Dear Legal Writer: Be careful of the word “find” in legal writing

Dear Legal Writer: Be careful with the word “find.”

In fact, if you’re writing a motion for summary judgment or an appellate brief, don’t use “find” at all.

🔹 An appellate court doesn’t “find” anything. It renders conclusions of law, not fact.

🔹 Trial courts don’t “find” facts most of the time, either. On a motion for summary judgment, for instance, trial courts make rulings based on law. No facts are “found.”

—To be sure, there are non-jury bench trials and other misc. proceedings where trial courts make factual findings.

—But unless you’re dealing with one of those, writing “the court found” is just sloppy.

Instead of “find” to describe the legal conclusions that courts make, try a synonym, such as rule, conclude, determine, decide, hold, reason, or explain.

📌 “But Amanda,” you say, “many lawyers—even judges—use ‘find’ generically to describe the actions courts take.”
—I know. You are right about that. But that does not make using “find” right.

👉 For 1Ls: The court cases you’re dealing with for your advocacy brief this semester involve decisions on legal principles, not findings of fact.

So use a verb other than “find” when discussing what the courts did.

***

🗳️ What say you?

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

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