Dear 1L: on “However, …”

Dear 1L,

When I look at drafts of your writing, one of the first things I do is reword almost all sentences that start with “However, …” 

“But starting sentences that way is grammatically correct,” you might protest.

And you’d be right. Nevertheless, I suggest you limit your use of this sentence-starter. Here’s why.

🔹 Your Reader is bored.

Using “However, …” to start a sentence is a bit dull. “Ponderous,” in the words of Legal writing great, Brian Garner. (Brian A. Garner, Garner’s Modern English Usage (2016), at 472.)  

“However, …” lacks “oomph.” It contains three syllables and then a pause. Try “But …” or “Yet …” (no following comma) to solve these problems.

🌟 An added bonus exists:  “But …” saves you four letters and a comma over “However, …” For a brief, that might mean a couple lines of text. Every little bit helps when you are trying to squeeze what you write into a page limit!  And the more concise, the better.

🔹 Your Reader may be confused. 

The word “however,” standing alone, is ambiguous. It can mean “by contrast” (as is most common), but it can also mean “in whatever way” or “to whatever extent.”  (E.g., “However fast your SUV goes, it won’t beat our sports car in a race.”)  

The former meaning is always followed by a comma. The latter is not.

🔹 Don’t heed your middle-school teacher on this one.

I know using “But …” to start a sentence is what your early Language Arts teacher taught you NOT to do. That is ok. You can break that phantom “rule.” It was likely designed to teach you how to write in complete sentences. You are past that.

“However, …” at the start of a sentence is sort of sophomoric. Middle or high school in style. It is almost never the most effective way to start a sentence, especially in legal writing. “But …” or “Yet …” is better.

If you need more convincing, Justice Antonin Scalia is quoted as saying, 

“I love ‘But’ at the beginning of a sentence, and I never put ‘However’ at the beginning—almost never.”  

• – Justice Antonin Scalia, (Garner, The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing (2010), at 51) 

N.B. If you prefer the word “however” with a comma to show contrast, put the “however” after the subject of the sentence.

✏️ E.g., “Bob aimed for perfect quality in each one of his LinkedIn posts. Mary, however, strove for quantity and to be consistently “very good’ in hers. Mary’s approach achieved better results in the long run.”

I think this reads a lot better than “Bob aimed for quality … However, Mary strove for consistency ….”  That said, here, I would likely suggest “instead” after “Mary.’” Or “by contrast.” 

What do you think?

I hope that brief-writing is, or will be, ok for you. It is a lot of work, and you have no past experience, or models in your head to guide you. I am always here rooting for you. 

I also always love to hear what you are thinking about, so please do not hesitate to reach out!

Fondly,

Amanda

P.S. Follow —> #Dear1L to receive future letters.

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