tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182606172024-03-07T16:23:12.466+08:00Legal Updates on the Family Code Philippines and relevant mattersThis blog is a companion tool of https://familymatters.netlify.com/. The website contains, among others, the complete provisions of the Family Code of the Philippines, relevant laws, legal procedures in cases involving the family, and free legal information and Biblical counseling via e-mail. This blog features more in-depth, timely discussions of legal issues affecting the Filipino family.Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-36029093459698943012020-05-11T11:58:00.002+08:002022-05-25T06:26:09.681+08:00How to pass your law school exams and the bar exams<b>To pass your law school exams now and the bar exams later on, you must do these four things:</b> (1) master the codal provisions; (2) improve your handwriting; (3) become proficient in English grammar; and (4) learn how to write logically, clearly, concisely, and effectively.<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; height: 213px; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left; width: 220px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><b>Update as of May 25, 2022: Free personal coaching for the first 20 law students or bar examinees to apply</b><br />
<br />
You can scan your law school exam booklet or bar exam booklet (Civil Law, Criminal Law, or Political Law) in PDF or JPEG format and send it to me.<br />
<br />
I will then check your answers based on proficiency in English grammar and writing. A note of caution, however: I will be totally honest in pointing out your grammar and writing errors. If your ego cannot stand being corrected, you should not avail of this free offer.<br />
<br />
After I have checked your answers, I will email to you my comments. Your answers, test booklets, or bar exam booklets will not be published in this blog or anywhere else. I will keep them confidential. <br />
<br />
Atty. Gerry T. Galacio<br />
gtgalacio@yahoo.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>1. Master the codal provisions:</b> Read your law books; you can’t expect to graduate from law school or pass the bar exams if you don’t know the provisions of the Family Code, the New Civil Code, Rules of Court, etc. Posted below are some reflections by bar examiners on how deficient some bar examinees are with their stock knowledge of legal provisions.<br />
<br />
From <a href="https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/205686" target="_blank">“The bar exams: Post mortem”</a> (Manila Standard) by Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Many also answered, in a question about the rights of illegitimate children, that they have absolutely no right to inherit because they are illegitimate.</blockquote><br />
From <a href="http://www.stelabenitez.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-2019-philippine-bar-exams-chairman-justice-estela-perlas-bernabe/" target="_blank">Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe</a> (2007 bar examiner in Mercantile Law): <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">I could not, for the life of me, fathom how a bar candidate could describe the Trust Fund Doctrine in Corporation Law as the amount of money deposited in the bank, which the beneficiary may withdraw only when he reaches the age of majority. The worst answer, however, which I had the misfortune to come across, equated Trust Receipt to a popular contraceptive for men. If it was meant as a joke, it was not funny.</blockquote><br />
You can use my interactive reviewers on the following topics:<b> </b><a href="https://ph-bar-exams-reviewers.netlify.app/indexclozefc" rel="" target="_blank">Cloze tests on the Family Code</a>; Flashcards: <a href="https://ph-bar-exams-reviewers.netlify.app/indexflashcardlegalethics" rel="" target="_blank">Legal Ethics;</a> <a href="https://ph-bar-exams-reviewers.netlify.app/indexflashcardcriminalprocedure" rel="" target="_blank">Criminal Procedure</a>; and <a href="https://ph-bar-exams-reviewers.netlify.app/indexflashcardsevidence" rel="" target="_blank">Evidence</a>. (I am currently working on JPEG flashcards on Legal Ethics that you will be able to download freely and use on your smartphones and tablets.) <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2. Improve your handwriting:</b> It doesn’t matter if your answer is correct if your law school professor or the bar examiner cannot understand your handwriting.<br />
<br />
From <a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/files/bar-2019/bulletin-06.pdf" target="_blank">Bar Bulletin No. 4 “Guide and Rules of Conduct to the 2019 Bar Examinations”</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Write clearly and legibly. As a rule, writing five to six words per line significantly contributes to readability.</blockquote><br />
From Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Hererra, Chairperson of the Committee on Bar Examinations, in her report to the Philippine Supreme Court on her observations on the 1980 bar exams:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Handwritings of some are difficult to read or “decipher”. Apparently, the examinees concerned do not make any sincere or serious effort to make them readable.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">A number of candidates could not write legibly. I found it hard to read their answers and much time was wasted in deciphering what they wanted to say. Bar candidates should be advised to write legibly.</blockquote><br />
<b>3. Become proficient in English grammar:</b><br />
<br />
(a) If you have already decided to go into law school after graduating from high school, a good preparatory course would be Journalism, Mass Communications, or English.<br />
<br />
(b) Use the thousands of interactive English grammar exercises that are freely available on the Internet; one good source is <a href="http://a4esl.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Activities for ESL Students.”</a><br />
<br />
(c) You don’t have to know the various terms used in grammar such as “subjunctive mood,” “first conditional,” “bare infinitive,” etc. You just have to know whether what you’re saying or writing is grammatically correct.<br />
<br />
(d) Improve your spelling and punctuation skills.<br />
<br />
From <a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/files/bar-2019/bulletin-06.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Bar Confidant: Bad English worse than error of law”</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">“Incorrect English is a more serious problem than the lack of precise knowledge of law and has been the cause of high failure rates.”</blockquote><br />
From <a href="https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2018/04/27/1809957/" target="_blank">“Why too many flunkers in the Bar”</a> by Atty. Josephus Jimenez:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">The grammar is wrong, the syntax twisted, the spelling incorrect. They cannot even distinguish between verb and adverb. They have forgotten their parts of speech. My God, I have been checking midterm and finals examination answer sheets since 1977 and I always suffer mental anguish, serious anxiety, and wounded feelings whenever I see how students express themselves in atrocious ways.</blockquote><br />
From <a href="https://attyralph.com/2016/01/29/the-great-formula-in-passing-the-bar-examinations/" target="_blank">“The Great Formula in Passing the Bar Exams”</a> by Atty. Glenn M. Morte (citing Dean Wenceslao G. Laureta):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">20. By far the most important tool that the bar candidate could equip himself with which to tackle the examination that is inherently personal to him is command of written English.<br />
<br />
21. You have to write simple, grammatically correct English if you want to hurdle the examination.</blockquote><br />
From Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Hererra, Chairperson of the Committee on Bar Examinations, in her report to the Philippine Supreme Court on her observations on the 1980 bar exams:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Only in a few instances was there a command of the English language.<br />
<br />
Require additional courses even in law school proper in the fields of English composition and grammar for those who are deficient in their ability to express and convey their ideas.<br />
<br />
Very many examinees, to put it mildly, “murder” the English language. Some are worse than high school undergraduates.<br />
<br />
Many candidates did not use the proper tenses. Bar candidates should be advised to be more careful with their tenses and try to aim at clarity in their answer.<br />
<br />
