UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERASCOLLEGE OF LAW

Legal English I

CLARITY

“There is nothing as mysterious as something clearly seen.” (Robert Frost)

“The price of clarity, of course, is that the clearer the document, the more obvious its substantive deficiencies. For the lazy or dull, this price may be too high.” (Reed Dickerson, Professor of Law, Indiana University)

I. CLARITY

Clarity in writing results when the writer is able to express exactly (and unambiguously) what he wants to be reflected in his work. The last thing a writer would want is to confuse his readers. On one level, clear writing involves clarity of expression and sentence structure. On another, deeper level clarity results to clearness of one’s logic and arguments.

Clear expression happens when what one thinks is reflected on that which one has written. To check if this has happened, the writer must re-read his work and look at it from the point of view of the ordinary reader. The writer must check for ambiguities, that is, if some terms may have more than one meaning. Generally, what is unclear for the writer is likewise unclear for the reader.

II. USE FAMILIAR AND CONCRETE WORDS

Plain meaning is a by-product of the use of definite ad concrete language. This makes for vivid writing, one which can be easily grasped as it is “picturesque”. Preference for abstract words makes one prose indefinite and vague.

Abstract: She sustained bereavement of her paternal relative.Concrete: Her father died.

Abstract: Her counsel failed to come because of the onset of inclement weather.

Concrete: Her counsel could not come due to the storm.

Abstract: You need agricultural implements to do the job of planting trees.

Concrete: You need a spade to plant trees.

Abstract: He rendered a negative response on the subject of my solicitations.

Concrete: He denied my request.

III. AVOID WIDE GAPS BETWEEN SUBJECT, VERB, AND OBJECT

A. GAPS

A sentence normally consists of a subject and a verb, with the object (if any) following the verb (e.g. The lawyer shouted at the witness.) If these three are placed in order and near

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one another, the sentence becomes easily understandable. Putting modifiers between the subject and verb, or between the verb and its object makes for tedious writing.

With gap between subject and verb: The plaintiff, disgusted at how long it took for the court to decide such simple ejectment case, filed a motion for early resolution.

Improved: The plaintiff filed a motion for early resolution. He was disgusted at the court’s delay in resolving his simple ejectment case.

B. MODIFYING THE MODIFIERS

Avoid “nested modifiers’ which modify the modifiers. When this happens, take away the “nest” of modifiers and make a separate sentence.

With Nested Modifier: Antonio Doro, who was defendant’s uncle, and among those defrauded by him, filed before the court closed for Christmas vacation a Motion to Intervene.

Improved: Defendant’s uncle, Antonio Doro, filed a Motion to Intervene before the court closed for Christmas vacation. He was among those defrauded by defendant.

With Nested Modifier: Maria, who at the time was carrying a bundle of newly-rinsed clothes some of which belong to plaintiff’s son, while trying to escape through the back gate, was caught by the plaintiff there.

Improved: Maria was caught by the plaintiff at the back gate as she tried to escape. She carried a bundle of newly-rinsed clothes, some of which belonged to the plaintiff’s son. (passive), or

The plaintiff caught Maria at the back gate as she tried to escape. She carried a bundle of newly-rinsed clothes, some of which belonged to plaintiff’s son. (active)

IV. AVOID MISPLACED OR DANGLING MODIFIERS

A. RULES IN REVISING DANGLING MODIFIERS

1. Place single-word modifiers near the word or phrases that they modify, especially if the modifier tends to describe the wrong word.

Poor: He almost ate all the desserts in the party.Better: He ate almost all the desserts in the party.

Poor: The judge could understand the Ilocano spoken by the witnesses easily.Better: The judge could easily understand the Ilocano spoken by the witnesses.

2. Likewise, place the modifying phrase or clause closest to the word it modifies. Misplacing these modifiers next to the wrong word often accidentally changes the meaning of the sentence.

Poor: Three television sets were reported stolen by the Dalakit City Police yesterday.

