HumanHandsTogether.

com/legaldrafting

LEGAL
DRAFTING
COURSE

MODULE II
FUNDAMENTALS
OF LEGAL WRITING

STUDY MATERIAL

Course
An initiative by
Instructor
MR. SHOBHIT
Human Hands Together
BATTA
Associate

Link Legal India Law Services

 MR. SHOBHIT BATTA
Associate, Link Legal India Law Services

Banking Finance, Insolvency and Bankruptcy

He is currently working with Link Legal India

Law Services as an Associate with Banking
Finance, Insolvency and Banking Team at
firm’s New Delhi office. Shobhit has
completed his BA.LLB (Hons.) from National
Law University Odisha [NLUO], Cuttack.
He is advising clients including project developers on loan agreements,
corporate debt restructuring and re-financing, corporate debt including
syndicate loans and structured finance, general corporate, regulatory and
compliance. He also handles drafting, vetting of commercial agreements. His
areas of interest are company & commercial law, real etate and project and
banking financing. He also deals in matters relating to sale and purchase,
lease, licence and development of immovable property, including investigation
of title, stamp duty and registration and drafting documents for the same,
including incidental documents such as deeds of indemnity and powers of
attorney advising and drafting of opinions on diverse issues, in relation to the
project and/or project special purpose vehicle. Previously, he has worked with
Dhir & Dhir Associates and Advaita Legal.
He has been a visiting faculty to several law schools/ colleges in India. He has
visited several law schools in India on practical aspects of commercial laws. He
was also invited to speak on “Social Entrepreneurship” at Rajiv Gandhi Institute
of Youth Development where he advised and trained students on skills
development.

MODULE II
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL WRITING
htiw noitiacossa ni

LEGAL An initiative by

DRAFTING Human Hands Together

COURSE
HumanHandsTogether.com/legaldrafting
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER

INDEX

MODULE-2: FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL WRITING. Page No.

Resource Adv. Shobhit Batta

Person:
Associate, Link Legal India Law Services.

 Brevity 4
 Clarity 4
 Precision 4-5
 What are the  Consistency 6
fundamentals  Relevancy 6
of legal  Avoidance of Redundancy 6
writing?  Knowing your audience 6-7
 Flexibility 7
 Preparedness for Contingencies
7-8
 How to master the elements of legal writing? 9
 How to write
simple legal  Practice test
10
sentences?
 How to
identify and
 Practice test
use verbs in 13
legal writing?
 How to
identify and
use modifiers  Practice test
15
in legal
writing?
 How to use
punctuations
 Practice test
in legal 16
writing?
 How to write
in active  Practice test
18
voice?
 How to make effective use of language in legal
writing and what mistakes to avoid? 20
 How to avoid plagiarism while citing sources and
21
authorities?
 What is legalese? How to use it? 22
 Quiz 3 Online

3|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
MODULE 2- FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL WRITING.

[2.1.] WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL WRITING?

2.1.1. Brevity- One of the essential fundamentals of legal writing is brevity. Brevity
is the art of guiding readers to a chosen conclusion using the most direct and clear
route possible. It gives writing force. Lawyers can make their writing sharp and
persuasive by mastering this art.

Brevity is very essential when you want to convey some information to your
readers, as is the case in legal writing. Most of the work in brevity occurs during the
revision process, when you remove all the words and concepts that will detract
from your overall point. The only way you will master brevity is to revise once,
revise twice, and then revise again.

The first key to brevity is to craft single proposition sentences. This means that
each sentence should serve a single purpose. If possible, each sentence should be
structured noun-verb-subject. This one is easy if you use Word because it will tell
you when your sentences are too complicated. Ninety percent of the time, the
warning is right you could pare it down. Eliminate unnecessary adverbs and nouns
in the revision process.

2.1.2. Clarity-Writing of all kinds should be as easy to understand as possible. The

key elements of clarity are:

1. Clear thinking- Before beginning any writing one should need to be clear in his
thoughts because clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thoughts.
2.Use of Simple terms- One of the most essential element is using simple terms
because if you don’t use the same it may create confusion. Therefore, say what you
want to say in as simple terms as possible.
3. Saying it in such a way that the people you are writing for will understand –
While writing on legal subjects one need to know its readers their interests and so
on. So that they are comfortable and agree with you.
4. Keep it as short as possible.

