DraftingLegalDocuments

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PrinciplesofClearWriting
1.Writeintheactivevoice.Theactivevoiceeliminatesconfusionbyforcingyoutonametheactorin
asentence.Thisconstructionmakescleartothereaderwhoistoperformtheduty.
Thepassivevoicemakessentenceslongerandroundabout.Whoisresponsibleismuchlessobvious.
Passiveverbshaveaformoftheverbtobeplusthepastparticipleofamainverb.
am

is

are

was

were

be

been

plus
amainverbusuallyendingin"en"or"ed".

Examplesofpassiveverbs:
wasreceived,
isbeingconsidered,
hasbeenselected.
Thepassivevoicereversesthenatural,activeorderofEnglishsentences.Inthefollowingpassive
examplethereceiveroftheactioncomesbeforetheactor.
Passive:Theregulation[receiver]waswritten[verb]bythedrafter[actor].
Active:Thedrafter[actor]wrote[verb]theregulation[receiver].
Passiveconstructionsareconfusingwhenusedinregulations.Activesentencesmusthaveactors,but

passiveonesarecompletewithoutthem.
Thematerialwillbedelivered.

Bywhom?

Thestartdateistobedecided.

Bywhom?

Thefiguresmustbeapproved.

Bywhom?

Puttingtheactorbeforetheverbforcesyoutobeclearaboutresponsibility.
Themessengerwilldeliverthematerial.
Thecontractorwilldecidethestartdate.
Theadministratormustapprovethefigures.
Thepassivevoiceisappropriatewhentheactorisunknown,unimportant,orobvious.This
doesnotusuallyapplyinregulatorytext.
Smallitemsareoftenstolen.
Theapplicationshavebeenmailed.
2.Useactionverbs.
Avoidwordslikethis:
DON'TSAY

SAY

giveconsiderationto

consider

isapplicableto

appliesto

makepayment

pay

giverecognitionto

recognize

isconcernedwith

concerns

Theyarecalled"nominals"nounswithverbsinside.Theyarehardtoreadandmakesentences

longer.Actionverbsareshorterandmoredirect.

3.Use"must"insteadof"shall".
shall

imposesanobligationtoact,butmaybeconfusedwithpredictionoffuture
action

will

predictsfutureaction

must

imposesobligation,indicatesanecessitytoact

must
not

indicatesaprohibition

should

infersobligation,butnotabsolutenecessity

may

indicatesdiscretiontoact

Toimposealegalobligation,use"must."
Topredictfutureaction,use"will."
DON'TSAY:TheGovernorshallapproveit.
SAY:TheGovernormustapproveit.[obligation]
OR:TheGovernorwillapproveit.[futureaction]
4.Bedirect.Talkdirectlytoyourreaders.Usetheimperativemood.Regulationslendthemselvesto
thisstyle,especiallyprocedures,howtoinstructions,andlistsofduties.
Directnessavoidsthepassivevoice:
SAY:Signallcopies.
SAY:AttachacopyofyourW2toyourreturn.

Thisstyleresultsinproceduresthatareshorter,crisper,andeasiertounderstand.

5.Usethepresenttense.Aregulationofcontinuingeffectspeaksasofthetimeyouapplyit,notas
ofthetimeyoudraftitorwhenitbecomeseffective.Forthisreason,youshoulddraftregulationsinthe
presenttense.Bydraftinginthepresenttense,youavoidcomplicatedandawkwardverbforms.

DON'TSAY:Thefinefordrivingwithoutalicenseshallbe$10.00.

SAY:Thefinefordrivingwithoutalicenseis$10.00.

6.Writepositively.Ifyoucanaccuratelyexpressanideaeitherpositivelyornegatively,expressit
positively.

DON'TSAY:TheGovernormaynotappointpersonsotherthanthosequalifiedbythePersonnel
ManagementAgency.

SAY:TheGovernormustappointapersonqualifiedbythePersonnelManagementAgency.

Anegativestatementcanbeclear.Useitifyou'recautioningthereader.

DON'TWALK

DON'TSMOKE
Butavoidseveralnegativesinonesentence.

DON'TSAY:Ademonstrationprojectwillnotbeapprovedunlessallapplicationrequirementsaremet.

SAY:Ademonstrationprojectwillbeapprovedonlyiftheapplicantmeetsallrequirements.

