Dear 1L – Avoid Passive Voice Unless You’ve A Good Reason To Use

Dear 1L,

When I was editor for law firm blogs and client alerts, I reviewed many dozens of associate lawyers’ drafts. The most pervasive problem? Passive voice.

It pervades law students’ writing, too. Here is how to fix it and why you should.

A. THE FIX – Reorder Words

When self-editing, examine each sentence individually. Identify the Subject, Verb, and Object.

—I know this may be bringing up memories of 8th grade language arts class, but bear with me, because you all seem to have forgotten.

✏️Start the sentence with the Subject.

✏️Subject—then Verb—then Object.

✏️ If there is no Subject specified, decide who or what the Subject of the Verb should be. Add it.

Examples:

Passive: The decision made by the court was…

Active: The decision the court made was…

[Better still: The court decision was…]

Passive: A claim requires these elements to be shown: a; b; & c.

Active: To state a claim, plaintiff must show a, b & c.

The above sentence reordering exercise will (almost always*) make your writing better.

*On occasion, the Active voice is impossible (e.g., if the Actor is unknown), or Passive voice is preferable (e.g., if you want the object of the verb to take center stage in a sentence, or if it sounds awkward using Active voice).

B. THE WHY – Benefits of Active Voice

🔹It uses fewer words, leading to more concise writing.

🔹It uses more precise words, leading to clearer writing.

🔹It removes unnecessary ambiguities, leading to clearer writing.

🔹It sounds more confident, leading to more persuasive writing.

🔹It saves space, leading to drafts that fit your page/word limit.

Finally, here are some signals to watch for when trying to identify Passive voice:

📍verbs ending in “ed”;

📍”to be” verbs; and

📍unnecessary little words, such as “by the” and “of the.”

I will have more writing tips to come. Follow —> #dear1L to see them in your feed.

Fondly,

Amanda

#lawschool

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#legalwriting