2.1.3. Precision-Precision in writing is a style of written communication whose

primary objective is to convey information. This style is an appropriate mode of

4|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
writing for technical communication but can also be used in nontechnical
situations. Precision writing is distinct from fiction writing, where the main
objective is story telling. In addition, precision writing is similar persuasive writing,
which is appropriate for political, legal, and commercial objectives.
Precision writing is appropriate for documents that convey technical information,
such as reports and articles. Instructions are also encompassed by precision
writing, including directions (how to get to some place) and manuals (how to build,
repair, or operate something).
In a nutshell, the key characteristics of precision legal writing are (1) clarity
and (2) conciseness:

To achieve clarity, fuzziness and ambiguity should be avoided. Conciseness refers

to the minimal number of words needed to convey information without sacrificing
clarity while providing fault tolerance as explained below. Use words economically
to form your sentences. This does not necessarily mean that every sentence should
be short but that all unnecessary words should be removed: this will make your
writing much more vigorous.

In particular, pay attention to phrases that introduce new pieces of information or

argument. These can often be reduced to single words.

2.1.4. Consistency-For the matter of Legal Writing or in written communication,

consistency can be broadly defined as the orderly presentation of a set of
associated elements in the text. These elements can be considered to be linked or
associated when it is intended that they be perceived as a coherent group (for
example, abbreviations, figure/table headings, etc.). Inconsistency is the most
common error made by authors writing scholarly manuscripts. Some concepts of
language and style are often open-ended and can be puzzling; however, this can be
made simpler if we keep one thing in mind: in case of more than one acceptable
convention, it is better to choose one and stick with it throughout the manuscript.

Aspects to be kept in mind to ensure consistency:

1. Keep it simple brief and attractive.

2. Use appropriate descriptive words.

3. Avoid abbreviations and jargons.

5|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
2.1.5. Relevancy- To make your writing attractive one need to be relevant.
Relevance is a notion which is central to the judgements made about the selection
and presentation of information in student writing. It is a judgement made by the
academic reader with regard to the content of the paper, and comments are usually
framed negatively in such terms as "This is irrelevant", "Is this relevant?"

In other words, the content presented does not match the reader's expectations as
to what the paper is 'about', and comment on relevance can reflect a level of
confusion by the reader as to the logic of argument and direction of the text.
However, from the student's point of view, it may be noted that the information is
in some way relevant 'matter in hand', but they have failed to signal the nature of
connectivity.

2.1.6. Avoidance of Redundancy-"Legal Writing should be concise. A sentence

should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for
the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine
no unnecessary part. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short,
or that he avoids all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he should
be precise and that should be error free. Redundancies are found everywhere e.g.
"an added bonus" or "a free gift."

Key points to remember about redundant expressions:

 Getting rid of unnecessary words will make your writing clearer and more
effective.
 Using a dictionary or thesaurus will help you to identify redundant
expressions in your writing.

2.1.7 Know your audience-Knowing your audience for a particular topic is

important because it determines the content that will appear in the writing. The
content of legal writing that has a specific topic will vary depending on the intended
audience. In other words, having a focused topic is important, but having a specific
audience is equally important.

6|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
In an argumentative and persuasive essay if you are arguing for a change to occur,
identifying the level at which you want the change to occur and the people you
want to persuade to help create this change is important. A fundamental
presumption with the audience should be that they do not know the basic and
therefore, you must start from the scratch. For e.g. a recent Geospatial Information
Bill, 2016 was introduced in Indian Parliament to regulated geospatial information
laws in India. While you know that this is a generic information regulation bill,
your audience will not. The audience including, parliamentarians, lawyers and
judges may get confused over the basic term in this bill, i.e., “geospatial”.
Therefore, as a legal writer, it is your duty to make your analytical writing simpler
and easier to grasp.

