Dear Legal Writer, I recoil in disgust at “As such.” No one uses it correctly.

Even worse, lawyers think they 𝙙𝙤 know how to use it, so they use it too much, like a crutch.

That makes them sound like incompetent amateurs, not the esteemed pros they strive to be.

Let’s make sure you avoid amateurville today, OK? Here’s your guide. ⤵️

🔷 AMATEUR HOUR

Most folks think “as such” means something like “therefore,” or “accordingly,” so they use it as a catch-all to stand for everything they’ve said before:

1: It has not snowed. As such, we cannot ski today.

2: I am falling asleep. As such, I do not wish to watch another movie.

3: The plaintiff refuses to respond to our discovery requests. As such, we had no choice but to file this motion to compel.

❌ All three of those are just so wrong!

If you don’t see why they’re wrong, I advise you STOP using “As such” immediately.

👉 “As such” is NEVER necessary. You can always use “therefore,” “thus,” or even just “so,” instead.

A: It has not snowed. Therefore, we cannot ski today.

B: I am falling asleep. I thus do not wish to watch another movie.

C: The plaintiff refuses to respond to our discovery requests, so we had no choice but to file this motion to compel.

(A, B, and C are all correct.)

But, if you’re really hell-bent on using “as such,” I will explain how to use it right:

🔷 PRO

“As such” means “in that capacity,” or “in that respect.”

👉 The key is the “such” MUST stand for a NOUN.

So you CAN say,

a/ “She was promoted to manager. As such, she supervised other employees.”

 —The “such” replaces “manager,” a noun, so this works.

b/ “He had become an expert at correctly using ‘as such.’ As such, he felt more confident about his legal writing skills.”

 —The “such” replaces the noun “expert,” so this works.

c/ “The night had become a force. As such, it was beating us back inside.”

 —The “such” replaces the noun “force,” so this works. (The author has personified “night” as a force that acts.)

(a, b, and c are all correct.)

⬇️

Finally, here’s a trick to test whether you’ve used “As such” correctly:

Ask yourself, “As WHAT?”

If you can’t find a preceding noun that makes sense, your use is incorrect.

Examples from above:

1: It has not snowed. As such, we cannot ski today.

—As WHAT? No answer, so it is wrong.

2: I am falling asleep. As such, I do not wish to watch another movie.

—As WHAT?

(Here, you likely mean “a person who is falling asleep,” but you would have had to phrase the prior sentence, “I am a person who is falling asleep” to make the “As such” work.)

3: The plaintiff refuses to respond to our discovery requests. As such, we had no choice but to file this motion to compel.

—As WHAT? Crickets!!

🔷 SO . . .

Please stop using “as such” used incompetently!

(I am tired of recoiling in disgust- 🙂)

💌 Amanda

#DearLegalWriter