The majority of those who failed in the subject have also manifestly shown their poor command of the English language, such that certain examinees may probably know the law but they lack the ability to express themselves. The results is that, one will find it very difficult to understand what they really wanted to convey in their answer to the question propounded.</blockquote><br />
In his article <a href="https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/31/legal-education-and-the-bar-examinations/" target="_blank">“Legal education and the Bar examinations,”</a> Justice Art Brion said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">“My topmost concern relates to our educational system and the deficient high school and college preparation it has given our law students. Many of these students are ill-equipped for law school’s demands, particularly, in the use of English, reasoning and writing skills. If these students somehow survive law school, many of them would just end up joining the majority who usually become the Bar examination casualties.”</blockquote><br />
The failure of the educational system to teach grammar is a problem not only in the Philippines but also in the USA. Read, for example, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1567247" target="_blank">“The Grammar Wars Come to Law School”</a> by Aida Marie Alaka, Washburn University School of Law (Journal of Legal Education, 2010). “This article provides a concise overview of pedagogical shifts in language arts education over the last twenty-plus years as well as empirical studies of high school and college reading and writing skills. It thus provides insights into why basic skill errors surface in the writing of law students today.”<br />
<br />
<b>4. Learn how to write logically, clearly, concisely, and effectively:</b><br />
<br />
Dean Ralph Sarmiento says that “passing the Bar Exams requires four L’s: Law, Language, Logic, and Layout. However, what Bar takers usually focus on is only a review of the Law, often taking the other three L’s, Language, Logic, and Layout, for granted.”<br />
<br />
With thousands of bar examinees failing the exams every year, why then do these examinees continue to take for granted the “Language” part of their bar preparations? Bryan A. Garner (editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary) says that lawyers (and therefore law students) are bad writers because they suffer from the “Dunning-Kruger Effect.” Please read his article <a href="https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/why_lawyers_cant_write" target="_blank">“Why lawyers can’t write”</a> (ABA Journal).<br />
<br />
Briefly stated, the Dunning-Kruger Effect states that “unskillful or unknowledgeable people (1) often think they are quite skillful or knowledgeable, (2) can’t recognize genuine skill in others, (3) uniformly fail to recognize the extremity of their own inadequacy, and (4) can recognize and acknowledge their own previous unskillfulness only after highly effective training in the skill.”<br />
<br />
Garner contends that “the legal profession suffers from a pervasive Dunning-Kruger problem.” He says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">This is puzzling but true. While lawyers are the most highly paid rhetoricians in the world, we’re among the most inept wielders of words. Stop and think about that. The blame goes primarily to the law schools. They inundate students with poorly written, legalese-riddled opinions that read like over-the-top Marx Brothers parodies of stiffness and hyperformality. And they offer law students little if any feedback (on substance, much less style) from professors on exams and writing assignments. But there’s plenty of blame that falls elsewhere. Writing standards have consistently fallen over the last century in secondary and higher education. (It would take a full-scale book to unpack that set of issues.) For law firm associates, their senior lawyers too often decry any emphasis on writing style (“I’m just concerned with the substance of it! I leave style to others!”). And in general society, serious readers are becoming an endangered species.</blockquote><br />
What Garner said about the lack of feedback from law professors on substance and style is true in the Philippines. Very few law professors note in the exam booklets the errors in grammar and writing that students make. Thus, students graduate from law school thinking that they are good writers when, in fact, they’re not.<br />
<br />
From <a href="https://kristieamaro.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/5-tips-in-answering-bar-exam-questions/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">“Tips in Answering Bar Exam Questions”</a> (Accounting and Law Hub):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Keep It Short and Simple!<br />
4-Paragraph Rule<br />
Stick-to-One Rule<br />
Watch your grammar<br />
Write legibly</blockquote><br />
From <a href="https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/205686" target="_blank">“The bar exams: Post mortem”</a> (Manila Standard) by Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Worst, many of the examinees were unable to express their thoughts in English. The English grammar of many of the examinees could shock even a high school graduate who took his secondary education seriously. For instance, nearly a majority erred in the proper use of “is” and “are.” In one question involving two persons, “Y” and “Z,” many said “Z” and “Y” is wrong. Quite a number answered in a circuitous and incoherent manner.</blockquote><br />
From <a href="https://www.chanroblesbar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=669:chanrobles-bar-guidelines-on-how-to-answer-essay-bar-questions&catid=37" target="_blank">“Guidelines on how to answer essay bar questions”</a> (Chan Robles):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">The fundamental rule is that you should write in short sentences. Kilometric and long-winding, paragraph-long sentences, sometimes called “running sentences” should be avoided.<br />
<br />
This is a good and effective formula that would avoid the commission of grammatical errors.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">High-sounding, highfalutin, high-flown bombastic language and fanciful words meant to impress should be avoided. They do not add any substance to your answer. Instead, readily understandable, down-to-earth and simple words and commonly used legal parlance should be used. In this manner, the examiner will readily emphatize with you and will not get annoyed or vexed.</blockquote><br />
To learn how to use simple words and phrases instead of jargon, wordiness, formalism, and redundancies, you can work on the interactive exercises in my website <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.app/">“Plain English — Plain Language — Clear Writing for journalism, law, business, science, academic, technical and general writing”</a> with resources and interactive exercises in Plain English, grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc.<br />
<br />
<b>Examples of some bar exam answers that show the examinees’ poor grasp of English grammar and the inability to express themselves fluently and logically:</b><br />
<br />
<b>A.</b> <b>From Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Hererra</b>, Chairperson of the Committee on Bar Examinations, in her report to the Philippine Supreme Court on her observations on the 1980 bar exams:<br />
<br />
<b>Question No. 6 (b)</b> – “An accused was found guilty of double murder and was meted out two sentences of reclusion perpetua. How would be the accused serve the sentences?”<br />
<br />
<b>Answer</b> – “Both penalties must be served by the accused, and he was electrocuted and died then it washes out the remaining sentence to served by the accused.”<br />
<br />
<b>Question No. 11.</b> – “Patrolman Cruz, acting under orders of the Municipal Mayor, Who wanted to put a stop to the frequent occurrence of robbery in Sitio Masukal, patrolled the place. At about midnight, seeing three persons acting suspiciously in front of an uninhabited house and entering the same, he arrested them without warrant and took them to the municipal building where they were detained in jail for about five hours before they where released.<br />
<br />
Patrolman Cruz was accused of arbitrary detention. If you were the Judge, would you convict him of the crime charged?”<br />
<br />
<b>Answer</b> – “No. considering his possession as peace officer by the higher authority to patrol the place where robbery are frequent. The one responsible for this is the Municipal Mayor who order without warrant of arrest and the act of the patrolman are in good faith believing to be a robbery entering a house.<br />
<br />
So the proper party liable is the Municipal Mayor.”<br />
<br />