It'sbettertoexpressevenanegativeinpositiveform.
DON'TSAY

SAY

nothonest

dishonest

didnotremember

forgot

didnotpayanyattentionto

ignored

didnotremainatthemeeting

leftthemeeting

didnotcomplywith
or
failedtocomplywith

violated

7.Avoiduseofexceptions.Ifpossible,statearuleorcategorydirectlyratherthandescribingthat
ruleorcategorybystatingitsexceptions.
DON'TSAY:Allpersonsexceptthose18yearsoroldermust...
SAY:Eachpersonunder18yearsofagemust...
However,youmayuseanexceptionifitavoidsalongandcumbersomelistorelaboratedescription.
Whenyouuseanexception,statetheruleorcategoryfirstthenstateitsexception.
DON'TSAY:Alabama,Alaska,...andWyoming(alistof47states)mustration...
SAY:EachstateexceptTexas,NewMexico,andArizonamustration...(Notethatthecategory"each
State"isestablishedfirstandthentheexceptionsarestated.)
8.Avoidsplitinfinitives.Thesplitinfinitiveoffendsmanyreaders,soavoiditifyoucan.
DON'TSAY:Besuretopromptlyreplytotheinvitation.
SAY:Besuretoreplypromptlytotheinvitation.orSAY:Besuretoreplytotheinvitationpromptly.
9.Usethesingularnounratherthanthepluralnoun.Totheextentyourmeaningallows,usea
singularnouninsteadofapluralnoun.Youwillavoidtheproblemofwhethertheruleapplies
separatelytoeachmemberofaclassorjointlytotheclassasawhole.

DON'TSAY:TheguardwillissuesecuritybadgestotheemployeeswhoworkinBuildingDand
BuildingE.

SAY:TheguardwillissueasecuritybadgetoeachemployeewhoworksinBuildingDandeach
employeewhoworksinBuildingE.
unlessyoumean
TheguardwillissueasecuritybadgetoeachemployeewhoworksinbothBuildingDandBuildingE.
(Thereareotherpossiblemeanings.)

10.Beconsistent.Don'tusedifferentwordstodenotethesamethings.Variationforthesakeof
variationhasnoplaceinregulationwriting.Usingasynonymratherthanrepeatingthepreciseterm
youintendjustconfusesthereader.
DON'TSAY:EachmotorvehicleownermustregisterhisorhercarwiththeAutomobileDivisionof
theMetropolitanPoliceDepartment.
SAY:EachautomobileownermustregisterhisorherautomobilewiththeAutomobileDivisionof
theMetropolitanPoliceDepartment.
Don'tusethesamewordtodenotedifferentthings.
DON'TSAY:Thetankhada200gallontankforfuel.
SAY:Thetankhada200gallonfuelcontainer.
11.Useparallelstructure.Arrangesentencessothatparallelideaslookparallel.Thisisimportant
whenyouusealist.

Nonparallelconstruction:

ThedutiesoftheExecutiveSecretaryoftheAdministrativeCommitteeare:

Totakeminutesofallthemeetings(phrase)
TheExecutiveSecretaryanswersallthecorrespondenceand(clause)
Writingofmonthlyreports.(topic)
Parallelconstruction:
Totakeminutesofallthemeetings
Toanswerallthecorrespondenceand
Towritethemonthlyreports.
12.Prefersimplewords.Governmentwritingshouldbedignified,butdoesn'thavetobepompous.
Writingcanbedignifiedwhenthelanguageissimple,direct,andstrong.Tomakeyourwritingclearer
andeasiertoreadandthusmoreeffectivepreferthesimpleword.
DON'TSAY

SAY

construct,fabricate

make

initiate,commence

begin

terminate

end

utilize

use

substantialportion

largepart

affordedanopportunity

allow

13.Omitneedlesswords.Don'tusecompoundprepositionsandotherwordyexpressionswhenthe
samemeaningcanbeconveyedwithoneortwowords.
DON'TSAY

SAY

becauseofthefactthat

since(because)

callyourattentiontothefactthat

remindyou

fortheperiodof

for

inmanycases

often

inmanyinstances

sometimes

inthenatureof

like

thefactthathehadnotsucceeded

hisfailure

thequestionastowhether

whether

14.Avoidredundancies.Don'tusewordpairs,ifthewordshavethesameeffectorwherethe
meaningofoneincludedtheother.
Examples:Wordpairstoavoid
anyandall
authorizeanddirect
ceaseanddesist
eachandevery
fullandcomplete
orderanddirect
meansandincludes
necessaryanddesirable

