Dear 1L, “To be sure” is a genteel expression that lawyers use a lot. Perhaps you’ve noticed.

Well, here’s why we use it and how you can do so effectively in your spring brief:

🔷 “To be sure” signals, “I will now acknowledge the point that most hurts me, in hopes of defusing it on my own terms.”

We use it to acknowledge a counterpoint before refuting it so as to demonstrate fairness while setting up a rebuttal.

E.g.:

 ▪️ “To be sure, a, b, c are true; nevertheless, D, the dispositive point, controls here.”

 ▪️ “To be sure, the court in ABC held that Section 1692e(11) requires a debt collector to disclose that a communication is from a debt collector; nevertheless, that holding does not control the different statutory language at issue here.”

 ▪️ “To be sure, historical analysis can be difficult; it sometimes requires making nuanced judgments. But that does not relieve this Court of its duty to apply the governing historical standard faithfully in this case.”

🔷 Alternatives to “To be sure” also exist, including:

“Even assuming,”
“Even if,”
“Granted,”
“True,”
“True enough,” and
“It is true that.”

Examples:

—“Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that the regulation applies here, it still does not authorize the penalty the agency imposed.”

—“Even if the interpretation the court rejected in Ace was mandatory, the Board’s decision in Barth would still stand and control the outcome here.”

—“Granted, the statute is broad, but its text still imposes clear limits.”

—“True enough, the statute sweeps broadly; but the best reading of its text still imposes meaningful limits.”

—“It is true that the contract was signed late; however, the parties had already begun performance.”

🔷 In your brief this spring, challenge yourself to add one deliberate concession sentence:

Start with “To be sure,” or one of its cousins above, then (1) state the hard fact fairly and (2) pivot to explain why your key point still wins.

When you do, you’ll sound more confident, more credible, and more like a litigant who’s sure of the points they’re making—because you’re not hiding from the bad facts, you’re managing them.

💌 Amanda

#DearLegalWriter