Core Grammar
independent clause
A clause that can stand alone as a sentence
prepositional phrase
A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. Begin with "for," "them," "Which," "by," or "to" commonly act as modifiers in sentences.
When to use commas
A pair of commas, one at the beginning of the interruption and one at the end is the most common correct punctuation to use
dependent clause
A phrase that can't stand alone as a complete sentence. At beginning of sentence often begin with subordinating words such as "if", "although", "since," "once," "when," and many others
Commas with single adjectives and compound nouns
A single adjective that modifies the compound word "criminal attorney" does not need a comma. The young criminal attorney addressed the judge with confidence
"term of art"
A word or phrase that has a special or technical meaning Lawyers draw attention to a word or meaning with special setting by setting the words apart with quotation marks When the read becomes familiar enough with the term that use of quotation marks may no longer be necessary or useful. When enclosing a term of art in quotation marks, the writer should identify any outside source of the words.
Possessive form of singular noun (even a noun that ends in -s)
Always add an apostrophe plus the letter -s. example: Walrus becomes walrus's
Punctuation when using quotation marks
Commas and periods: ALWAYS go INSIDE the quotation marks semicolons and colons: ALWAYS go OUTSIDE the quotation marks question marks and exclamation points: go inside ONLY IF they were originally included in the material being quoted (use ONLY one punctuations at the end of a sentence)
Introductory signals and Citation sentences
Introductory signals tell your reader the authority you have cited relates to the text you are writing If citations have the same relationship to the text you cite in one sentence. If you change the type of intro signal you are using, you begin a NEW citation sentence Example: CITATION. But see Citation.
Lead-in stem
Is not indented unless begins a new paragraph is an opportunity for an author to do more than forecast that a list is coming.
Foreign Phrases
Italics may be used when they are not used commonly in legal writing
When to capitalize Court
Lawyers do not capitalize the word "court" unless they are naming the court by its full proper name, addressing the court to which they are submitting a document or referencing the USC.
Numbers
Lawyers usually write out numbers one to ninety-nine and use numerals for numbers 100 and higher.
possessive noun (government)
shows ownership (government's)
Nouns that end in -ix and -ex
Often become plural by changing the ending to -ices
Block quotations
Should be indented 1 tab on each side Both right/left margins should be justified 1 tab length is generally .5 in
Ordinals
Show placement in a series Ordinals written as a contraction is not followed by a period unless it ends a sentence
Whose
Signals possession substitute his in the sentence to see if whose works
Pronoun
Such as "he," "Him," or "His," must refer to a noun. The noun a pronoun refers to is called the referent
When to use That/Which
That: introduces information that is essential to the authors main point and is no preceded by a comma. Which: introduces nonessential information that interrupts the main idea of the sentence. You should insert a comma before which. To test what to use, try reading the sentence without interruption and see if the sentence still makes sense.
active voice verb
The subject of the sentence performs the action places the actor in the subject position of a sentence Should always use active voice Example: The arsonists burned down the town courthouse.
Transitional words
Therefore, generally, in contrast, however.
Sarcasm, Humor, Skepticism
Try and avoid using in legal writing Do not include "so-called" words in quotations
Commas
Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives that modify the same noun The sweaty, nervous attorney stood up in front of the panel of judges. The young, obviously nervous attorney stood up in front of the panel of judges.
conditional sentence (if-then sentences)
Use verbs in the subjunctive mood after the "If" (e.g "I were") and verbs in the conditional mood after the "then" (e.g. "I would")
Parentheses
Used to set off an interruption when the interrupting text is an aside and only tangentially related to the main point of the sentence.
independent clause (when to use a colon)
When author wants to draw attention to the second clause, and there was no conjunction between the two sentences
Dates
When giving month, day, and year, the year functions as an interruption and should be set off with a pair of commas
independent clause (when to use a semicolon)
When the author had no particular reason to draw attention to the second clause
Embedded list (tabulated)
When using letters or numbers as markers, enclose them on both sides with parentheses Ex: (a), (b), (c) only capitalize words in items listed if they are proper nouns List items should be indented on the left List items should be single spaced list items should be separated from the lead in stem by a line of space.
Semi-colon use
Where items in a list contain internal punctuation (like commas, parentheses, or hyphens), semicolon should be used to separate the items.
transitional words
Words and phrases that bridge sentences and paragraphs by showing location, time, comparisons etc.
block quotation
a long quotation that is set off, or indented, from the main text and presented without quotation marks Should be used for quotations of fifty words or more. Use for format for poetry and other text with special formatting that you wish to preserve
indefinite pronoun
a pronoun that does not refer to a specific, person, place, thing, or idea; examples: everyone, everything, everybody, anybody, many, most, few, each, some, someone, all, nothing, nobody, and no one
Nested Quotes
alternate between double and single quotation marks
Who
always the subject of a sentence, the actor Test: Substitute he in the sentence to see if who will work
Latin nouns that end in -us
become plural by changing ending to -i
When altering a word place brackets example demonstrators
demonstrator[]
Source quoting another source citation
first identify source of primary quotation; then follow with parenthetical information Example: Primary Citation (quoting second source).
When to use colon
following is equivalent to what was preceding... can replace with "that is" or "in other words" example: "Dogs make loud noises: they bark, growl, yap, and whine.
Block quotations formatting
if the items are long, they should continue to the right-hand margin of your main document text and then wrap, directly under the item text (not under the marker and not along the left-hand margin of the main document text)
Whom
is always the object of a sentence, the person to whom something is done Substitute him in the sentence to see if whom works
Colloquial words or casual phrases
may use quotation marks but not necessary in legal writing
collective noun
names a group of people or things (council, team, panel of judges, jury) Make sure to use singular form of the verb when using a collective noun, such as it or its (rather than they or their)
Lead in stem
sentences that do not flow: check and see if list flows, read each item separately, attaching it to the stem. is traditionally followed by a colon
plural possessive noun
shows ownership by more than one person or thing; example: nine judges' Try making the word plural first, and then place apostrophe after the final -s. You should NOT add another -s after the apostrophe
colloquial words
slang that should be placed in quotation marks.
Compound Subject
two or more subjects joined together usually by "and" or "or" that share a common verb If connected by and be sure to use the plural form of the verb If connected by or, conjugate the verb to match the subject CLOSET to the verb
Passive Verb Form
when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb Example: The town courthouse was burned down by the arsonist.