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Want to Improve Your Legal Writing? First, Improve Your Writing. (Part I)
by Tom Horne
by Tom Horne
At this point, you may be wondering, "Does it really matter?" The answer to that question is extremely subjective. In my case, a candidate's use of proper English is tantamount to my hiring him or her. To others, granted, it may not be so important. But is it worth taking the risk? Why give the person who will read your prose the opportunity to look down on you for making a few simple mistakes when those mistakes are easily correctable? 1. Comma Usage Incorrect usage of a comma in an independent clause is the most common error I see. Volumes have been written about correct comma usage in all its forms, but for now, I just want to concentrate on the examples below: I went to the store, and I bought eggs. I went to the store and bought eggs. Julie ran in the marathon and finished 13th. Julie ran in the marathon, and she finished 13th. Do you see the subtle differences in the wording? Once you recognize these differences, you'll understand why/where/when to use the comma and when not to. If the subject (I or Julie or the pronoun she representing Julie) is included on both sides of the "and," then in all likelihood, you'll need a comma. However, if the subject is not repeated after the "and," then no comma is needed. I will spare you the grammatical mumbo-jumbo, but the comma is inserted when "and" is used to link two independent clauses. I went to the store is a complete (independent) sentence. I bought eggs is a complete (independent) sentence. Bought eggs and finished 13th are not complete sentences. When determining whether or not to use a comma, look for the subject on both sides of the "and." If the subject reappears after the "and," then make sure you use a comma. 2. More than vs. Over Over means "physically above," as in "a halo over your head" and "a plane flying over the ocean." Over should not be used to describe amounts. More than is used for amounts. Bad: We have over 50 employees. Good: We have more than 50 employees. You would never say, "The sun more than my head was hot" or "I wore mittens more than my hands," so don't make the same mistake in reverse when the word "over" is called for. Conversely, you would never say, "Two is over one, and 37 is over 13," right? Therefore, why would you say "over 50 employees?" The only thing over 50 employees is the office ceiling. 3. Dashes Do Not Have Spaces around Them. If you or your colleagues are reading this at 7 : 00 a . m . or 7 : 00 p . m . or anytime in between , then you ’ re sure to spot a few things that make this sentence look weird, right ? What is strange is that I've inserted spaces around the punctuation marks, and almost anyone would recognize that it is incorrect to do so. But when people use the dash—the long line used to interject something in the middle of a sentence—for some reason, they want to put spaces before and after it. Nope. Don't do it. Remember, the dash is the long line, and the hyphen is the short line. 4. City Comma State Comma Most people recognize that you insert a comma between a city and a state, as in Dallas, TX. In this case, the state ends the sentence and, therefore, is followed by a period. But if the city and state were in the middle of the sentence, then the state would be followed by a comma, as in these examples: Albany, NY, is a small state capital. Our Pittsburgh, PA, warehouse sent the order. The Paris, France, office was our first one overseas. It may look awkward since you're not used to using it, but that second comma is correct in each case. 5. Don't Guess When It Comes to Spelling. I had a stickler of a professor who taught me the definition of a good speller: "A good speller is not a good speller. A good speller is a good dictionary user." So don't be lazy. Don't guess. Look it up. Look for my next five common mistakes in Part II of this article in an upcoming issue of LawCrossing. |
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