<b>Question No. 17</b> – “AA” was the owner of a jeepney for hire. When his driver was hospitalized, he hired “BB” as driver on a temporary basis and entrusted to him the vehicle for transporting passengers from Quiapo to Baclaran with a compensation of P30.00 a day. “BB” never returned the vehicle and after search the vehicle was found in Tarnate, Cavite, About to be sold. “BB” was charged with Qualified Theft and was convicted .<br />
<br />
Appealing the judgment of conviction, defense counsel contends that “BB” may have committed Estafa but not Qualified Theft on the theory that the possession of the vehicle was obtained with the consent of “AA” the owner, and therefore, there was no illegal taking.<br />
<br />
Decide the case.<br />
<br />
<b>Answer</b> – “The defense counsel of the accused contention in untenable assuming now that there is no illegal taking of the jeep from “AA”. The owner but “BB” a temporary driver hired by “AA” failure to return the jeep such vehicle as now ready to be sold by “BB” have an intent to gain is theft cases as an element.<br />
<br />
<b>B. Atty. Raymond Fortun</b>, well-known trial lawyer and a former bar examiner, posted (below) what he called the worst bar answer ever; despite disparaging the examinee’s poor grasp of the English language, however, he gave the examinee a passing grade for at least getting the legal issue correctly.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">“Their is no charges may be charge to Anastacio by the raided police they may present evidence against Anastacio, in the first place Anastacio knew this alredy late when the raiding police surrounded the place.<br />
<br />
The defend of Anastacio in the raiding police he is innocent regarding the shabu session. Anastasio may also protest any charges against him.<br />
<br />
The raiding police question Anastacio regarding the time of raid that he was one arrested, by the police, to be arrested and file charges the police must during the time the place were surrounded by the raiding authority it is the routine all person during the time raided by the particular subject for interogation.<br />
<br />
But if not establish the said crime their is no charges, and person interogated with out probale cause to detained. Anastasia may only ask by the raiding police regarding the shabu session if he has a knowelged.”</blockquote><br />
<b>Practical advice for law students and bar examinees</b><br />
<br />
If you want to pass your law school exams and the bar exams, then you need much more than a review of basic grammar. You need to immerse yourself in the structures, rhythms, and nuances of the English language. Here are some suggested ways: <br />
<br />
- avoid thinking in Filipino (or in your dialect) and then translating into English because what you want to say or write will come out wrong; this is what linguists refer to as “L1 interference.” <br />
<br />
- practice speaking English with native English speakers such as Americans, Australians, etc.<br />
<br />
- study grammar through the numerous resources available on the Internet (PDFs, videos)<br />
<br />
- work on the thousands of free interactive exercises available on the Internet<br />
<br />
- learn correct pronunciation of English words and phrases through YouTube videos<br />
<br />
- listen to English news programs (CNN, VOA) and repeat out loud everything that you hear<br />
<br />
- watch English movies and TV programs and repeat out loud everything that you hear<br />
<br />
- speak English to yourself, to your friends, classmates, officemates, etc.<br />
<br />
- read articles from world-class publications such as Time, National Geographic, Washington Post, etc.<br />
<br />
- keep a journal in which you can write down in English your thoughts and experiences<br />
<br />
I also suggest that you read <a href="http://www.basketballinsiders.com/coming-to-america-how-international-players-survive-in-nba/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Coming to America: How International Players Survived in NBA”</a> to learn how foreign players such as Pau Gasol, Patty Mills, Anderson Varejao, Marcin Gortat, Andrea Bargnani, Timofey Mozgov, and Al Horford learned to speak English.<br />
<br />
Do you know how Arnold Schwarzenegger learned English? He took English lessons, including accent-removal lessons; in California, he worked in a fitness store so that he could practice English. In his autobiography, he also said: “I made it a rule to date only American girls; I did not want to hang out with girls who knew German.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3><b>Pictures from the 2006 bar exams</b></h3><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/06%20animo%20la%20salle%2001.1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/400/06%20animo%20la%20salle%2001.1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/02%20line%20several%20guy%20white%20front.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/02%20line%20several%20guy%20white%20front.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/01%20line%20up%20with%20girl%20begging%202.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/01%20line%20up%20with%20girl%20begging%202.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/01%20line%20up%20guy%20grim%20green.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/01%20line%20up%20guy%20grim%20green.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/02%20line%20habol%20%20several%20red.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/02%20line%20habol%20%20several%20red.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/02%20line%20habol%2001.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/02%20line%20habol%2001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/03%20line%20habol%2002.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/03%20line%20habol%2002.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/09%20line%20infront%20of%20la%20salle.0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/09%20line%20infront%20of%20la%20salle.0.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/10%20eagle%20eyes.0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/10%20eagle%20eyes.0.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/11%20feet%20natural%20frame.0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/11%20feet%20natural%20frame.0.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/15%20line%20no%20parking%20sign.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/15%20line%20no%20parking%20sign.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/14%20line%20disabled%20sign.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/14%20line%20disabled%20sign.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/12%20eagle%20eyes%20vertical.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/12%20eagle%20eyes%20vertical.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/13%20eagle%20eyes%20waving.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/13%20eagle%20eyes%20waving.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/16%20line%20natural%20frame.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/16%20line%20natural%20frame.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/07%20bedans%20zoom%20in.0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/07%20bedans%20zoom%20in.0.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/05%20grandparents.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/05%20grandparents.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/04%20onlookers%20firing%20squad.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/04%20onlookers%20firing%20squad.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/19%20band.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/19%20band.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/1600/17%20jru%2001.0.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1432/1782/320/17%20jru%2001.0.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-55324170800836825872019-11-01T07:00:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:24:53.262+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (29): Punctuation resources and infographics<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/231/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW-irMeHDMjhFkP76E_PdIj0jhi7NaDnlpj8MaN5k6Ju7ox0cWwBs12Ys9qvysxKRAi1loDAeT4CwoIZTtBfQPFOU01_P-wwK_EjC25Lm1ntkwvzNZA1tPBw-87q7P8XRoMHd/s1600/Punctuation+01.jpg" /></a><b>1. Resources by by Judge Gerald Lebovits</b> (an adjunct professor at New York Law School and two other law schools):<br />
<br />
<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/231/" target="_blank">Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Punctuation — Part I</a><br />
<br />