Knowing intended audience for an essay can also answer other questions that
frequently arise. For instance, writers often wonder if the us4e of jargons or
acronyms is appropriate or must be explained. This question can be answered by
knowing the audience. If the audience for an essay should understand these terms,
then they don’t necessarily need to be explained and can be used. Put another way,
if you are writing an essay on a medical topic and the audience is medical
professionals, complex medical terms can and probably even should be used.
Determining your primary audience and taking into account their context will give
your legal writing a huge boost.

TIP: One way to develop and sustain a specific audience is to incorporate

the audience into the thesis statement. The following are examples of
thesis statements that identify a specific audience:

Example #1: First time college students (audience) need to know the
proper way to study for a final exam. You as a senior explain them in the
simplest possible way.

Example #2: The Greeley school district (audience) needs to implement

mandatory school uniforms for all middle school students in order to
facilitate better learning.

2.1.8. Flexibility – Tailor-made to the needs and expectations of the audience

and not undue adherence to previously used templates/formats/drafts.

7|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
It is a common practise between lawyers, mooter, academics and judges that they
follow a set template or draft in order to be more efficient and timelier in delivering
results. However, this set draft or template may not prove to most efficient in all
circumstances. Therefore, as a law student or as a lawyer, you must learn the art
of flexibility in order to meet the expectation of your client or audience.

Flexibility not only expands the scope of one’s work, but also allows lawyers to be
more effective in delivering cases. It is a most important and demanding quality in
a contract drafter. A lawyer can choose to follow a set template for contracting
drafting. However, if he personalises the contract according to the needs of the
parties, the lawyer is always in a better position to be able to interpret the terms of
contract in the event of a dispute. Flexibility does not imply that the legal writing is
not stable. The fundamentals of legal writing or contract drafting will remain the
same and only the personalised aspects will change. Too much flexibility may
cause instability, confusion and higher economic costs.

As a law student, legal research papers and articles are a form of legal writing that
should presume flexibility based on the audience who is going to assess the legal
writing. There are journals who reject legal research papers due to the kind of
language and sentence formation used by a writer. In order to avoid that, do your
research well and understand what kind of audience you are delivering to.

[2.1.9.] Preparedness for Contingencies – For law students, lawyers,

academicians and practitioners’ pressure of time and work can cause
unanticipated delay in delivering work to the clients and audience. While delay in
delivering legal documents is accepted sometimes but a continued practice of delay
and delivery is not only unprofessional but also creates mistrust. Thus, it is
important for practitioners and law students to be prepared in order to deliver legal
documents timely and be prepared for any emergencies and contingencies.
These contingencies may be personal or professional e.g. bad health, public holiday
due to emergency or another crisis. All practitioners and law students must be
prepared for all reasonable emergencies. This saves high operational costs, allows
better management of future certainties and helps maintain professional trust.

8|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER

[2.2] HOW TO MASTER THE ELEMENTS OF LEGAL WRITING?

Stepping in the field of law, you should have good writing skill, if you don’t have it
then developing it will give you a plus point in your career. As lawyers write a lot
and often, thus it is important to gain familiarity with legal writing and confidence
with discipline. Whether you are an aspiring litigator who will write motions and
briefs or a future transactional lawyer who will draft contracts and due diligence
memos, your writing throughout your career will apply foundational skills gained
during the first few months of your Legal Practice class.

Also, legal writing is an important to your growth as a law student and future
lawyer. Effective legal writing employs sound logic and reasoning, and thus
improving the manner of your present arguments for a legal writing assignment. As
in legal writing, you learn to compare favorable authority, distinguish unfavorable
authority and spot gaps in reasoning; these are all building block techniques used
by lawyers throughout their careers. Thus, developing legal writing skills is
important to your evolution in becoming a lawyer.

Think of learning legal writing skills as being socialized into the legal discourse
community rather than as a small variation on something you have been doing for
years.

While drafting any legal document, it is important to clear two facts. The
Purpose of the document and the Audience of the document

1. Purpose-

Before putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, or mouth to Dictaphone there is a core
element that you must consider i.e. its purpose. What is the point writing that document?

Determining your purpose in advance minimizes the chances that you’ll lose sight of the
forest for the trees. So, don’t just start producing instead pause, think, articulate and then
decide that what is the purpose behind the same.

