and when they're placed within quotes
there are some common errors that lawyers make:

Full stops go inside quotation marks on the left: Bob Dylan wrote "Visions of
Johanna."

Commas go inside quotation marks on the left: Bob Dylan wrote "Visions of
Johanna," and many other songs as well.

Question marks go outside quotation marks unless they're part of the quotation.

Is Bob Dylan the composer of "Cold Irons Bound"?

"Blade Runner" is based on the book by Philip K. Dick entitled "Do Androids Dream
of Electric Sheep?"

Use single quotation marks when appropriate.

Enclose a quote within a quote by using a single set of quotation marks:

Shelby asked, "Shelly said the other day, 'I sell properties by the seashore'."

Pay attention to The Left Rule of Commas when dealing with quotation marks.

The punctuation, with the quotation marks, goes to the left of the mark:

The Managing Partner said, “Today, is a great day,” and paused, before continuing,
“for our firm, since we have won the biggest case,” and again he paused, “that we
have every fought.”

35
The punctuation at the end of the sentence is also on the left of the quotation
marks.

“What is written without effort is in

general read without pleasure.”

Samuel Johnson

24. The Salutations Rule

The salutation is the greeting at the start of an email or a letter and, to avoid making
mistakes, it is best to simply stick with the salutation of Dear.

If we are writing to a man, then we can use Mr and if we are writing to a woman,
then we can use Ms.

Miss and Mrs are archaisms and should not be used in 21st Century legal English.
If you are not sure if it is a man or a woman that you are writing to, then one solution
is to write both or all the names together: Dear Lang Chow.

Note: We should never begin an email or a letter with no salutation before

the name.
This can be seen as quite rude. Even if you receive correspondence which begins
just with the name, it is better to not copy this practice. It is totally acceptable to
move from Dear to Hi after the client does so first.

If we are writing to somebody whose name we don’t know, then we can write Dear
Sir, or Dear Madam.

Dear Sirs includes women. Dear Sir/Madam just looks messy and should not be
used.

Dear Madams is never used. (instead, in theory, you should use Dear Sirs)

Ladies or Gentlemen should only be used for invitations.

If we are writing to multiple readers, then it is acceptable to write Dear Ivan,

Dmitry, and Pavel, for example.

Never write Dear All. It is uncountable. It would be better to write Dear Colleagues.
At the end of your writing, the simplest solution is to use Best regards.

36
Regards by itself is formal and cold.

Kindest regards, or Kind regards, should be used for special occasions.

Never use contracted forms like BR. Similarly, unusual endings like Truly yours, or
shortened endings like Sincerely should not be used either.

“Cheat your landlord if you can and

must, but do not try to short-change the
Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake
quality any more than you can fake a
good meal.”

William S. Burroughs

25. The Commas Rules & The

Commaphobia Rule
1. Use a comma before a conjunction joining independent clauses

When a conjunction connects two or more independent clauses - SVOs - a comma

must precede it. There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: and, but, or,
nor, for, so, and yet. The structure here is SVO, (conj) SVO. Please note that simply
SVO, SVO is wrong (and this mistake is called Comma Splice).

A comma tells readers that one independent clause has come to a close and that
another is about to begin, for example:

• Nearly everyone finished the exercise in three hours, but Anton finished
it in two.

2. Use a comma after an introductory word group

The most common introductory word groups are clauses and phrases functioning
as adverbs. These word groups usually tell when, where, how, why, or under what
conditions the main action of the sentence occurred.

• When the European Community legislation was implemented, lawyers in

new Members States had to accustom themselves to working with the
new legislation.

37
A simple way to remember this is T, SVO, T. Introductory clauses, or end clauses,
go before or after the SVO clause and are separated by commas.

• Buried under layers of documents, the memorandum remained

unspotted.

3. Use a comma between all items in a series

Separate all items in a series – including the last two – with commas, for example:

• Pins, staplers, letters, and other office inventory were moved from the
desk.

Although sometimes the comma between the last two items is omitted, be aware
that this omission can result in ambiguity, for example:

• My uncle willed me all of his property, houses and warehouses.

Did the uncle will his property and houses and warehouses? Or did he will his
property, consisting of houses and warehouses? If the first meaning is intended, a
comma is necessary before and to prevent ambiguity.

This end of series comma is known as the Oxford Comma, or even the Ice-Cream
Comma.

