Great legal writers ensure their documents comply with basic rules of grammar and style. Attorneys submitting documents with grammatical errors risk compromising their credibility and diminishing the persuasive value of their arguments.
One of the core aspects of effective writing lies in understanding your audience. Whether writing for a judge, another solicitor (including opposing counsel), or your client, creating content tailored specifically to their expectations and knowledge level is of utmost importance.
Subject Pronouns
Subjectivity dictates which pronoun should be used in any sentence: for a singular subject, use singular verb; when dealing with plural or compound subjects such as an indefinite or universal subject such as everyone or anyone, plural verbs must be employed.
Legal writing experts recommend against using general personal pronouns like “he” and “she” when writing legal documents, instead opting for gender neutral pronouns if possible and knowing the preferred pronoun and identity of an individual.
Active voice should always be preferred over passive voice in sentences as it’s more direct. Furthermore, using consistent tenses helps make your writing sound more persuasive and clear. Finally, to avoid run-on or sentence fragment sentences completely make sure all related clauses contain subjects and verbs for each clause that needs one.
Object Pronouns
Legal writing demands using appropriate pronouns for people’s gender; however, that should not be the sole focus. Writers should also keep in mind whether a pronoun could mislead an antecedent; this is particularly crucial when using plural pronouns within sentences with singular nouns.
As an example, writing “They are the members of the committee who should be contacted regarding funding ideas” could cause readers to become confused; without clear indication that each committee member belongs to one specific group or profession this pronoun can lead them astray.
Another error often made is when object pronouns are used as subject pronouns in questions, for instance “George had mailedwho the letter?” is appropriate in informal speech but should be replaced with “to whom.” To effectively use whom/whom pronouns in each clause and choose the best pronoun(s), one must understand how different object pronouns function within sentences in order to choose their appropriate pronoun(s).
Interrogative Pronouns
Legal writers increasingly accept gender-neutral pronouns such as he/she/they in legal writing; however, writers must use caution when using interrogative pronouns with this pronouns as using this combination could create confusion for readers and lead to miscommunications.
Remembering who and whom as interrogative pronouns can be tricky, since their functions differ greatly in sentences. In order to choose between who and whom as interrogative pronouns, consider what word they represent (known as an “antecedent”) when making your choice.
Who? If the unknown noun in a sentence serves as both subject and object, use Who?. For possessive nouns such as bags (Who owns this black bag?) use Which?. For instance: Which black bag are we talking about here?
Relative Pronouns
Though it might seem counterintuitive, when referring to the subject of a sentence it should always be who and not which. If in doubt about which pronoun should be used then remove the clause with that pronoun and read through its remaining sentence – the subject will tell you what pronoun to use!
Which refers to things other than people, like animals and inanimate objects. For instance, streptococcus bacteria that cause strep throat are named streptococcus; casual writers sometimes use which instead of who when discussing living beings that are not humans.
Edward Sapir predicted in 1921 that within one or two centuries, whom would become “delightfully archaic.” Although that hasn’t happened just yet, to avoid coming across as pedantic or incorrect when writing professional-sounding text use who instead. Furthermore, using whom correctly will keep your writing sounding polished and professional.