This three-part series addresses periods, question marks, exclamation points, colons, semicolons, parentheses, brackets, commas, hyphens, quotation marks, apostrophes, dashes, slashes, ellipses, and accent marks.<br />
<br />
Punctuation refers to symbols that organize and give structure to writing. Punctuation lets you change the inflection of your voice and give meaning to<br />
your words.<br />
<br />
Punctuation helps speed up or slow down language.<br />
<br />
Punctuation lets writers emphasize some words and de-emphasize others.<br />
<br />
Good punctuation makes you feel, hear, and understand language. Bad punctuation is confusing and off-putting.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2595462" target="_blank">Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Punctuation — Part II</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1296126" target="_blank">Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Punctuation — Part III</a><br />
<br />
<b>2. Infographics</b> (click the graphic to view or download the full infographics)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/apostrophes-flowchart.jpg" target="_blank">The Ultimate Flowchart To Using Apostrophes</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/apostrophes-flowchart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbhxtBeylhDcvQjN3fS3NGiTRsbwW18LDMszwLbGoj0DSC9lzQ0ByqqaTArAElSi8-AiqBq3BlK_oumpKqbHG-46uqt7oNn6sr8CJDQ5kzy86x0Nu-mzLDT1AfUhCroOTTvOY/s1600/Punctuation+03.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.grammar.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Quotation_big.png" target="_blank">How To Use Quotation Marks and Punctuation</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.grammar.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Quotation_big.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqktLe5PQxCmbgnqDRglh8LTKe00RfzxTGU4wfSfSxaO-aAt40sJH0sahdGi07F7p9hWW6SphaQep1fimmtSjZoFR2kJXYOG6LMlIALoCWYSJppXBcczcgDfughrmDPGuK-db0/s1600/Punctuation+02.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-36695154379575216622019-10-18T07:00:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:25:26.420+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (28): Grammar resources and infographics<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1296646" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMDzEtNzmXLTfB-33phThBlPUWNKPMCnrhDaKfvRVuJhFcPR9K3R5_th8MeZA9pfq93uO_term874iEpIKiWYYpwdrM5cAD28XA15YT77cFV8bsCfMTgzvBu21IRVMbWuBX_R/s1600/legal+writing+grammar+01+250+px.jpg" /></a><b>1. Resources by by Judge Gerald Lebovits</b> (an adjunct professor at New York Law School and two other law schools):<br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1296646" target="_blank">Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Grammar — Part I</a><br />
<br />
Good grammar is a good start, although good legal writing demands much more. Knowing grammar won’t make you a good legal writer. But you’re a poor legal writer if you don’t know grammar.<br />
<br />
Topics discussed: Singular and plural nouns; Pronouns; Fused Participles; Verb Tenses and Moods; Irregular Verbs; Gerunds; Agreement; Parallelism; Sentence Fragment; And and To<br />
<br />
<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/107/" target="_blank">Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes: Legal Writing Grammar — Part II</a><br />
<br />
Topics discussed: Run-on Sentence; Articles; Adverbs; Problem Words and Pairs; Who and Whom; The Sentence Extra; That versus Which; Comparisons; The Right Idiom<br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1301634" target="_blank">If I Were a Lawyer: Tense in Legal Writing</a><br />
<br />
State current rules in the present tense.<br />
<br />
State past rules and past facts in the past tense.<br />
<br />
State permanent, immutable truths (truths that never change) in dependent clauses in the present tense.<br />
<br />
State permanent, immutable truths in independent clauses in the past tense.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Infographics from GrammarCheck</b> (click the graphic to view or download the full infographic)<br />
<br />
<b>Oh My Grammar! Language Felonies</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/grammarcheck-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4dXSEUKOBLOJqnKVpXnFskxziRxMOYpFCgvgMMnbLFLD4Bewsn_IiRhvRjtsrOINjGh8resEvnklWlV_vHQlf0KHeTuMSUqXO79CF61nQuTMELMI8_E7Q8gSJdXvCPL70XKg/s1600/legal+writing+grammar+02.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>11 Essential Grammar Rules</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/essential-grammar-rules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYirj34isdaXDMbf4M5vkA4GznLq2hNE5dq9Jl1hGhWI7_oWiurZOxADeHO9TIEI878ItODsnlzEbELH4awFR8nKDWCmmX5CdXwDkgaM8BHQ7KH5Hq2nIXXCqQ-z_zXn3ZZsT/s1600/legal+writing+grammar+03.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>18 Verbs Even Native Speakers Often Confuse</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/18-verbs-native-speakers-confuse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGAa_ufLGQd03lgDif5AaaNTXwuyTuWuvsLsLDsyNZfiUoeboZQ_duRetSX1xTXQIuzg_e_JOmG_7zkQeCiA7hEeBNMKdi9EWpuv3I6JOFmIa6cB_wlpY5SyFRLyeuTjyBcMz/s1600/legal+writing+grammar+04.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-51467410290855115192019-10-04T07:00:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:26:05.457+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (27): Commonly misunderstood, misused, or confused words (resources and infographics)<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1297277" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6uTlVRMn3OZHy-eX9AvhaywcDPc-j2I8vq36lOW4laQF4rjL-5XJVlU4-aroTBxPZwHACeNTNpyCyGMaInIpbkCJDTmJD8H-NbJbBaKxfDI0Q5sq79bikAYg2MMwRpD51ZDI/s1600/Problem+words+01.jpg" /></a><b>1. Resources by by Judge Gerald Lebovits </b>(an adjunct professor at New York Law School and two other law schools):<br />
<br />
<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/15/" target="_blank">Problem Words and Pairs in Legal Writing — Part I</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1297277" target="_blank">Problem Words and Pairs in Legal Writing—Part II</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/17/" target="_blank">Problem Words and Pairs in Legal Writing—Part III</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1297279" target="_blank">Problem Words and Pairs in Legal Writing—Part IV</a><br />
<br />
In Part II, Judge Lebovits says in tongue-in-cheek fashion: <br />
<br />
As Lord Chief Justice Mansfield wrote, “Most of the disputes in the world arise from words.” Therefore, utilize words good. Irregardless how others employ words, you are suppose to use them like a writer should. Be especially careful to use adverbs correct. Otherwise your writing will look horribly.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Infographics</b> (click the graphic to view or download the full infographic)<br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/33-commonly-misunderstood-words-and-phrases-infographic.jpg" target="_blank">33 Commonly Misunderstood Words and Phrases</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/33-commonly-misunderstood-words-and-phrases-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_o5cX6dnEoQo06-US1MrU_J7SUFEaPLwOCt7oz2TP3ED1bOp30OEP8Pt0UmkPxt4XRYbtUsg-Q21A-LCymg-oNvOf9W_f5_CWFtHBvISNPRiAcRcF2Nn_C-VPiwz43kOoTieE/s1600/Problem+words+33.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/confusing-words.jpg" target="_blank">12 Common Words That Still Confuse Everyone</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/confusing-words.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNnKqhPRIEwJimCut7TMqvK7dM0nE6cGOHc0dskrdXGQ6OqdOcJzDm9zu5o78t_7I60c3N9kM0aGQ9As4nL7Qzpem6bmxsouor60AVFsvuRYufDOaRGCVIHDtblwQ6nd1lw9d/s1600/Problem+words+12.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/affect-vs-effect.jpg" target="_blank">Affect vs. Effect and 34 Other Common Confusions</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/affect-vs-effect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VMRAyV3_tCbd-_-HEos1pFuBW4bPNQj9saP6hUK_PB6gOe4FdlVUSwUfWCaJhWx0cbAwumSWk25-usjeZX1-6hrsrr4nE8NMKJ-vopQnOu4QQLVsM2OdQeIjYzUVdtjzwNHt/s1600/Problem+words+affect+effect.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.grammar.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/12-most-misunderstood-words-in-Englishbig_less.png" target="_blank">12 Most Misunderstood Words in English</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.grammar.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/12-most-misunderstood-words-in-Englishbig_less.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULPlqsGDZn-ZheqBhEijKfsjXJVielLzYuiBoDeC_uwBewGzBiHpwLZarFJsVS8OVCcdZDzNshzZLDyY2nJSljt1tnMvq3z_Caj8tOYnXpUtKB0lt-Vm7CjJHNH6cTTfNoJHm/s1600/Problem+words+12+most.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/846883/rT0yqvTk8dWrS_qCENEUQRK7s6c/medium_words-you-misuse.jpg" target="_blank">The Write Way: 8 Commonly Misused Words</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/846883/rT0yqvTk8dWrS_qCENEUQRK7s6c/medium_words-you-misuse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1aoEdwC2tMDzJR091k96-3yJBsS23zEzmh8zUSgLAnEmS45L7gMwhcmLp8PxnAglErBW_JbnLA3cp3IDIlEtliFEA1578SbCUvAbVCbDwyxZXOVUkUmu7z9cSPFfUksd8qpt/s1600/Problem+words+write+way.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-43730690478601173402019-09-24T00:10:00.000+08:002020-07-30T13:09:54.534+08:001.55 million unique visits and 4.98 million page views: Thanks for browsing this blog!<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; height: 10px; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left; width: 180px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><b>Update as of July 29, 2020:</b><br />