Could the last two elements of a tasty desert be mint, and chocolate or just mint
and chocolate ice-cream?

Also, it is argued about by linguists in Oxford if this comma is needed or not, so that
is where the name comes from.

For good legal writing, you should use this comma.

4. Use commas to set off transitional expressions

Transitional expressions serve as bridges between sentences. They include

conjunctive adverbs such as however, therefore, and moreover and transitional
phrases such as for example, as a matter of fact, and in other words.

• Arseniy did not understand our language; moreover, he was unfamiliar

with our customs.

When a transitional expression appears at the beginning of a sentence or in the

middle of an independent clause, it is usually set off with commas, for example:

38
 • As a matter of fact, Natalia was better than Arturas.

5. Parenthetical expressions

Expressions that are distinctly parenthetical should be set off with commas.
Providing supplemental comments or information, they interrupt the flow of a
sentence or appear as afterthoughts, for example:

• The licensing process, so far as we know, doesn't work this way.

6. Contrasted elements

Sharp contrasts beginning with words such as not and unlike are set off with
commas, for example:

• Unlike John, Tom loved jury trials.

7. Do not use commas before that, because, and please

A comma is not used before that and because nor after please:

• I think, that this memorandum is a well drafted one.

wrong
• I trust him, because he is an honest man.
wrong
• Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.
wrong

The Commaphobia Rule:

I think the simplest advice would be to follow The Commaphobia Rule - unless you
are very sure about how you are using commas, avoid them. We remember that,
generally, information between two commas is extra.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting

started.”

Agatha Christie

39
26. The Modifiers Rule
Place phrases and clauses so that readers can see at a glance what they modify.

Although phrases and clauses can appear at some distance from the word they
modify, make sure that your meaning is clear, for example:

Use:

• Travelling in a car sent by the customer, the lawyer returned to the hotel
where he had stayed in 2012.

Instead of:

• The lawyer returned to the hotel where he had stayed in 2012 in a car
sent by the customer.

Hopefully, the lawyer did not stay in the car in 2012.

“Let me live, love and say it well in good

sentences.”

Sylvia Plath

27. The Homophone Rule

Check that you’re using the right homophones.

It is easy to write one word which sounds like another. This is a very common
mistake in legal writing made by native speakers of English.

Spellcheckers these days are pretty good at spotting incorrectly-spelled words and
the most egregious of grammatical errors.

Unfortunately, most still struggle to spot homophones (those annoying words that
sound the same, but have different meanings) when they’re spelt entirely correctly
but used out of context.

Here are five homophones that are worth paying extra special attention to:

40
 • Allude / Elude

“allude” means to make an indirect reference, while “elude” means to evade or

escape from.

• Ensure / Insure

“ensure” means to confirm that something will happen, while “insure” refers to the
monetary insurance of something or someone.

• Formerly / Formally

“formerly” means in the past, previously, or in earlier times, while “formally” means
conforming to convention, ceremony, and proper etiquette.

• Their / There / They’re

“their” is the possessive case of the pronoun “they”, while “there” is an adverb that
means in or at that place, and “they’re” is a contraction of the words “they” and
“are.”

• Its / It’s

“Its” is the possessive form of “it”, while “it’s” is the contraction of “it” and “is”.

“If there is a book that you wanted to read,

but it hasn’t been written yet, then you
must write it.”

Tonni Morrison

28. The Ions Rule

Calvin: I like to verb words.
Hobbes: What?
Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when
"access" was a thing? Now it's something you do. It got verbed… Verbing weirds
language.
Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to
understanding.

41
However, in legal English, "verbing" makes stronger, clearer text.

One way to make our text stronger, and more concise, is to follow The Ions Rule.

This means, that very often we will see prepositions expressions with words of
French origin (hence, they end in –ion). It is these –ions that we need to notice and
then change into verb forms (and thus, also, removing tricky prepositions).

BEFORE: An interested party may make an application for a modification or

revocation of an antidumping order (or termination of a suspension-agreement) in
conjunction with an annual administrative review.

AFTER: An interested party may apply to modify or revoke an antidumping order

(or to terminate a suspension-agreement) simultaneously to an annual
administrative review.

(other variants are possible)

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss,

you'll land among the stars.”

Les Brown

29. The Rules of Titles & Degrees

Work titles

Write all personnel titles in lower case within a text.

