During our first year of law school, it was drilled into us that the age of legal writing that involved words like "hereinunder" and "wherefore" has passed, a dusty relic. Simplicity is in. Normal english words are in. Semicolons are out.

Still, there are certain overused turns of phrase that crop up in the speech & writing of judges, lawyers and law professors (and eventually infect law students). These are phrases that are not needed to convey meaning. They only serve to confirm to the audience: hey, watch me talk about legal stuff. Forthwith:

1. as to. I've already recognized its place in legal education but after another year, it remains the champ. These days I'm less convinced it means anything. The best part of 'as to' is that it commits you to mangling the rest of your sentence with pronouns and passive constructions. Watch the magic —

   The dog sniffed the hydrant.
   As to the dog, he sniffed the hydrant.
   As to the hydrant, it was sniffed by the dog.

   Are these improvements?

2. as between, as among, as against, etc. Cousins of 'as to' but standalone offenders in their own right. Apparently, putting the word 'as' in front of any preposition makes it sound more legally authoritative. With the added benefit of the sentence-mangling features of 'as to'. I'll concede there are certain situations where 'as to' fills a semantic need. But I can't say the same of these.

3. cabin in. A favorite of law professors, as in 'cabin in the jury's discretion to award punitives'. It just means 'limit'. Why do we need to cabin in something when we can just limit it? The image of a log structure out in the woods doesn't add to my understanding.

4. substantive. This term is occasionally useful when you need to make a distinction from its friend, procedural. But most of the time, it's redundant.

   Instead of: The focus of the legislation is silly string.
   You get: The substantive focus of the legislation is silly string.

5. violative of. This is the prime offender in a category of verbs turned into adjectives. The law didn't merely violate the constitution – it was violative of the constitution. These are particularly objectionable because they subtract clarity without adding meaning.

6. arising from. Used anytime causality needs to be shown. I'm sick from eating too much candy. But it sounds better if I have a sickness arising from eating too much candy.

Please, post your own favorites.

12 Dec 05