If you use vague, empty pieces of writing, you are wasting readers’ time. According to Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible, sending that message is the worst thing you can do. Although Beckwith’s book and message are not targeted at law students and lawyers, the idea is the same. When a court has to wade through pages of unnecessary legalese, passive voice, and unnecessary words to get to your main point, you are not helping your case. Make your sentences more concise to make your audience happy. Here are a few examples:
| Good | Bad |
|---|---|
| then | at that point in time |
| by | by means of |
| to | to |
| because | for the reason that |
| since | in as much as |
| for | in favor of |
Active voice is more authoritative and generally preferred in legal writing. At English Zone they have several nice charts so you can brush up on your active and passive voice. I have only embedded one below:
| SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST
The active object becomes the passive subject. am/is/are + past participle was/were + past participle |
|
| Active: Simple Present
The movie fascinates me. The movie surprises them. |
Passive: Simple Present
I am fascinated by the movie. Jack is bored by the movie. |
| Active: Simple Past
The movie bored me. The movie fascinated Jack. The movie surprised them. |
Passive: Simple Past
I was bored by the movie. Jack was fascinated by the movie. They were surprisedby the movie. |
Incoming search terms:
- wasting the courts time
No related posts.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t forget though that passive voice has the effect of calling attention to objects rather than actors, which can be very appropriate in brief writing.
Ex. The knife was left under the waste basket.
Actually, past tense passive voice is appropriate in many circumstances. Any circumstance where what happened is more important than who did it. On the other hand, it bothers some people. I have never really understood that, though I come from the belief that fixing problems is more important than fixing blame. Thats why I decided against going into law… the whole profession seems utterly at odds with that proposition.
Brilliant.
Could someone please forward this to Orly Taitz.
Just sayin