The only exception when initial capital letters can be used is in a title on a business
card, e-mail signature or web profile (only among contact details, but not in the
text). Titles of lawyers are capitalized:

Senior Partner; Managing Partner; Office Managing Partner; Partner; Specialist

Counsel; Of Counsel; Senior Associate; Associate; Legal Assistant; and Legal
Trainee.

Lawyers may be referred to as “attorneys”, “trade mark attorneys” or similar in texts

(but not in titles) only if necessary to stress their capabilities within a certain field of
law.

42
The person heading a team is normally also the head of each practice belonging to
that team (that is, the head of the Banking & Finance Team is also the head of the
Capital Markets Practice). Though there may be exceptions.

Partner, Head of Corporate Advisory Team in Belarus or Partner, Head of XYZ

Corporate Advisory Team in Belarus or Head of XYZ Corporate Advisory Team

Education/degrees

Abbreviations of degrees are written without full stop (example: LLM, MA, LLB, BA,
MBA).

Abbreviations of research degrees are also written without full stop and without
spaces between the abbreviated degree lettering and the research field
abbreviation, which also starts with a capital letter (examples: MPhil, DPhil, MJur,
MSc, MEng, PhD, BSocSc).

When the degree appears in full or a type or level of degree appears together with
the degree abbreviation, the type or level in any case appears with an initial capital
letter (example: Bachelor in Law, LLM in International Maritime Law, PhD in Social
Sciences).

Susan Sandstone holds a BA in Law, a Bachelor in Mathematics, an LLM in

International Maritime Law, and is on track to obtain her PhD in 2019.

“Dr”, “PhD” or equivalent are the only educational degrees that can appear in
business cards and signatures alongside the person’s name. However, this is only
optional for the lawyers who really want it.

Dr Vasili Petrov (only in e-mail signatures)

Vasili Petrov, PhD

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit

down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Ernest Hemingway

30. The Dangling Modifiers Rule

Place modifiers near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually
appear in the sentence. Modifiers are expressions which modify and influence the

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subsequent words. If a modifier is far from the words it modifies it can be said to
be “dangling”, to be hanging, and not clear against what it hangs.

Incorrect: When writing a proposal, an original task is set for research.

(did the task write the proposal?)
Correct: When writing a proposal, a scholar sets an original task for research.

Incorrect: Many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and
military personnel are buried every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Correct: Every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., many tourists visit Arlington
National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried.

It is possible to make some strangely amusing sentences by not following The

Dangling Modifiers Rule:

• Oozing slowly across the floor, Marvin watched the salad dressing.
• Coming out of the market, the bananas fell on the pavement.
• She handed out brownies to the children stored in boxes.
• I smelled the oysters coming down the stairs for dinner.
• Grocery shopping at Big Star, the lettuce was fresh.
• Driving like a maniac, the deer was hit and killed.
• With his tail held high, my father led his prize poodle around the arena.
• I saw the dead dog driving down the interstate.
• Emitting thick black smoke from the midsection, I realized something was
wrong.
• The girl was consoled by the nurse who had just taken an overdose of
sleeping pills.
• Although exhausted and weary, the coach kept yelling, “Another lap!”
• She carefully studied the Picasso hanging in the art gallery with her friend.
• Freshly painted, Jim left the room to dry.
• He wore a straw hat on his head, which was obviously too small.
• After drinking too much, the toilet kept moving.

“We write to taste life twice, in the

moment and in retrospect.”

Anais Nin

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31. The Rule of Sentence Fragments
Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a
grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an
acceptable sentence.

If it can’t stand alone, then you have a sentence fragment.

Incorrect
Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example,
the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

[2nd sentence = fragment]

Correct
Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example,
the cloth contains the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle
East.

Incorrect
Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption.
Although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

[2nd sentence = fragment]

Correct
Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption,
although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

“One day I will find the right words, and

they will be simple.”

Jack Kerouac

32. The Pronouns Rules

All pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents [nouns]. If they don’t, then we
have unclear pronouns which are not good for legal English.

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Use it, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.

Unclear: Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain
the universe.
Clear: Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his ability with numbers to
explain the universe.

Unclear: Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in

economic development, he sometimes neglects it.
Clear: Because of his interest in economic development, Senator Martin sometimes
neglects the environment.
Incorrect pronoun case

Determine whether the pronoun is being used as a subject, or an object, or a

possessive in the sentence, and select the pronoun form to match.