<br />
Total number of visits: 1.56 million<br />
<br />
Total number of page views: 5.06 million</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I started this blog on October 30, 2005 as part of my <a href="https://familymatters.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">Family Matters website</a>. My website tracker Statcounter.com reports that, as of today, this blog has now been visited more than 1,550,220 times. Blogger.com, meanwhile, reports that this blog has now reached more than 4,979,476 page views.<br />
<br />
Statcounter, which I started using sometime in 2014 in addition to Blogger, sometimes uses the term “sessions” instead of “unique visits.” Another tracker that I used before, Sitemeter.com, reported that the average time spent per visit was over three minutes. <br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px .35px .35px 0px; width: 250px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td height="20" valign="top" width="250"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 80%;">Note: Click the graphics below to view much-bigger copies;<br />
I don't have new monthly or yearly reports anymore because<br />
my free Statcounter account limits my logs to only 3 days.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzYhbpHKUdIpNFGcysmaNIGrIKQx1M7zCSsK9NCcWKOCrHL5vElKaWH76C_ud7GJnK9DGco7VhM0EzdumZGjARWj-vlCQXsyqqKde_at3pGYDn151FVXRw21t6qk6S9ARdV_g/s1600/Statcounter+LU+blog+average+daily+2014+to+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJiIXIZlSKGGgpyTJqZaJcWwjl57MnX42uVOyYqyJnHy6Lz-cF90ry7AAsWPEsO27UbdiN47drT1SCk3WC-_e9GaGd4V8KKDKA-QnUGDMWvQpmjqAN4su1goZxnZlPNPyQMbp/s1600/LU+blog+average+daily+from+2014+to+2018.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Average daily page views from 2014 to 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MWD0aWZ6Uxjk4X65E7xUgZQNVWJbv2t2IQVCL8A1_axdYwNxtp_ePqmqBhTOgCneMJIutN3GOxHhxtQOUWitcZ0k3rP4-NlzjEVWgNVOiV1HIVzQmb929FvVu7S9MlyoJCcb/s1600/Statcounter+LU+blog+yearly+average+2014+to+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HZjRAexgCzX42r8ZKPOSDcpS48VtIHs8PcfSN25MadhTNqPBdRLF5ewPF4_o556kUDsYnFdh5ULxFYK-elulq547dS1vqG1NC_6qT5_QzphrFwSJspZHyDK260DZQFI1YohB/s1600/LU+blog+average+yearly+all+data+from+2014+to+2018.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Average yearly page views from 2014 to 2018</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8R1sH8fbsB7S2GBhTHZkPT-JTiCRqr1y1AHdUQO-_xPwbfmbqUlgeIGbntqWgkTsBJSEUWzHtQEy48umE3hff1MVR424Naunjoxj3IofOrW4cyMpT-R9TsURyybZVfMh8k0f/s1600/Statcounter+LU+blog+average+daily+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlbd0Lw0QdL9IXbVO6gLgOxl_QUZHze8T3NlO15JDv2be63iyjDEfLmHZ65b7E3qzXl2mc1DDMUy6DoUYNwyzdiJa90X_BmcnvomRpNuzhB0fhDqlabdKwKuhM_L8b7gKh0NL/s1600/LU+blog+average+daily+2017.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Average daily page views for 2017</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQbJlRGrFY1Jz-aXC7GxFTrDtV5wac4edLJc6Ph8zHieAtNxN9ImCqvPsRKX934IF0qauvzQUeo7h2_x9GtiuBayyiZKXa_vccSHC9-WM9PysvjA-XIKafqBoDv03OAUzRuR1/s1600/Statcounter+LU+blog+average+daily+last+12+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0M0kFYLOAHKiNfeDj2wB9jrMQ-m5HoaIJE4H0MhIPhVtdFPRjokP2H6beiXuBJCIlYtHQCXBuJ-ythll3YrtPDa15817MH8qDqijemuop0BBC5iI0UE48yelaD_ix_79eyWgy/s1600/LU+blog+average+daily+last+month.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Average daily page views last 12 months</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table>For 2016, Statcounter reported a daily average of 916 page views, 510 first-time visits, and 101 return visits. As of today, however, Statcounter reports the following daily average: 170.8 page views, 104.8 first time visits, and 14.0 return visits.<br />
<br />
<b>The steep drop in the averages from the 2016 stats can primarily be attributed to Google's implementation of the “Fred” algorithm for its search results.</b> If you want to help more people find this blog and its articles when they search Google, please place links to this blog from your websites, blogs, or social media accounts.<br />
<br />
<b>Also contributing to the steep drop in the daily averages is the unscrupulous practice known as “scraping” that some bloggers and website administrators use. </b>These bloggers and admins copy, without my permission, the full text of my articles and post them into their blogs and websites, oftentimes without crediting me as the author or providing clickable backlinks. The result is that Google no longer indexes my articles in its search page results; it points searchers to the blogs or websites that copied my articles.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6eDZoiTrierMzzAZ58lpiyER_gvpdEWJ-VaKBOceJLeMh8BJCFKJlxkuH-dXlBpEmVHh6OB-H7zVOZK8JvKhZjeFNOe78HNGg-V1Y3ZD43bmB__ef9caGt3vQlIjNqduW-9R/s1600/Blogger+bigger+sixed+country+pageviews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJznDrjT0nlVLfr5B9iue2WfRynmoVq3FbF4AlMwYA4Oq1DgBx1XgB3a-ARd0_4HUTYcVR6ywKWMKPU_hkj2NAMwmtLUjef9WfaXwXzU3ugah_fqiWgiu4Y3HBBT09Jh4EKOI/s1600/Blogger+pageviews+by+country.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Top 10 countries with most page views (Blogger)</b><br />
Google Analytics reported years ago that this blog<br />
had been visited from more than 81 countries.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The service I provide in this blog and in my <a href="https://familymatters.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">Family Matters website</a> is free legal information and Biblical counseling. (“Free” however does not mean that bloggers or website admins are free to copy my articles without permission and to publish them in their blogs or website without giving me credit as the author and providing clickable backlinks.<br />
<br />
If you’re a blogger or website admin, you must get my permission first before publishing my articles in your blogs or websites.) As I told one person who e-mailed me, what is legal is not always Biblical, and what is Biblical is not always legal. In my website and blogs, however, what is Biblical will always take precedence. <br />
<br />
Blogger and Statcounter work in different ways and thus report different statistics. With regards the average time of 3 minutes per visit, Jakob Nielsen says that 2 minutes is an eternity on the Internet. (Nielsen is the acknowledged guru of writing for the Internet.) Nielsen also says that the number of return visits is a better indicator of website or blog’s effectiveness, rather than the number of first-time (or absolute unique) visits.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 130%;">Do not depend on “legal information” found in chat rooms or online forums</span><br />
<br />
