Dear Legal Writer: Placement & Punctuation for “Thus” & “Therefore”

If you write “Thus,” “Therefore,” or similar words to start a sentence, elevate your style by moving such words to the middle of the sentence.

Here’s an example of each:

ORIGINAL: “Thus, we decided to delay the deposition.”

BETTER: “We thus decided to delay the deposition.”

NOT: “We, thus, decided to delay the deposition.”

ORIGINAL: “Therefore, his counsel ceded to our demands.”

BETTER: “His counsel therefore ceded to our demands.”

NOT: “His counsel, therefore, ceded to our demands.”

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Legal writers: What say you?

Fondly,

Amanda