Incorrect: Castro's communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict

between he and President Kennedy.
Correct: Castro's communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict
between him and President Kennedy.

Incorrect: Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution

as written, no one objects more than them to judicial reinterpretation.
Correct: Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as
written, no one objects more than they [do] to judicial reinterpretation.

“Writing is an occupation in which you

have to keep proving your talent to those
who have none.”

Jules Renard

33. The Modals Rules

We should be quite careful in legal English to be sure that we are using the correct
modal verb.

Apart from shall, which we should not use, other modals can cause confusion for
lawyers.

Here are guidelines for the meaning of each modal verb.

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• shall

has a duty to (this is best replaced by “to be to”, will, or present simple
form of the verb)

• must

is required to (again, this could be replaced with “to be to”, and have to
should never be used)

• may not

is not permitted to; is disallowed from

• must not

is required not to; is disallowed from; is not permitted to

• may

has discretion to; is permitted to

is entitled to
has a right to (note that might, the past form of may, shows much weaker
obligation, it is much less likely)
• will

expresses a future contingency

• should

denotes a directory provision (the meaning of ought to is the same but

in formal register in speech)

“If you don't think there is magic in

writing, you probably won't write anything
magical.”

Terry Brooks

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34. The Rules of Capitalization
Official Titles and Offices

Many lawyers typically struggle with knowing whether to capitalize titles such as
president, captain, mother, governor, aunt, doctor, etc. For these types of
situations, you need to look to see if the title is being used before a specific person
or just as a general reference to the occupation itself. A person’s title should be
capitalized when it precedes his or her name, or if the title is being used instead of
his or her name.

• President Obama gave an address this evening in Washington D.C.

• Captain Jones served for ten years before retiring.
• I went to see Doctor Smith after lunch, but he was in a meeting.

All the above examples use official titles that refer to a specific person. Because of
this, it is correct to capitalize all the titles used. Now, here are some examples of
similar situations where you should not capitalize these titles:

• There have been many presidents throughout American history.

• Barack Obama, current president of the United States, has served two
terms.
• My goal is to become a captain within the next year.
• I am currently studying to become a doctor.

Okay, so the example sentences listed above use the same titles, but they should
not be capitalized. Notice that in these sentences, the titles are being used
generally, referring to an occupation or position, and do not specify a particular
individual. In these situations, you will likely not capitalize the titles.

Books, Movies, and Other Titles of Works

In titles of works, you always want to capitalize the first word, regardless of whether
or not it is a preposition. So, it is To Kill a Mockingbird, not to Kill a Mockingbird. As
for prepositions in titles, this is a more controversial topic, but most agree that
shorter prepositions should always be lowercase, while some longer prepositions
may be capitalized. Also, conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) and articles (a,
an, the) should not be capitalized in titles.

For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone but Walking Through the
Jungle (“through” is a longer preposition and most agree is an acceptable word to
capitalize). Some people are tempted to lowercase any short word, such as “is,”
“was,” and “be,” but these are all verbs and should be capitalized.

48
 “Don't tell me the moon is shining; show
me the glint of light on broken glass.”

Anton Chekhov

35. The Rules of Conditionals

Conditional sentences are sometimes confusing for lawyers. Conditional sentences
are those that consist of two clauses and “if”. There are three types of conditional
sentences.

I condition possible to fulfil

II condition in theory possible to fulfil

III condition not possible to fulfil (too late)

The grammatical structure of these conditional sentences can be seen below:

type if-clause main clause

I Simple Present will-future or (Modal + infinitive)

II Simple Past would + infinitive

III Past Perfect would + have + past participle

Here are example sentences of the conditionals:

type if clause main clause

I If I study, I will pass the exam.

49
 type if clause main clause

II If I studied, I would pass the exam.

III If I had studied, I would have passed the exam.

“Write while the heat is in you. The writer

who postpones the recording of his
thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to
burn a hole with.”

Henry David Thoreau

36. The Its Rule

For such small words, its and it’s cause no end of trouble for lawyers.

Hence, we should pay attention to The Its Rule in order to be aware of how they
can be confused or abused.

Its or their?

Mistake: The practice of this management company is to have each corporate

tenant sign their lease on the third day of the month.
Correction: The practice of this management company is to have each corporate
tenant sign its lease on the third day of the month.
Alternative Correction: The practice of this management company is to have all
corporate tenants sign their leases on the third day of the month.