Despite this milestone for this blog, three things sadden me:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">One</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I have stumbled upon chat rooms or online forums for OFWs, single parents, etc. and I am amazed at the tremendous amount of misinformation about legal matters I found in these forums.</span> The problem is that people in these chat rooms, rather than inquiring from lawyers, rely on each other and on people who pretend to know the law. It does not matter whether a person has gone to law school or does good research on legal topics. Answering people’s questions about legal matters is considered as “practice of law” (as the Supreme Court ruled in the case involving the late Sen. Rene Cayetano and former COMELEC chairman Christian Monsod). The practice of law is reserved only for those who have passed the bar exams and are in good standing with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR8RKTdn7qisBK5CnWEVfH9ln6bedeyXWZA44A3r9WlIIctTUJ2OAiR_03HL7lbUYhlIrJNZ3KfRlYReugkwufJ7S-WxIYB48t9dfW2xmLQKCuHjXfWoYPSpnIJK8G5SrUNvQ/s1600/LU+blog+copied+into+online+forum+December+20.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="text copied from this blog and then posted in a chat room without attribution" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552587785597541138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR8RKTdn7qisBK5CnWEVfH9ln6bedeyXWZA44A3r9WlIIctTUJ2OAiR_03HL7lbUYhlIrJNZ3KfRlYReugkwufJ7S-WxIYB48t9dfW2xmLQKCuHjXfWoYPSpnIJK8G5SrUNvQ/s200/LU+blog+copied+into+online+forum+December+20.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 95px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Some people in chat rooms and online forums also copy and paste from my blog posts without giving any credit.</span> For example, portions of my post “<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2009/01/can-nephews-and-nieces-inherit-from.html" target="_blank">Can nephews and nieces inherit from their grandparents, unmarried aunts or uncles?</a>” were posted verbatim without any attribution. (Click the image to the left so you can compare my blog post and what was posted in the forum.)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">If you do have legal questions, you should inquire from lawyers directly or from government offices. I have listed in a tab below this blog</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">’</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">s title graphic the contact information of government offices where you can get <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/p/free-government-help-for-ra-9262-cases.html">free legal assistance</a>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">For example, you can ask for free legal help from the Department of Justice Action Center (DOJAC).</span> It acts on complaints, requests for assistance and legal queries of walk-in clients of the DOJ. For legal assistance please visit the Department of Justice Action Center (DOJAC) Main Office, Ground Floor, Multi-Purpose Building, Padre Faura Street, Ermita, Manila; Telephone no: 523-84-81; Email Address: dojac@doj.gov.ph or visit any Regional/Provincial/City Prosecution Offices in your town or city.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">You can also try asking for free legal help or information from the following:</span><br />
<ol><li> Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) chapter offices in your town or city, usually located in the Hall of Justice </li>
<li><a href="http://law.upd.edu.ph/office-of-legal-aid/" target="_blank">OLA (Office of Legal Aid) of the UP College of Law</a>; Room 107, Malcolm Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 1101; UP College of Law Trunkline Phone No. (02) 920-5514, Office of Legal Aid - loc. 106; Office Hours: 8:00 am - 12:00 pm; 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm </li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sbcLegalAidBureau" target="_blank">Legal Aid Bureau of the San Beda College of Law</a> in Mendiola, Manila; tel. no. (02) 489-1670</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ustcivillaw.com/?page_id=2958" target="_blank">CJ Roberto Concepcion Legal Aid Clinic</a> of the UST Institute of Civil Law, Espana, Manila; +63(02) 731-4027 or +63(02) 406-1611 (Local 8225) </li>
<li><a href="http://law.sscrmnl.edu.ph/contact-information/" target="_blank">Sebastinian Office of Legal Aid</a>, San Sebastian College Institute of Law; Trunk Line: (02)734-8931 to 39, Locals: 313 and 173</li>
<li>Commission on Human Rights chapter offices</li>
</ol><span style="font-weight: bold;">Two</span>, the most visited page of this blog is that on adultery, concubinage, and psychological violence, with more than 363,000 visits. The other pages with a high number of visits are those dealing with support for an abandoned woman and her children (more than 164,000 visits), annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage, entertainer Amy Perez’s failed petition to have her marriage to Brix Ferraris declared void, and custody battles over children.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Three</span>, there are more people who visit this blog rather than my <a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Salt and Light blog</a> on how to build strong relationships, marriages, and families. Compared to this blog, my SL blog is limping along with only 56,000-plus visitors since December 2005. It seems that <span style="font-weight: bold;">there are more people who want to know about how to end their marriage than people concerned about building stronger marriages.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Salt and Light blog title graphics" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169604712843354130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShlEwvt-roS0JmrkK8_1iGdmPkhQ6lMgvol3yNLjZwx2Enz-fOLFjvRbA6PzoqTjmcoWQP1CTVKm3gZ-p5jDBc3rsRtObv-0sysjJwnFdT8lXggDOSfo7HCigIT5vCRkCpr0Zyg/s400/salt+and+lght+graphics.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a>I remember Valentine’s Day twelve years ago. I received an e-mail from a woman, competent and highly successful in her profession. The problem was, her professional success had led to the breakdown of her marriage because her husband had become totally insecure. The question she desperately asked me was, “Is there hope for my marriage?”<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>I spent the whole afternoon of that Valentine’s Day answering the e-mail, assuring her that yes, there was still hope for her marriage.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">My hope is that more people will browse my </span><a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Salt and Light blog</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and learn how to reclaim their marriage and rebuild their family. Some of my favorite articles are </span><a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/2008/06/lessons-in-love-and-life-from-miriam.html" target="_new">Lessons in love and life from Miriam Quiambao</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/2007/07/words-and-pictures.html" target="_new">Emotional word pictures as a communication tool for increasing intimacy between husbands and wives</a>,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>and <a href="http://saltandlight2005.blogspot.com/2007/08/men-are-terrible-mind-readers.html" target="_new">Men are terrible mind readers ...</a> <br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr><td height="20" valign="top" width="450"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/M5lSu6GkC2k" width="440"></iframe></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I also hope that that those of you going through various marital difficulties will try to get hold and watch Kirk Cameron’s movie on relationships; you can watch the YouTube trailer above and <a href="http://fireproofthemovie.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">read more in the FIREPROOF blog.</a> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">About FIREPROOF, the movie</span></span> <br />
<blockquote>At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter’s adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules. Growing up, Catherine Holt always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her daddy. Now, after seven years of marriage, Catherine wonders when she stopped being "good enough" for her husband. Regular arguments over jobs, finances, housework, and outside interests have readied them both to move on to something with more sparks. As the couple prepares to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb's father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb agrees-for his father's sake more than for his marriage. When Caleb discovers the book's daily challenges are tied into his parents' newfound faith, his already limited interest is further dampened. While trying to stay true to his promise, Caleb becomes frustrated time and again. He finally asks his father, "How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?" When his father explains that this is the love Christ shows to us, Caleb makes a life-changing commitment to love God. And so with God's help he begins to understand what it means to truly love his wife. But is it too late to fireproof his marriage? His job is to rescue others. Now Caleb Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever...rescuing his wife’s heart.</blockquote>Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-39179891537430344262019-09-20T07:00:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:26:29.970+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (26): Oxford comma (serial comma) cases, resources, and infographics<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr><td height="20" valign="top" width="225">Sentence without Oxford comma:<br />
<br />
