by The Write House | Mar 31, 2015 | March 2015 edition, The Write Partner
Whenever I appear in court, I proudly announce myself as “Chinua Asuzu, [usually] for the Defendant.” I am visibly male, and extremely proud of it. The judge, observing my maleness etched on my rugged face, jots my name down as “Mr Chinua Asuzu.” Knowing this, I smile...
by The Write House | Jan 1, 2015 | The Write Partner
The plain English movement in legal writing is spirited in most advanced jurisdictions, common law and civil law alike. The European Union (herself civil-law-dominant) is part of this movement. EU Directives are drafted in better and clearer legal prose than...
by The Write House | Jan 1, 2015 | The Write Partner
In a list of 3 or more items with a single conjunction or disjunction, “always insert the serial comma. Some writers insist on omitting the last comma, before the ‘and’ [or ‘or’]. Do not omit the last comma—doing so can cause misinterpretation.” (Judge...
by The Write House | Jan 1, 2015 | The Write Partner
Lawyers should possess semantic exactitude- we should appreciate subtle distinctions between words or expressions that look or sound alike. In this issue, we explain the difference between an abbreviation and an acronym. An abbreviation is “the shortened form of a...
by The Write House | Jan 1, 2015 | The Write Partner
The plaintiff filed pleadings running into 120 pages. The learned judge was not happy. The learned judge struggled through the volumes of jargon. The judge then assessed that all the pertinent material could have been contained in 16 pages. He asked who wrote this...
