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Commas before “and” hit the headlines again

March 17, 2017 by Cathy Wilcox

I’m a big fan of putting a comma before “and” when it helps the reader and adds clarity. I read this in Metro yesterday:

“They needed a flat that was affordable but also within easy reach of work and Lewisham, with a DLR station, was perfect.”

With no comma after “and“, most of us will read “within easy reach of work and Lewisham“, get confused, and have to re-read it to make sense of it. A comma before the “and” would have solved the problem and made our lives easier.

What is the Oxford comma? It’s where, in a list of three or more items, you put a comma after the second-last item and before the “and“:

“Apples, bananas, and pears“.

Mostly you don’t need it, but occasionally it’s useful:

“I shop at Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, and Lidl.”  [I know that in reality M&S has an ampersand.]

The Americans are generally less keen than we are on the Oxford comma. Indeed the Maine Legislative Drafting Manual instructs lawmakers not to use it. But three truck drivers in Portland, Maine have just won a case in the appeal court that may cost Oakhurst Dairy millions of dollars in a dispute over overtime, just because of the lack of an Oxford comma.

Filed Under: Grammar and punctuation, latest news

Life’s too short…

December 9, 2016 by Cathy Wilcox

… to be in a job that is less than perfect (although you may not realise it at the time).  Esther Stanhope’s article “Finding your career groove” struck a chord with me: https://www.estherstanhope.com/found-career-groove/

The sweet spot is at the point where three things meet – things you’re good at, things you love and things you get paid (well) for.  Reading her blog, I realised that I’m in that sweet spot, thanks to all my wonderful clients and everyone that I’ve trained or coached. I’ve found my career groove!

Filed Under: latest news

Variety makes for happy trainers!

May 13, 2016 by Cathy Wilcox

Cathy’s had a lovely week, with a real mix of training delivery:

Three courses for lawyers at different global firms – one on “white-water drafting” (the scary bits of legal drafting), one on getting the right approach (risk allocation etc) and one on client-friendly drafting.

Three business services training sessions for law firms in London and in Newcastle, two on good business writing and one for senior managers on writing to influence.

Add in some one-to-one coaching slots for business services staff at yet another law firm and you have the perfect week as far as Cathy’s concerned!

Thank you to all our clients, and enjoy the weekend.

Filed Under: Effective business writing, Effective legal drafting, latest news, Plain English, Plain Language, Report writing

“They” as a singular pronoun – what do you think?

May 7, 2016 by Cathy Wilcox

People often use “they” as a way of avoiding saying “he/she”. I tend to duck the issue by using the plural:

If a lawyer wants to take annual leave, he/she must complete a form. [cumbersome]
If a lawyer wants to take annual leave, they must complete a form. [simpler]
Lawyers wanting to take annual leave must complete a form. [I prefer this.]

Lorraine Berry argues that using “they” will help counter sexism:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/may/05/they-the-singular-pronoun-that-could-solve-sexism-in-english?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

Filed Under: Grammar and punctuation, latest news

Is your grammar as good as an eight-year-old’s?

May 6, 2016 by Cathy Wilcox

I’m relieved to have managed full marks on a sample test on the new Key Stage 2 English grammar, punctuation and spelling curriculum. Having spent hours training well educated, intelligent lawyers in the basics of apostrophes, hyphens and commas, I’m all in favour of teaching G&P at school. But I wonder whether primary school children really need to know the difference between a subordinating conjunction and a co-ordinating conjunction…  Here’s the sample test:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/439299/Sample_ks2_EnglishGPS_paper1_questions.pdf
And here’s the mark scheme:

Click to access Sample_ks2_EnglishGPS_markscheme.pdf

Filed Under: Grammar and punctuation, latest news

Thoughts on one-to-one writing and drafting coaching

December 12, 2015 by Cathy Wilcox

A lovely surprise just now! A hamper of goodies arrived from someone I worked with earlier in the year to develop her skills at writing client alerts on legal topics. I was tough on her but she took it all on board in good spirit and has worked at it since then. The success of the one-to-one sessions depends so much on the individual committing to developing even after we finish the coaching. I’m always thrilled when the firm sees a clear improvement. I don’t need any thanks other than that, but it’s great when someone appreciates the support!

Off to Moscow next week to train Russian lawyers on legal writing and drafting in English. It’s so impressive to see people handling complex legal English when it’s their second language.

Filed Under: Effective business writing, latest news

Drafting around the country

November 27, 2015 by Cathy Wilcox

This was a busy week’s training starting north in Newcastle, heading west to Bristol and then east to London. Lawyers all around the country are keen to improve their legal and business writing and legal drafting. Firms and companies are very different in style and approach, but the principles of a good communication style remain the same. And to prove it, I’m off to Moscow in a couple of weeks to train Russian lawyers in how to advise their English-speaking clients most effectively!

Filed Under: Effective legal drafting, latest news, Plain English

How to write a compelling article on a legal topic

November 13, 2015 by Cathy Wilcox

Since last week’s Supreme Court decisions in the ParkingEye and El Makdessi cases (see my last post), I’ve been reviewing the myriad of law firm alerts on the topic. There’s a massive difference between the best and the also-rans. Any article on a legal topic needs to consider the reader’s needs and interests first. The legal developments are interesting, but so what? In-house lawyers (the main readers) will ask “Why does this matter to me? What should I do differently when drafting agreements?” The alerts that try to answer those questions up front are the most likely to impress potential clients.

Filed Under: latest news, Writing for publication

Supreme Court decision upholds the validity of clauses alleged to be penalties

November 4, 2015 by Cathy Wilcox

Anyone drafting liquidated damages clauses should read the Supreme Court’s judgments in the El Makdessi and ParkingEye cases published today, which should make it easier to ensure that these clauses are watertight (see https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2013-0280.html). A seven-judge Supreme Court found the disputed clauses in each case to be valid.

The court upheld the existence of the penalty rule but arguably reduced its scope, finding the concept of a “genuine pre-estimate of loss” to be unhelpful. The true test should now be whether the disputed contractual term is a secondary obligation that imposes a detriment on the contract-breaker that is disproportionate to any legitimate interest of the innocent party in enforcing the primary obligation. In El Makdessi the two disputed clauses were primary obligations and thus not penal. In ParkingEye, the charge levied on overstaying motorists, although high, was not penal for a number of reasons including the fact that it enabled the company to manage the car park efficiently for the benefit of shops, shoppers and motorists.

Filed Under: Contract law basics for business, Effective legal drafting, Grammar and punctuation, latest news

Plain language is flourishing in New Zealand

November 3, 2015 by Cathy Wilcox

I was proud that WriteMark (www.writemark.co.nz) asked me to judge the “best legal document” category in their 2015 Plain English Awards. My two fellow judges and I each reviewed in detail all of the entries (several hundred pages of text) before coming up with a shortlist and then choosing the winners. It was time-consuming, but worth it to see the effort going into making complex legal documents accessible to the general public. The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 19 November. Shame I can’t be there – I love New Zealand!

Filed Under: latest news, Plain English

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