I’d like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God.</td><td height="20" valign="top" width="225">Sentence with Oxford comma:<br />
<br />
<br />
I’d like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>1.</b> From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>: “In English language punctuation, a serial comma or series comma (also called an Oxford comma or a Harvard comma) is a comma placed immediately before the coordinating conjunction (usually and or or) in a series of three or more terms. For example, a list of three countries might be punctuated either as ‘France, Italy, and Spain’ (with the serial comma), or as ‘France, Italy and Spain’ (without the serial comma).”<br />
<br />
“A majority of American style guides mandate use of the serial comma, including APA style, The Chicago Manual of Style, The MLA Style Manual, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, and the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual.” <br />
<br />
<b>2.</b> The Oxford comma is perhaps the most contentious issue in English grammar. Bur for legal writing, this issue has long been settled by <b>numerous experts such as Bryan Garner, Joseph Kimble, Mark Painter, and Richard Wydick; they all recommend using the Oxford comma to avoid ambiguity or confusion.</b> For example, based on <a href="http://www.lawprose.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Guidelines-for-Drafting-and-Editing-Court-Rules.pdf" target="_blank">Garner’s guidelines for drafting court rules</a>, the Oxford comma was used in the Plain English restyling of all the US Federal Rules of Court.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Cases involving the Oxford comma:</b><br />
<br />
(a) <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/wisconsin/supreme-court/2001/17566.html" target="_blank">“Peterson vs. Midwest Security Insurance Company,”</a> Supreme Court of Wisconsin, 2001: the lack of a serial comma created an ambiguity in Wisconsin’s recreational immunity statute.<br />
<br />
(b) <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca1/16-1901/16-1901-2017-03-13.html" target="_blank">“O’Connor versus Oakhurst Dairy” US Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2017</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For want of a comma, we have this case. It arises from a dispute between a Maine dairy company and its delivery drivers, and it concerns the scope of an exemption from Maine's overtime law. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Specifically, if that exemption used a serial comma to mark off the last of the activities that it lists, then the exemption would clearly encompass an activity that the drivers perform. And, in that event, the drivers would plainly fall within the exemption and thus outside the overtime law's protection. But, as it happens, there is no serial comma to be found in the exemption's list of activities, thus leading to this dispute over whether the drivers fall within the exemption from the overtime law or not.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>4. The “Ombudsman Stylebook” recommends the nuanced use of the serial comma.</b> Posted below is the Stylebook’s complete guideline:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/docs/publication/Ombudsman%20Stylebook.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJC5MbQAjmo72A5UGSbva6tKpSHLgUoukzEsopEz6rziy4J31099WTF4HCcIwevrF0Hwwa6cfGv6PpZ_t6dvrPoimtRvsnmtLML2Kkq4_dGDvyXdZe3lRKxiWuX7-pJPN5HB8d/s1600/OMB+Stylebook+250+px.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: Click the graphic above to view<br />
or download the Ombudman Stylebook.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3.2.3. Use commas to separate items in a series (three or more items).<br />
<br />
Such commas are called serial commas. If the last two items in the series are obviously different from each other, do not insert a comma.<br />
<br />
Examples:<br />
<br />
a. The signatories to the contract represented the governments of Greece, Spain and Italy.<br />
<br />
b. The terms of the sale were reviewed by the executive director, the chief accountant and the cashier.<br />
<br />
c. The virus spread in the U.S., Asia and Europe<br />
<br />
Sometimes inserting a comma between the last two items in a series is necessary to improve comprehension. Such comma distinguishes these two items from the others in a complex list.<br />
<br />
Examples:<br />
<br />
a. The directive required the department to revise the curriculum, review the textbooks given to the students at the beginning and end the teachers‘ strike. [Note: Without a comma before and, the reader might mistake end for a noun instead of a verb.]<br />
<br />
b. The Center for Culinary Arts offers several courses: Bartending, Kitchen Safety, Food Equipment, Environmental Impact, Baking and Cooking. [Note: Without a comma before and, it is not clear if Baking and Cooking is one course, or if Baking is a different course from Cooking.].</blockquote>
<br />
<b>Critique of the guideline:</b><br />
<br />
It’s better to follow Garner’s guideline of using the Oxford comma consistently. The Stylebook’s guideline assumes that the reader is able to know the reason why the serial comma was used in one sentence but not in another sentence. But legal writers are responsible for thinking through what they want to say and to make everything clear for their readers.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Infographics on the Oxford comma:</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlrURXZ3_pADvQTSJ_FYuYGpkZGcCTfVZO380hd818cdEhaOyOp2CdNQaPKvVD4gZj8P3EOviXqHjJQ8Xw_Uq4Td4LlUd2JuQ8PI8xEzxPBlUMJCPK_kjfrr0KSUZ1kxMCm1F2/s1600/Oxford+comma+600+by+2190+px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz826s3IG7elm0De4GTMcl6XPMrbo5wwKfR6egahrMKmJMgeQRYux06f8GyUfYUDGmAgf-3DmNLxz0WZNsN-ugOUvplQYeNYL4GMvFnFcDV8Sq-iYENq4iYGAh2b4nRkn82fcJ/s1600/Oxford+comma+450+px.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: Click the graphic above to view or download the full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/oxford-comma-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZNW93bHuAOvwxw9B8VyvN4R_ia-T9tNQBMpVMlWyqCEV-LDEwsC62TN9ihYRY82Jjq3YE-imLuMkMBDIjJ96lmMZuIaHslTW9wJ_TXKyLvejLhwjQTrueABYfYMB-QFAHAh3/s1600/01+grammar+check+oxford-comma-infographic.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: Click the graphic above to view or download the full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-325947877061644682019-09-13T08:48:00.001+08:002020-01-25T06:27:34.829+08:00 Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (25): Million-dollar comma case; resources and infographics on commas<b>1. The “million-dollar comma case” was a 2006 dispute between Rogers Communication (a cable company) and Bell Aliant (a telephone company). </b>It involved the use of more than 90,000 utility poles scattered across Canada’s easternmost provinces; value of the contract was around 900,000 Canadian dollars.<br />
<br />
<b>Issues:</b><br />
<br />
How long is the duration of the contract? Can Bell Aliant cancel its contract with Rogers at any time, even before end of the term?<br />
<br />
<b>Background facts:</b> <br />
<br />
Date of execution of the contract between Rogers Communication and Bell Aliant was May 31, 2002.<br />
<br />
The issues revolved around the interpretation of the following clause:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.” </blockquote>
<br />
<b>The problem begins:</b><br />
<br />
New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service Corporation (NB Power) actually owned the poles, not Bell Aliant. In 2004, NB Power terminated its contract with Bell Aliant.<br />
<br />
In October 2004, NB Power began invoicing Rogers Communication for the use of its poles at a rate of $18.91 per pole per year.<br />
<br />
On January 31, 2005: Bell Aliant provided Rogers Communication notice of termination of the 2002 agreement, effective February 1, 2006.<br />
<br />
Rogers Communication filed a suit with the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), saying that Bell Aliant could not terminate its contract without cause before May 31, 2007.<br />
<br />
<b>Opposing interpretations by the contracting parties:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Rogers Communication:</b> Contract was good for at least five years, from May 31, 2002 to May 31, 2007. The contract will automatically renew for another five years, unless either party cancels the contract before the start of the final 12 months.<br />
<br />
<b>Bell Aliant:</b> Contract can be terminated even before May 31, 2007, as long as one year’s notice is given. Reason: The second comma in the disputed clause located between the words “terms” and “unless”:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.” </blockquote>