9|Page
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER

2. Audience-

Before writing any article, first decide who is going to read that article and how
they are going to get benefit out of it. Is it something that people are already
looking an answer for? You’re not normally writing for your ego, your boss or
your university lecturer. You’re writing for your audience. Judges, clients,
colleagues, opponents, journal readers – they all have different experiences,
perspectives, and knowledge. The more you know about your audience, the
better you will be able to write for their benefit. Don’t forget that sometimes you
will have more than one audience to cater to as well.

Knowing your audience and what they care about is a huge chance to score
some points. Determining your primary audience and taking into account their
context will give your legal writing a huge boost.

[2.3.1] How to write simple legal sentences?

Simple legal sentences are not difficult although sentence fragments, along with
run-on sentences, are among the most frequently made errors in framing a legal
sentence. Not creating grammatical mistakes is basis of any legal sentence. In
addition to this an effective legal writer must avoid using surplus words.

A. Sentence Fragments:

Sentence fragments, along with run-on sentences, are among the most frequently
made sentence errors. A fragment can be defined as a sentence that does not
express a complete thought - most often because it is missing a key element, such
as a subject or verb, or begins with a subordinating word.

To be a sentence, groups of words need to have at least one independent clause. An

independent clause is any group of words that contain both a subject and a verb
and can stand on its own.

Example 1: The attorney objecting to the line of questioning.

10 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
The problem with this so-called sentence is that it's missing a verb. In this case
"objecting" looks like a verb, though it is not. Look closely: The phrase "objecting to
the line of questioning" is really being used as an adjective to describe "attorney."

Here which attorney is being discussed?

The one who's objecting to the line of questioning.

Example 2: Unless the witness testifies.

This sentence is really a dependent (or subordinate) clause that can't stand on its
own. If you read it aloud, you're probably thinking, "Unless the witness testifies -
WHAT?" The writer here probably meant to attach this clause to the sentence
before or after it. The problem could be corrected either way:

This case will be dismissed unless the witness testifies or unless the witness
testifies, we will surely lose this case.

B. Run-on sentences:

Although many people think of run-ons as sentences that are just "too long," the
problem has little to do with sentence length. Simply put, run-on sentences are
created when two (or more) independent clauses are improperly joined.

In a run-on, independent clauses may be run together, with no punctuation or

transitional words between them. Or they may be insufficiently connected with just
a comma:

The attorney encouraged her client to settle the case out of court the client refused
because he wanted to go to trial.

Correction:

1. Make the run-on two separate sentences.

The attorney encouraged her client to settle the case out of court. The client
refused because he wanted to go to trial

2. The lawyer handed the judge a memo, it fell on the floor.

Use a conjunction (and a comma) to join the clauses:

The lawyer handed the judge a memo, but it fell on the floor.

11 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER

The Best Sentence Structures in Legal Drafting…

This really goes along with both having a point, and simplicity of expression. Young
lawyers have a tendency to graduate with an amazing talent to string concepts
together. The result is that within a single sentence I can find 3, 4 or more ideas. If
you want to make a point, then make that point.

Then make another one.

Separately.

By itself!

[2.3.1.1] PRACTICE TEST ON SIMPLE LEGAL SENTENCES.

1. Omit the surplus words in following sentences.

e.g.- The phrase the fact that is always surplus. The phrase despite the fact that can
be easily substituted by although.

A. There is no manner of doubt that the issue of environment degradation cannot

termed to be a social problem.

B. The acts of the government of India have reached the Vienna convention on
diplomatic relations 1961.

C. The High Court came to the conclusion that the appropriate authority has
accorded permission for construction of the hotel on disputed site.

