Dear Legal Writer, Let’s hunt some zombies!

They are verbs hiding inside clunky noun clauses:
 
For example, take the clause, “make the decision”:
 
            ORIG: The court made the decision to exclude the expert’s testimony. 👎
 
            REV: The court decided to exclude the expert’s testimony. ✅
 
“Made the decision” is not wrong.
 
It’s just longer—and it masks the real action.
 
When you see phrases like these, look for the verb hiding in there and free it so it can do WORK for you:
 
●      make an argument → argue
●      conduct an analysis → analyze
●      give consideration to → consider
●      reach a conclusion → conclude
●      make an objection → object
 
Strong verbs move the sentence forward.
 
So don’t just “make an improvement.”

But do improve. 🙂
 
💌 Amanda

#DearLegalWriter

P.S. Those long, clunky phrases that mask verbs are called “nominalizations,” and some folks call them “zombies.” 🤷🏼‍♀️