Dear Legal Writer, Try my editing P-E-N-C-I-L.
It systematically roots out the 6 worst sins in legal writing:
-Passives
-Expletives
-Nominalizations
-Complexities
-Intensifiers
-Legalese
1️⃣ PASSIVES (search for “by”)
Root out passive voice by searching for sentences containing the word “by.” That’s the most common signal for passive voice. Passive voice is always LONGER and less clear than active voice.
🚫 “The bill was passed by the Senate.” (passive)
✅ “The Senate passed the bill.” (active)
2️⃣ EXPLETIVES (search for “It is” & “There are”)
Both two-word phrases are almost always useless expletives. They take up space without adding value. Cut them, and make your subject carry out the verb.
🚫 “There are three factors that courts consider. They are: _”
✅ “Three factors the court considers are __”
✅ “The court considers three factors: __”
3️⃣ NOMINALIZATIONS (search for “ment” & “tion”)
“Nominalizations” (also called “zombie nouns”) are a fancy way to say clunky noun clauses that can be converted into verbs.
Doing so saves space and makes your writing flow better.
make arrangement for —> arrange
provide a description of —> describe
take the deposition of —> depose
4️⃣ COMPLEXITIES (search for long words)
In legal writing, we never want to make our non-legal words any longer or more intricate than necessary to express our points clearly.
That’s because the law already contains way too many “big” words and abstract concepts. It’s also because our readers are not reading for pleasure, but to extract information quickly.
So swap out long, complex words with shorter, simpler ones.
“facilitate” —> “help,” “assist”
“ascertain” —> “find out,” “learn”
5️⃣ INTENSIFERS (search for adjectives & adverbs)
Swap out gratuitous intensifiers with stronger nouns and vivid verbs that mean the same thing.
“very hot” —> “steamy,” “sweltering”
“walked quickly” —> “raced,” “sped”
6️⃣ LEGALESE
I hope this one is self-explanatory!! Everyone hates legalese.
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Won’t you try out my P-E-N-C-I-L editing tool today?
💌 Amanda
P.S. What tool do you use to condense and tighten your writing?
#DearLegalWriter