“Thus, . . .” and “Therefore, . . .” are Getting Tired: Try these Alternatives

Dear Legal Writer,

As a junior legal writer, you likely tend to use “Therefore” and “Thus” too often. And you probably always put them at the start of sentences, followed by a comma.

That can make for some pretty plodding prose.  👎

“Therefore, the plaintiff’s arguments prove unpersuasive.”
“Thus, the Court should grant the motion.”

Blah, blah, blah.

Okay, so both sentences ARE perfectly fine grammatically.  But they’re over-the-top predictable.  That can make for some uninspired—and uninspiring—prose. 

You often don’t need these words—or any substitute—at all.  It’s often more convincing to just cut them.

But if you feel something is needed to bridge your content flow, you have other options instead of “Thus, . . .” and “Therefore, . . .” at the start of sentences.

1️⃣ 

One is to use “And so” or “So” (no comma needed afterwards) as a substitute for “Thus” or “Therefore.” 

This option is suggested by BriefCatch and is a good one, provided you’re comfortable with the more informal style.

“And so the plaintiff’s arguments prove unpersuasive.”
“So the Court should grant the motion.”

(I’m not sure I’d use “so” for such boilerplate, wrap-up sentences, but the word can work well in the body of a brief.}

2️⃣ 

A second option is to move “thus” and “therefore” to the middle of your sentences (no surrounding commas needed).

Doing so is less predictable and will will add some variation to your sentence structure, which can only improve your overall writing style.

Here are example sets using each word:

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

TRY INSTEAD: “We thus decided to delay the deposition.”

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

———

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

TRY INSTEAD: “His counsel therefore ceded to our demands.”

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

***

🗳️   How do you use “thus” & “therefore”?  Do you use “so” or “and so”?

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

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