Quinnipiac University School of Law

LEGAL WRITING CENTER

Susan R. Dailey

Answer Key

Legal Skills 2007-2008

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1.         Correct.  The comma introduces an appositive, which is a word or group of words that describes or renames the noun that precedes it.  Anne Enquist & Laurel Currie Oates, Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer 184-5, 238 (2^nd ed., Aspen L. & Bus. 2005) (hereinafter Just Writing); Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook: Analysis, Research, and Writing 717-8, 764 (4th ed., Aspen L. & Bus. 2006) (hereinafter LWH).

2.         Incorrect.  A comma is needed to show the end of the appositive phrase.  Just Writing at 238; LWH at 764. 

3.         Correct.  “Depends” agrees with “construction,” which is the subject of the clause.  Just Writing at 200; LWH at 729-735.

4.         Incorrect.  Unnecessary shifts in tense are distracting to the reader.  The verb “wanted” should be in the present tense because the rest of the passage is written in the present, and there is no reason here for the change.  Please note that statements of fact are often written in the past tense because the events described have already occurred.  Dr. Yen, in contrast, wants information about how he should set up his business, and therefore the facts are written in the present tense.  For a general review of verb tense, see Just Writing at 192-9; LWH at 724-7.

5.         Incorrect.  In legal writing, the convention is to spell out numbers zero to ninety-nine in textual material and to use numerals for higher numbers.  Please note that you should always spell out a number that begins a sentence.  ALWD & Darby Dickerson, ALWD Citation Manual 29-31 (3d ed., Aspen L. & Bus. 2006) (hereinafter ALWD).

6.         Incorrect.  A comma is used to separate each item in a series.  Just Writing at 244-7; LWH at 768-9; Richard Wydick, Plain English for Lawyers 88 (5^th ed., Carolina Academic Press 2005).

7.         Incorrect.  This is a misplaced modifier.  It is Dr. Yen who is “looking ahead,” not the issues.  Just Writing at 215-7; LWH 742-7.

8.         Incorrect.  Informal language and slang expressions are not appropriate in a legal memo.  “Leave their employment” would be a preferable replacement.  Just Writing at 107; LWH at 647.

9.         Incorrect.  An apostrophe is not necessary because “employees” here is plural, not possessive.  Just Writing at 257-9; LWH at 782-5; Wydick at 95-6.

10.       Incorrect.  Contractions are not acceptable in formal legal writing.  Just Writing at 261; LWH at 785; Mary Bernard Ray & Jill J. Ramsfield, Legal Writing: Getting It Right and Getting It Written 104 (4th ed., Thomson/West 2005).

11.      Correct.  The apostrophe here is correct because “employer’s” is singular possessive.  Just Writing at 257-9; LWH at 782-5; Wydick at 95-6.

12.       Incorrect.  The word “reasonably” should be moved (e.g., “reasonably to enforce it”) so that it does not split the infinitive “to enforce,” or the sentence should be written to eliminate the infinitive.  Just Writing at 22; LWH at 573-4.

13.       Incorrect.  A colon rather than a semicolon should be used to introduce a list.  Just Writing at 255-7; LWH at 780-2; Wydick at 92.

14.       Incorrect.  A semicolon may be used to separate items in a series if the items are long or if one of the items contains a comma.  The semicolon is incorrect in this case because there are only two short items and neither contains a comma.  Just Writing at 253; LWH at 777-780; Wydick at 91.  For a good discussion of the various ways to structure lists, see Ray & Ramsfield at 213-7, on reserve in the library.

15.       Incorrect.  “It’s” is a contraction for “it is.”  Here the possessive pronoun “its” is necessary.  Just Writing at 118, 330; LWH at 784-5, 885.

16.       Correct.  “Whom” is the object of the preposition “to.”  Just Writing at 332-3; LWH at 887-8.

17.       Correct.  “That” introduces a restrictive modifier.  Just Writing at 332 and LWH at 886 (discussion of “that” and “which”); Just Writing at 235-241, LWH at 761-3, and Wydick at 87 (difference in punctuation between restrictive and nonrestrictive modifiers).

18.       Correct.  The colon here introduces a list.  Please note that an independent clause generally precedes the colon.  Just Writing at 255-6; LWH at 780-2; Wydick at 92.

19.       Incorrect.  The ampersand (&) should not be used as an abbreviation for “and” in the text unless you are referring to a company title.  Ampersands are, however, frequently used in citations.  Ray & Ramsfield at 1.

20.       Incorrect.  This is an example of faulty parallelism.  The sentence contains a list with three items.  The first two ( “names” and “addresses”) are nouns, while the third (“how to address customer preferences”) is not.  Thus, these three elements are not grammatically parallel to each other.  To correct the faulty parallelism in this sentence, you could change the list to read “names, addresses, and information concerning customer preferences.”  Just Writing at 168-170; LWH at 747-752.

21.       Incorrect.  This is a comma splice.  There should be a period or semicolon after “patented.”  Just Writing at 277-280; LWH at 800-3.  Note also that some commentators object to the use of “however” at the beginning of the sentence when it is used to mean “on the other hand.”

22.       Correct.  A comma should precede the coordinating conjunction (in this case “and”) that joins two independent clauses in a compound sentence.  Just Writing at 229-232; LWH at 756-8; Wydick at 85-6.

23.       Incorrect.  Abbreviations are correct in citations but not in textual sentences.  Thus, “Minnesota” should not be abbreviated here in the text of the memo.  Ray & Ramsfield at 1.

24.       Incorrect.  The singular possessive form is appropriate here.  “Court’s” would be correct.  Just Writing at 257-261; LWH at 782-5; Wydick at 95-6.

25.       Correct.  No comma is necessary because this is a compound verb, not a compound sentence.  Just Writing at 229-231; LWH at 756-8.

26.       Incorrect.  In this sentence, “that” introduces a restrictive modifier.  The comma, therefore, should be omitted.  Just Writing and LWH also suggest that writers use “that” to introduce restrictive clauses that modify things or objects.  Just Writing at 235-241; LWH at 761-3.

27.       Incorrect.  A pronoun must agree with its antecedent.  Here the antecedent, “an employee,” is singular, and therefore the pronoun must also be singular: “his.”  Just Writing at 206-9; LWH at 735-8.  Alternatively, to avoid sexist phrasing, reword to speak of “employees,” “them,” and “their services.”  Consult Just Writing at 147-152, LWH at 681-5, and Wydick at 74-5 for a discussion of nonsexist language.

28.       Incorrect.  The semicolon creates a sentence fragment.  Just Writing at 187-192, 230-4; LWH at 720-4, 727-9.  Writers must make sure that their sentences are grammatical when they incorporate quoted language.

29.       Incorrect.  Periods are always placed within quotation marks.  Just Writing at 265; LWH at 789.

30.       Correct.  “Affect” is used here to mean “influence.”  For a discussion of the difference between “affect” and “effect,” see Just Writing at 327-8; LWH at 882.

31.       Incorrect.  The period here creates a sentence fragment.  The period should be a comma, and the upper-case “A” should be lower case.  Just Writing at 187-192; LWH at 720-2.

For comments or questions, please contact Susan.Dailey@quinnipiac.edu.
Copyright © 2001 Susan R. Dailey. All rights reserved.
Revised: 11/10/03.