Be careful not to switch from singular to plural mid-sentence, or vice versa.

"Tenant" is singular and calls for the singular "its". "Tenants" corresponds with the
plural "their".

Words like "its" and "their" need to agree with the words such as "tenant" and
"tenants" to which they refer.

It’s or its?

50
Mistake: Energy Electronics is introducing it's brand new line of heating units at the
convention.
Correction: Energy Electronics is introducing its brand new line of heating units at
the convention.

Use an apostrophe in "it's" only when you mean "it is".

"Its" without an apostrophe describes ownership, such as "its bond offering".

“Write while the heat is in you. The writer

who postpones the recording of his
thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to
burn a hole with.”

Henry David Thoreau

51
Other published works by the author:
The Nixedonia Self-Study Books

1. New Client Hunting 13. Successful Public Speaking

2. Making a BD Plan 14. Active Referrals
3. Sales Networking 15. Negotiations Excellence
4. Sales Writing 16. Finding Transactional Clients
5. Reading Body Language 17. Consultative Selling
6. Tea Marketing 18. Up-Selling & Raising Prices
7. Sales Time Management 19. Sales Management
8. Mailshots 20. L2L Marketing
9. Current Client Satisfaction 21. Motivating the Team
10. Advertising 22. The Ideal BD Meeting
11. Cross-Selling 23. Legal Services Pricing
12. Pitching 24. Warm & Cold Calls

The Nixedonia Self-Study Book Compilations

25. The Paralegal's Guide to Business Development (Self-Study Books 1-6)

26. The Junior Lawyer's Guide to Business Development (Self-Study Books 7-12)
27. The Lawyer's Guide to Business Development (Self-Study Books 13-18)
28. The Senior Lawyer's Guide to Business Development (Self-Study Books 19-24)
29. The Managing Partner's Guide to Business Development (Self Study Books 1-24)

Other Books

30. The Nixedonia Pictobook (3rd Edition)

31. The Little Book of Inspiration
32. The 36 Rules of Legal Writing

Concept Cards

1. Concept Cards I (Cards 1-128)

2. Concept Cards II (Cards 129-256)
3. Concept Cards III (Cards 257-384)
4. The Complete Set of Concept Cards (Cards 1-400)

52
 About the author
EDUCATION

Edinburgh Tutorial College

Diploma in Teaching
D.TEFL (2002)
John McVeigh
Moscow University, AIBEc
Chief Executive Officer
Masters in Sales & Marketing MBA
Hons (2004) john@nixdedonia.com

Moscow University, Pericles

Masters in Russian &
US Law
LLM Hons (2007)
LANGUAGES
English (native)
Russian (fluent)
www.nixedonia.com
www.nixedonia.com/books
www.nixedonia.com/videos
www.nixedonia.com/conceptcards benefited from Nixedonia products and services.
John McVeigh, born and currently living in
Edinburgh, Scotland, is the founder and CEO of
Nixedonia. He established the firm in 2015 to help
lawyers reach commercial success through legal
sales training. Since then, Nixedonia has
expanded to four other offices (Saint Petersburg,
Moscow, Kiev, and Chisinau) and he has met over
360 law firms in more than 60 countries.
Thousands of lawyers and partners have

Nixedonia aims to not only be a for-profit company, but also a unique valuable
resource for lawyers desiring greater commercial success. For this reason, there is
a wealth of training materials available on the Nixedonia website for free download,
and 128 short legal sales videos, for use in self-study.

Prior to founding Nixedonia, John was an International Learning & Development

Manager at the global law firm DLA Piper based in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2008-
2015). John was responsible for legal sales training and content development,
trainer-training, launching new legal sales courses, learning-needs audits,
knowledge management, and all related legal sales and marketing issues. In
addition to his work in Russia, John also worked extensively within DLA Piper
internationally providing legal sales-training sessions to various offices in Europe,
Africa, the Middle East and Asia. John holds a Diploma in Teaching (Edinburgh
Tutorial College), an MBA in Sales and Marketing (Moscow University, AIBEc) and a
Master of Laws in Russian and US Law (Moscow, Pericles). In having a law degree,
himself, and having assisted in Russian legal matters, John manages to find a
common language with lawyers. John speaks fluent English and Russian.

53