Dear Legal Writer: You can’t use “they” for “company.”

Dear Legal Writer: You can’t use “they” for “company.”

In the U.S.:

🔹 A “company” is a “collective noun” that functions like every other SINGULAR noun.

Other common, collective nouns in legal writing include:

department
family
group
entity
Congress
organization

🔹 A collective noun takes a SINGULAR pronoun and verb.

That means whether you’re referring “company” generically or to “the ABC Company” in particular, the proper pronoun for it is “it” not “they.”

✅ ABC Co. is an “it” that “is.”
📍 ABC Co. is not a “they” that “are.”

✅ The Tax Department is an “it” that “is.”
📍 The Tax Department is not a “they” that “are.”

THEREFORE, you must stop writing things like,

“Plaintiff was an employee at the Smith Corporation until they fired her.” ❌

Sure, I know what you mean, and that’s probably a sentence I’d say orally. But legal writing needs to be precise and accurate. That avoids ambiguity and confusion.

Here are some options for how to fix:

✅ “Plaintiff was an employee at the Smith Corporation until it fired her.”

✅ “Plaintiff was an employee at the Smith Corporation until her managers fired her.”

Here’s another:

❌ “I asked the HR department, and they told me . . .”

✅ “I asked the HR department, and it told me . . .”

✅ “I asked the HR folks, and they told me . . .”
___

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

#Dear1L
#DearLegalWriter

P.S. Is the collective-noun rule true in your country?

I understand that in the UK, the word “team” should be referred to as a “they” that “are,” and I’ve noticed my UK friends say things like LinkedIn “are changing,” as opposed to “is changing.”

I am unaware, however, what other collective nouns are affected.

Please pipe in!

Thank you.