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Better: The Dalakit City Police reported that three television sets were stolen yesterday.

3. By categorically naming the doer, a dangling modifier can be eliminated.

Poor: Having finished washing the dishes, the door was closed.Better: Having finished washing the dishes, Martha closed the door.

V. AVOID THE AMBIGUOUS PRONOUN REFERENCE

A. CONCEPT

Careless use of pronouns can result in ambiguity problems. This occurs when the writer allows multiple antecedents as possible references to a single pronoun. Pronouns, when not placed properly, can point to the wrong noun changing the meaning of the sentence.

B. HOW TO AVOID AMBIGUOUS PRONOUN REFERENCE

1. To avoid confusion, one must rephrase the sentence to clearly identify the antecedent.

Poor: Robert’s father will use his car for the picnic. (not clearly stated whose car will be used)

Better: Robert’s father will use Robert’s car for the picnic. (if referring to Robert, or)

Robert’s father will use the latter’s car for the picnic. (referring to the father)

2. Demonstrative pronouns such as this, that, these, those, them should only be used when the antecedent is definitely established.

Poor: Your skills will surely benefit your friends. Be sure to use them.Better: Your skills will surely benefit your friends. Be sure to use these skills.

VI. PUNCTUATIONS MUST AVOID, NOT CAUSE AMBIGUITY

Punctuations are marks in written communication used to help the reader better understand the material. One such use is to avoid ambiguity. Reckless use of punctuations can have absurd results.

The serial comma, which is used before the conjunction “and” or “or” in a list of three or more items, is a case in point, example:

“The writer gratefully acknowledges the invaluable help of his co-teachers in the State University, the Honorable Governor and the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Without the serial comma, the Governor and the President become co-teachers of the author in this statement:

On the other hand, reckless use of the serial comma also results in ambiguity, example:

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“The writer gratefully acknowledges the invaluable help of his mother, the Honorable Provincial Governor Vilma Santos, and the President of the Philippines.”

Here the author unwittingly made it appear that the lady Governor is his mother when such is not the case.

The sentence has to be rephrased to avoid listing the items in an ambiguous manner. For example, after “mother”, put the conjunction “as well as”.

VII. RULES IN CLEAR WRITING

1. Be clear on your point.

Good legal writing, as in all good communication for that matter, requires that the author must have a point and is clear about it. Writers who are not sure what they want to say cannot be understood. Their work appears to ramble, with the reader not knowing where the writer is headed.

There are 3 ways to know when one is unsure of his point: a) by over-describing the background to what one wants to say; b) by being unsure whether one is for or against a certain topic; and, c) having too many points within one work.

2. Make sure your point is communicated at once.

As important as having a point is to go direct to the point in one’s paper. There is no use having a long introduction and then stating one’s point near the end. By this time, the reader is either tired or puzzled not knowing where the material is headed.

3. Have a structure. This is where you put your data, analysis and argument.

The introduction, for example, must already contain a summary or abstract of your work. The background must only be short overview of the problem or legal concepts to be discussed. Extending an explanation of the background will tire the reader, and will give an impression that the background is already the main concept discussed by the paper. The facts of a particular case under study must only cite relevant details. Putting in more will make the reading tedious. The analysis will discuss the writer’s arguments. Here, the writer will cite facts and evidence supporting his position. He may also cite counterevidence against his position, and discuss how these points will fall short of the writer’s arguments. If the analysis covers many areas that may be broken into sub-parts, and each part is discussed separately, the paper must end with a short conclusion which is a summary of the main analysis presented.

4. Observe grammatical rules.

This cannot be overemphasized. Non-observance on the rules on grammar subjects the writer to many accusations: from being sloppy to lazy to being uneducated, and worse, someone who writes non-sensically.

5. Be precise.

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Know the exact meaning of the term. If the term is scientific or legal, and has a technical meaning, know both its technical and ordinary meaning. Never use a term because it “sounds” right, particularly when you are not sure of its definition. To be sure, consult the dictionary. #

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