15.Useconcretewords.Governmentwritingoftenconcernsabstractsubjects.Butabstractwords
canbevagueandopentodifferentinterpretations.Putinstructionsinsimple,concretewords.
DON'TSAY

IFYOUMEAN

vehicles

automobiles

firearms

rifles

aircraft

helicopters

16.Don'tusewordsthatantagonize.Wordscanattractorrepelreaders.Itispossibletochoose
wordsinourwritingthatdonotmakethewrongimpressionorantagonizeourreaders.Usewordsto
whichpeoplereactfavorablyratherthanwordsthattheyresent.
USEWORDSLIKE
ability

achieve

benefit

guarantee

please

reasonable

reliable

service

useful

you

RATHERTHANTHESEWORDS
alibi

allege

blame

complaint

impossible

liable

oversight

unfortunate

waste

wrong

17.Avoidnounsandwiches.Administrativewritingusestoomanynounclustersgroupsofnouns
"sandwiched"together.Avoidtheseconfusingconstructionsbyusingmoreprepositions.
DON'TSAY:Undergroundmineworkersafetyprotectionproceduresdevelopment.
SAY:Developmentofundergroundproceduresfortheprotectionofthesafetyofmineworkers.
ORMORELIKELY:Developmentofproceduresfortheprotectionofthesafetyofworkersin
undergroundmines.
Whichmeaningisintendedbecomesclearerwhenthisfourwordsandwichisbrokenup.
18.Don'tusegenderspecificterminology.Avoidthegenderspecificjobtitle:

DON'TSAY

SAY

Crewman

Crewmember

Draftsman

Drafter

Enlistedmen

Enlistedpersonnel

Fireman

Firefighter

Foreman

Supervisor

Manhours

Hoursworked

Manpower

Personnel,workforce

Avoidthegenderspecificpronounwhentheantecedentcouldbemaleorfemale.
DON'TSAY:Theadministratororhisdesigneemustcompletetheevaluationform.
SAY:Theadministratorortheadministrator'sdesigneemustcompletetheevaluationform.
Becarefulwhenyourewritetoavoidtheproblem.Thefollowingexamplesdon'tnecessarilyhavethe
samemeaning
EachRegionalDirectorwillannouncehisorherrecommendationsattheconference.
TheRegionalDirectorswillannouncetheirrecommendationattheconference.
19.Writeshortsentences.Readablesentencesaresimple,active,affirmative,anddeclarative.
Themoreasentencedeviatesfromthisstructure,theharderthesentenceistounderstand.
Long,runonsentencesareabasicweaknessinlegaldocuments.
Legaldocumentsoftencontainconditionswhichresultincomplexsentenceswithmanyclauses.
Themorecomplexthesentence,thegreaterthepossibilityfordifficultyindeterminingtheintended

meaningofthesentence.
Solutions
Stateonethingandonlyonethingineachsentence.
Dividelongsentencesintotwoorthreeshortsentences.
Removeallunnecessarywords.Striveforasimplesentencewithasubjectandverb.Eliminate
unnecessarymodifiers.
Ifonlyoneortwosimpleconditionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,statetheconditionsfirst
andthenstatetherule.
Iftwoormorecomplexconditionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,statetherulefirstandthen
statetheconditions.
Ifseveralconditionsorsubordinateprovisionsmustbemetbeforearuleapplies,usealist.
20.Makelistsclearandlogicalinstructure.Listingprovideswhitespacethatseparatesthevarious
conditions.Listingcanhelpyouavoidtheproblemsofambiguitycausedbythewords"and"and"or".
Whenyoulist,usethefollowingrules:
Useparallelstructure.(Seeexampleinitem11above.)
Listeachitemsothatitmakesacompletethoughtwhenreadwiththeintroductorytext.
Iftheintroductorylanguageforthelistisacompletesentence
Endtheintroductionwithacolonand

Makeeachiteminthelistaseparatesentence.

Iftheintroductorylanguageforthelistisanincompletesentence
Endtheintroductionwithadash
Endeachiteminthelistexceptthelastitemwithasemicolon
Afterthesemicoloninthenexttolastiteminthelist,write"and"or"or"asappropriateand
Endthelastiteminthelistwithaperiod.
21.Useshortparagraphs.Awritermayimprovetheclarityofaregulationbyusingshort,compact
paragraphs.Eachparagraphshoulddealwithasingle,unifiedtopic.Lengthy,complex,ortechnical
discussionsshouldbepresentedinaseriesofrelatedparagraphs.
22.Useachecklistandreviewyourdraftforeachoftheseprinciplesseparately.
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