Writing habits Archives - Page 2 of 14

Must, shall and will in business contracts

An instructor in contract drafting once condemned a contract term I had written: Party B will pay Party A £25,000 by 30 September. “You haven’t created an obligation,” he told me. “To impose an obligation, use shall, not will.” I...

How and why to avoid passive verbs

Active voice, Grammar, Writing habits

At last, a blog post for everyone who discovered active verbs in one of my workshops and wants more on how to identify passive verbs and edit them out. Why avoid passive verbs? Plain English favours the active voice over the passive, for good reasons.The...

Check passive verbs with Word and Outlook

Active voice, Grammar, Software

Word and Outlook detect some passive verbs Word and Outlook are normally right when they identify a passive verb. But they miss plenty. In this text, for example: Word 2010 has underlined a passive verb (can be found). If you edit that out, it shows you another...

Can good contract drafting prevent disputes?

Clarity meeting, Contract drafting, Judgments, Sentence length

The Clarity breakfast on 6 June discussed whether good contract drafting can prevent disputes, focusing on commercial contracts and big disputes. Our speaker, Simon Rainey QC, suggested that no drafting can stop a party launching a claim, if the stakes are high...

Are 5 good writing habits enough?

Writing habits

I wrote a short piece for the Law Society Gazette in April, listing 5 good writing habits. Straight away, one reader emailed me back, suggesting that writing in the active voice deserves a place in the top 5. I agree, although the others are strong contenders too....

Lawyers deny client reactions to legal language

Jargon, Word choice

The Legal Ombudsman commissioned research into the impact of lawyers’ language in complaint handling and in its own communications. Interviews with 15 individuals and 4 groups suggested that dissatisfied clients take their lawyers’ jargon as an attack, intended to...