D. The fact that she had died in the swimming pool is itself sufficient to establish
that she drowned.

E. There is no doubt that the minister was not present in the country when the
conference took place.

2. Complete the following sentences. [Practice Test]

A. With her _____________ eyesight pooja easily spotted the tattoo on his ankle.

a) Impressionable
b) Ductile

12 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
c) Keen
d) Impartial
e) Schematic

B. You are a _____________ because you knew about the crime and did not reported.

a) Nullified
b) Co accused
c) Complicit
d) Stereotypical
e) Novice

C. Practicing law everyday will make you ________________.

a) Reputed
b) Perfect
c) Lazy
d) Dormant
e) Proficient

D. Mr. Ram Jethmalani reached the ______________ of his career and retired later.

a) Apogee
b) Dictum
c) Synthesis
d) Metamorphosis
e) Harbinger

E. The accused pleaded innocence and claimed that his confession was
____________.

a) Futile
b) Null and void
c) Sedition
d) Coerced
e) Nominal.

[2.3.2] HOW TO IDENTIFY AND USE VERBS IN LEGAL WRITING?

In legal writing structure of a sentence is most important thing in order to achieve

a goal. In order to analyze a sentence, the first step is to find a verb. This step

13 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
allows for a broader and simpler understanding of sentences. The next step is to
identify if the verb is a linking verb or an action verb. A word used to describe an
action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a
sentence, such as hear, become, happen.

For e.g. see the following sentences:

1. “I write books.” In this sentence the word write is a verb.

2. “I am a girl.” In this sentence the word am is a verb.

3. “I am writing books.” In this sentence the combination of two verbs am writing

makes a verb. Sometimes there are sentences which contain more than 1 verb.

The next step is to determine if a verb is a linking verb or an action verb. A linking
verb links the noun with the subject. For e.g. see following sentences:

1. “I draft Contract”. In this sentence draft is an action verb.

2. “I am a lawyer.” In this sentence am is a linking verb.

[2.3.2.1] PRACTICE TEST ON VERBS

Q. Fill in the blanks with the verbs given in the box.

(Verdict, testified, prosecution, innocent, sentence, judge, arrest, witnesses,

suspects, convicted, victims, guilty, charge, trial)

1. None of the _______________ wants to testify in the murder trial because they are
afraid the suspect will kill them when he gets out of prison.

2. I sure hope they _______________ the guy that has been breaking into cars all
over the neighborhood soon.

3. Voltaire once stated that it is better to risk saving a guilty person than to
condemn an _______________ one.

4. Police have brought a _______________ of assault against the young man accused
of beating up a classmate.

5. Before sentencing, the _______________ said that it was the most horrible crime
he had ever heard of.

14 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
6. During the trial, the old woman _______________ that on the night of the murder,
she heard the accused threatening to kill the victim.

7. The murderer received a _______________ of twenty years in prison.

8. Many old people are afraid of becoming _______________ of crime, but studies
show the elderly are actually the least likely members of society to be attacked or
robbed.

9. The suspect bowed his head and cried with relief when the _______________ was
read out.

10. The police have no _______________ as of yet in the murder case.

11. He is a _______________ drug dealer who is also serving time for theft and
assault.???

12. The _______________ had to drop its case when its only witness died.

13. The witness gave evidence at the _______________ which suggested the police
had arrested the wrong person.

14. The jury found him innocent, but I think he is _______________.

[2.3.3]. HOW TO IDENTIFY AND USE MODIFIERS IN LEGAL WRITING?

A modifier can be an adjective, an adverb, or a phrase or clause acting as an

adjective or adverb. In every case, the basic principle is the same: the modifier adds
information to another element in the sentence. It limits or describes another word
or words.

e.g.;

(Taken from Richard C. Wydick’s Plain English for Lawyers, 5th ed.:)

Defendant, who was driving a flatbed truck that was laden with a tangle of old
furniture some of which was not tied securely, stopped without warning.

Here is the same sentence with brackets and parentheses inserted to identify the
relation of the various modifiers to each other:

Defendant {who was driving a flatbed truck [that was laden with a tangle of old
furniture (some of which was not tied down securely)]} stopped without warning.

15 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
The sentence is difficult to understand because the reader has to mentally supply
the brackets and parentheses to keep the modifiers straight.

The best remedy is to break the sentence up into two separate sentences:

Defendant was driving a flatbed truck that was laden with a tangle of furniture,
some of which was not tied securely. He stopped without warning.

[2.3.3.1] Practice Test on use of Modifiers.

