Potpourri

Legal Writing Tips

Then. Any sentence with than (to express comparison) should be examined to make sure no essential words are missing

I’ m probably closer to
my mother than
my father. (Ambiguous.)
I’m probably closer
to my mother than
to my father.

I’m probably closer
to my mother
than my father
It looked more like a
cormorant than a heron.
It looked more like a
cormorant than
like a heron.

Thanking you in advance. This sounds as if the writer meant, “It will not be worth my while to write to you again.” In making your request, write “Will you please,’ or “1 shall be obliged.” Then, later, if you feel moved to do so, or if the circumstances call for it, write a letter of acknowledgement. 

That. Which. That is the defining, or restrictive, pro­noun, which the non defining, or nonrestrictive.

The lawn mower that is broken is in the garage. (Tells which one.) 
The lawn mower, which is broken, is in the garage. 
(Adds a fact about the only mower in question.) 

The use of which for that is common in written and spoken language (“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass.”). Occasionally which seems preferable to that, as in the sentence from the Bible. But it would be a convenience to all if these two pronouns were used with precision. Careful writers, watchful for small conveniences, go witch-hunting, remove the definition which’s, and by doing so improve their work. 

The foreseeable future. A cliché, and a fuzzy one. 

How much of the future is foreseeable? Ten minutes? Ten years? Any of it? By whom is it foreseeable? Seers? Experts? Everybody?

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