A. The victim described her attacker as having a tattoo on his right buttock in the
shape of a peace sign.
B. Wedged in a crack in the sidewalk, Mrs. Harris found the ring.
C. In determining what constitutes “appreciable time,” a specific or standard
amount of time has not been clearly defined by the courts.
D. Some states hold that one is not responsible for one’s acts while in certain
mental states, such as Alabama.
E. Sagging and needing a new coat of paint, Mr. Preston hired our client.
F.

[2.3.4] How to use Punctuations in Legal writing?

Punctuations are the marks, such as comma, brackets, Quotation Marks,

Apostrophes, Hyphen, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements
and to clarify meaning.

COMMA

A comma separates introductory elements from the main part of the sentence. The
introductory element can be a word, phrase, or clause about when, where, how, or
why the action in the sentence occurs. Without a comma after an introductory
clause, the sentence might confuse the reader.

SEMI-COLON

16 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
The semicolon or semi colon that separates major sentence elements to avoid a run-
on comma splice, connect two independent clauses with a semicolon, not a comma.
Semicolons join independent clauses linked with transitional expressions.

Effect: Semicolons tell the reader that more information, following the semicolon,
will clarify your meaning. They add emphasis to the second clause as an important
explanation of the first.

Advantages: Semicolons can highlight connections between ideas that will help the
reader understand your meaning.

COLON

It is used to precede a list of items, a quotation, or an expansion or explanation.

Effect: Colons create an expectation that what follows is surprising, important, or

especially interesting.

Advantages: Colons can highlight crucial information by adding emphasis to what

follows the colon.

APOSTROPHE

To show that one person/thing owns or is a member of something.

Note: Avoid the use of informal contractions (e.g., “shouldn’t”) in formal legal
writing. Do not use an apostrophe to form possessives of pronouns his, hers, its,
theirs, ours, yours, whose.

HYPHEN

The sign (-) used to join words to indicate that they have a combined meaning or
that they are linked in the grammar of a sentence.

Advantages: Hyphenated words can assist with conciseness by eliminating the

need for additional adverbial phrases.

17 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
Caution: Emphasis and sometimes meaning will change when replacing a
descriptive phrase with hyphenated words.

QUOTATION

Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks. The primary function
of quotation marks is to set off and represent exact language (either spoken or
written) that has come from somebody else. The quotation mark is also used to
designate speech acts in fiction and sometimes poetry.

[2.3.4.1] PRACTICE TEST ON USE OF PUNCTUATIONS.

Q. Provide correct punctuation for the following paragraph. Add apostrophes where
necessary.

In Delgamuukw the Supreme Court of Canada provided strong support for the
concept of aboriginal title Delgamuukw began as an application in the British
Columbia courts brought by the clan leaders of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en one
of whom had the clan title of Delgamuukw The Supreme Court urged the parties to
negotiate not litigate but its power did not include the power to compel negotiations
In the end its the parties decision whether to negotiate The provincial governments
willingness to do so depended on the extent to which the Supreme Court recognized
the validity of the First Nations claim to aboriginal title.

[2.3.5]. HOW TO WRITE IN ACTIVE VOICE?

A verb is said to be in the active voice when the entity which is doing the action
denoted by the verb is the subject of the sentence, and the entity which is at the
receiving end of the action is the object of the sentence.

e.g. She is reading the book.

This is an active sentence. Here ‘She’ is the subject of the sentence, ‘is reading’ is
the verb of the sentence and ‘book’ is the object of the sentence. We see that ‘She’ is
the entity who is doing the action of ‘reading’. ‘Book’ is the entity which is receiving
the action of ‘reading’.

[2.3.5.1] PRACTICE TEST ON USE OF ACTIVE VOICE.

18 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
EXERCISE

Q 1. Edit the following sentences to eliminate the passive voice:

a. Testimony was heard from the plaintiff and from three witnesses on behalf of the
corporation.

b. This is a purely legal question to be determined by the court.

c. McCormick's motion for partial summary judgment on the duty to defend should
be denied.

d. Plaintiff's opposition violates Rule 313 of the California Rules of Court and may
be disregarded by the court.

Q 2. Change the following into active voice.

a. The complaint was filed by Jane Doe.

b. The deposition was taken by Attorney Smith.

c. The deposition of Dr. Jones was taken by Attorney Smith for the purpose of
introducing the deposition into evidence.

d. The verdict on the murder case was given by the judge.

Q 3. Count the passive-voice constructions in the following paragraphs. Decide

which ones you would change to active voice. Change them.

During the taxable years at issue, the replacement fuel assemblies had not begun
to be used by the company for their specifically assigned function, namely, to
generate electrical power through nuclear fission. Nor were the assemblies placed
in a state of readiness for their intended use during the years in which they were
acquired. That did not occur until the spring of 2000, when, after more than a year
of careful planning, the reactor was shut down, various maintenance tasks were
performed, spent fuel assemblies were removed, the reactor was reconfigured using
the new fuel assemblies in conjunction with partially spent assemblies that were
not replaced, and low power testing was performed to ensure that the reconfigured
reactor core performed safely in accordance with specifications. Only after those
procedures had been successfully completed did the replacement fuel assemblies

19 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
generate salable electric power and, hence, income to taxpayer. Only at that point
could the replacement fuel assemblies be considered to have been placed in service.

[2.3.6] HOW TO MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF LANGUAGE IN LEGAL WRITING AND WHAT
MISTAKES TO AVOID.

How to make effective use of language in legal writing:

1. Before making a legal writing, a design of it should first be conceived.

2. One should make sure that none of the facts are omitted or admitted at
random.
3. Negative statements should generally be avoided.
4. Technical language should be followed.
5. The legal language employed should be precise and accurate.
6. Legal writing should be readily intelligible
7. Due care and attention should be placed on the rules of legal interpretation and
the case law pertaining to the related matter.
8. The legal written document should be clearly understood by a person who has
competent knowledge of the subject matter.
9. The legal writing should be self-explanatory as far as possible.
10. The legal writing should be divided into paras and each para should contain
a distinct subject matter.
11. Arrangement of facts should be done logically
12. Use numbers and letters for sub-clauses and paragraphs.
13. Choices of words should be such that they easily convey the meaning of the
writer.
14. The words used should reflect politeness in order to convey more in a kind,
natural and justifiable manner.
15. The legal writing should be read once or twice before passing it for
consideration.
16.

MISTAKES TO AVOID IN LEGAL WRITING.

DO’S

20 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
1. For improving the quality of the legal writing, a group of words should be
reduced to one.
2. One simple word for a group should be formulated.
3. Shorter sentences should be written
4. Add periods
5. Express the whole idea in few words
6. Prefer active over passive
7. Make verbs work
8. Choose the right word
9. Know the motive behind writing
10. Write from the reader’s point of view
11. Make an outline (mental or written)

DON’TS

1. Avoid moving around about constructions

2. Avoid unnecessary repetitions
3. Avoid using words containing similar sounds
4. Avoid cumulative negative statements
5. Avoid typing mistakes

[2.3.7] HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM WHILE CITING SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES.

Plagiarism is a term that describes the unacknowledged use of someone's work. It

is theft of another person's writings or ideas. Generally, it occurs when someone
steals expressions from another author's composition and makes them appear to
be his own work. Plagiarism is not a legal term; however, it is often used in
lawsuits. Courts recognize acts of plagiarism as violations of Copyright law,
specifically as the theft of another person's Intellectual Property. Because copyright
law allows a variety of creative works to be registered as the property of their
owners, lawsuits alleging plagiarism can be based on the appropriation of any form
of writing, music, and visual images.

STEPS TO AVOID PLAGIARISM:

Step 1 Understand Plagiarism:There are four types of plagiarism

21 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
 Direct plagiarism – Taking another person’s ideas word for word without giving
proper citation is called direct plagiarism.

 Self-plagiarism – Submitting your own previous work as part of a current

assignment without permission is called self-plagiarism.

 Mosaic plagiarism – Quoting another’s work without quotation marks. This can
also refer to replacing words in another’s work with synonyms while
maintaining the same overall structure and meaning.

 Accidental plagiarism – Forgetting to cite sources, misquoting sources, or

paraphrasing sources without giving credit where credit is due is called
Accidental plagiarism

Step 2 Cite your sources

Citing your sources might seem like a no-brainer, but properly citing your sources
is another story altogether. Double-check your bibliography to make sure that you
include all the needed information in the correct order. Keep in mind there are
various methods of citation e.g. Bluebook, OSCOLA, JILI etc.

Step 3 Scrutinize Your Sources

Once you are finished up with your citation scrutinize the sources of your citations.
o avoid plagiarism and keep your essay on the straight and narrow, rely only on
reputable sources.

NOTE: DON’T WRITE BLIND

If you’re in a hurry, you may start “writing blind” — that is, you may start typing
out information using words or phrases that belong to someone else without even
realizing what you are doing. Writing blind can lead to various problems for e.g. it
can lead to ambiguity.

The best way to avoid writing blind is to let your essay rest for a while after you
finish it. That way, you can take a look and check it again later to compare it with
your notes, helping you to be sure that your paper is plagiarism-free.

[2.3.8] WHAT IS LEGALESE? HOW TO USE IT?

If you’re going to be a lawyer then at every point of your life you will come across
and use legalese in your career. It refers to “legal speak” or language that is filled

22 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
with a whole lot of legal terminology and scholarly/academic words, phrasing, and
terms. Legalese is using terms like “stipulation” and “statute” without explaining
their definitions. It’s using odd words like “herewith” and “henceforth”. When using
legalese, you’ll generally avoid using contractions and common lingo (language) for
the most part. Legalese are technical legal terms commonly known as legal jargons.
Legalese include legal maxims in Latin and French as well. A non-law student in
India would never know the meaning of the term Mens rea and Actus reus but they
will easily understand guilty mind, intention, crime. Thus, as an effective and
efficient legal writer use of legalese depends on the targeted audience.

Legalese in legal documents eliminates the possibility for misinterpretation of

words or phrases. In normal speech, an objective may be covered in one sentence
to provide simplified understanding. In the legal profession, that same objective
could be described in several paragraphs because it could hold different meanings
for different people, leading to unintended consequences.

HOW TO USE LEGALESE?

1. One example of legalese is the terms and conditions of a contract. In a cell phone
contract, some terms and conditions could be: the amount that is due each month,
the customer's obligation to pay off the phone, government exemptions or payment
plans. This can all become very confusing, especially if the individual does not
understand their obligations upon purchasing the phone.

2. An individual might wish to unlock their phone but can't because they haven't
paid off their bill. It's covered in the terms and conditions, but the customer may
have only skimmed through those terms and conditions, thinking they're too
complicated or don't apply. In this case, the legalese protects the company, but if
the legalese is not explained or the customer does not fully read the contract, the
customer may feel like they were mistreated.

3. The key to effectively using legalese is to be aware of when you are using it and
take appropriate measures to ensure that it’s not having a negative impact on your
writing. But this awareness of your use of legalese shouldn’t diminish after you
have defined your legal terms in the beginning of your writing. Instead, you should
help remind the reader of the meaning of legal terms throughout your writing.

23 | P a g e
 HUMAN HANDS TOGETHER
4. If handled incorrectly, using legalese can cause significant harm to the
effectiveness of your legal writing. But since using legalese is often a necessity, it’s
vitally important to know how to do it correctly.

24 | P a g e
ABOUT COURSE INSTRUCTORS

MR. RAJIV SHANKAR DVIVEDI

Advocate-on-Record,

Supreme Court of India

DR. PRAVEEN ALOK

Of-Counsel Attorney,

O.P. Khaitan & Co.

MR. HARSH PRABHAKAR

Advocate,

Delhi High Court

MR. SHOBHIT BATTA

Associate,

Link Legal India Law Services

MR. HARSH PRATAP SHAHI

Panel Counsel, State of UP,

Supreme Court of India

Partner, Justizia Legal

MS. DIVYA SWAMY

Advocate,

Delhi High Court

MS. CHHAYA BHARDWAJ

Lecturer,

Jindal Global Law School

MR. SAUNAK RAJGURU

Associate,

J. Sagar & Associates

MR. LOKESH BULCHANDANI

Associate, Lakshmikumaran & Shridharan

Secretary, Human Hands Together