<br />
<b>Who won the case?</b><br />
<br />
First ruling of the CRTC:<br />
<br />
Citing the “rules of punctuation,” CRTC ruled in favor of Bell Aliant. The placement of the second comma allowed Bell Aliant to end its five-year agreement with Rogers at any time with notice. <br />
<br />
Final ruling of the CRTC:<br />
<br />
CRTC ruled in favor of Rogers Communication, citing that the French version of the contract provided clear evidence that the parties intended to restrict termination without cause to the end of the term. <br />
<br />
<b>2. Kenneth Adams, a lawyer specializing in drafting of contracts and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, was a consultant for Rogers Communication. He offered his rewrite of the disputed clause:</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The initial term of this agreement ends at midnight at the beginning of the fifth anniversary of the date of this agreement. The term of this agreement (consisting of the initial term and any extensions in accordance with this section) will automatically be extended by consecutive five-year terms unless no later than one year before the beginning of any such extension either party notifies the other in writing that it does not wish to extend this agreement.”</blockquote>
<br />
Prof. Adams explains why legal contracts are convoluted and oftentimes unintelligible: “Because any given transaction will closely resemble many previous transactions, and because lawyers tend to be risk-averse and wary of change, as things stand contract drafting is essentially an exercise in regurgitation. Add to that the specialized nature of contract language—it’s akin to a cross between regular writing and computer code—and it’s not surprising that business contracts are riddled with redundancies, archaisms, misconceptions, and other drafting glitches.”<br />
<br />
A Financial Times article quotes Prof. Adams as saying: “The dirty little secret of the Anglo-American drafting style that dominates global transactions is that nobody drafts contracts from scratch.” <br />
<br />
<b>3. PDF resources on commas by Judge Gerald Lebovits: <a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/46/" target="_blank">“The Pause That Refreshes: Commas</a>” and <a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/47/" target="_blank">“The Pause That Refreshes: Commas—Part 2”</a></b><br />
<br />
“Commas, like all punctuation, have many uses, including writing persuasively. Punctuation can speed readers up or slow them down. Em dashes (“—”) grab readers, semicolons pause, periods arrest. Recast sentences to add or excise commas if you want your reader to get through your material slowly or quickly.”<br />
<br />
<b>4. Infographic from GrammarCheck: <a href="https://www.grammarcheck.net/common-comma-problems/" target="_blank">“Top 6 Commmon Comma Problems”</a></b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/comma-problems-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibSxyjdi34hb41JonhVjc-RE7oD7RnKdPjNj-NLStp-ewjFML6MKAUzTN2ohkioKYP6LLG0xJ4EHk6j2XXdvWbMcpbtbvkIbfkSG7LrCo1MAn4l4vndJvu13oFAnUN14LYiloX/s1600/infographic+common+comma+problems.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click the graphic above to view or download the full infographic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>5. 2019 Canadian case involving commas:</b> <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/an-attempted-class-action-suit-against-bell-canada-failed-after-plaintiffs-lost-a-debate-over-commas-and-rounded-numbers" target="_blank">“An attempted class action suit against Bell Canada failed after plaintiffs lost a debate over commas and rounded numbers”</a><br />
<br />
“The Ontario Superior Court of Justice was asked last month to consider how Bell Canada calculates its yearly cost of living increase for pensioners. The plaintiffs alleged that Bell did its math wrong, and the increase for 2017 should have been two per cent. Bell said it did the calculation correctly and the increase should be one per cent. It all came down to a question of math — and grammar.”<br />
<br />
“This, of course, may seem an odd, or perhaps an excessively minute detail to be determinative of a case that impacts on some 35,000 pensioners of the Bell Canada corporate family.”<br />
<br />
<b>The controversy lies with the interpretation of the following sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
‘Pension Index’ means the annual percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index, as determined by Statistics Canada, during the period of November 1 to October 31 immediately preceding the date of the pension increase.</blockquote>
<br />
The judge based his ruling on the placement of the comma: “Since there is a comma preceding the modifier, the opposite of the last antecedent rule — often dubbed the ‘series qualifying rule’ — is applied. ”<br />
<br />
Contracts guru Kenneth Adams criticizes the Canadian court’s ruling in <a href="https://www.adamsdrafting.com/more-comma-confusion-austin-v-bell-canada/" target="_blank">“More Comma Confusion: The Opinion of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Austin v. Bell Canada.”</a><br />
<br />
<b>6. The power of a comma from “Should Lawyers Punctuate” by Richard C. Wydick</b> (The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Vol 1, 1990):<br />
<br />
Fifth Amendment, US Constitution <br />
<br />
“[No person shall] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . .”<br />
<br />
The comma after “property” tell us that the phrase “due process of law” modifies the verb “be deprived”. <br />
<br />
Without the comma after “property,” it would permit a lawyer to argue (in defiance of the provision’s long history) that “without due process” modifies only “property.” Thus, the fifth amendment would forbid deprivation of property without due process and would absolutely forbid both incarceration and the death penalty. <br />
<br />
<b>Comparing the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the US Constitution</b><br />
<br />
The Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution was patterned after that of the US Constitution. Notice, however, that there's no comma after “property” in Section 1 of Article III. <br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr><td height="20" valign="top" width="225"><b>Fifth Amendment, US Constitution </b><br />
<br />
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. </td><td height="20" valign="top" width="225"><b>1987 Constitution, Article III, Bill of Rights</b><br />
<br />
Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Note: “Wydick served as Acting Dean of the [UC Davis] Law School in 1978-80 and received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1983. He has authored books on ethics, evidence, and good writing, including the esteemed legal writing guide, ‘Plain English for Lawyers.’<br />
<br />
“Wydick has received honors including the Golden Pen Award from the Legal Writing Institute and a lifetime achievement award from Scribes, the American Society of Legal Writers, in recognition of his contributions to legal writing.”<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-24394287570937318982019-09-06T10:15:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:28:01.356+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (24): 20 Writing Mistakes Even Native Speakers Make (Infographic)<a href="https://www.grammarcheck.net/writing-mistakes-native-speakers/">20 Writing Mistakes Even Native Speakers Make</a> (infographic) from GrammarCheck<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.grammarcheck.net/writing-mistakes-english-native-speakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBOLKEKlYg5Z_Veqt9RLzr9H_PqO7qdYMgajZKUfrC_3yZswIMxCgce7Is3ICebplK7AyaCQrnGu6w4kwiyLOmyOrqsPxdFiehoJzZGh1qiHKgTvESxWnllwthacHZg5vqNKc/s1600/Infographics+20+writing+mistakes+native+speakers+450+px.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click the graphic above to view or download<br />
the full infographic (2.48 MB, 900 by 7650 px)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Interactive exercises with time limit and automatic scoring:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://k-drama-english-grammar-and-vocabulary-exercises.netlify.com/indexthanthen.htm" target="_blank">Interactive exercises in grammar (than - then) </a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://k-drama-english-grammar-and-vocabulary-exercises.netlify.com/indexits.htm" target="_blank">Interactive exercises in grammar (its - it’s)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://k-drama-english-grammar-and-vocabulary-exercises.netlify.com/indextheirtheyre.htm" target="_blank">Interactive exercises in grammar (their -they’re)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://k-drama-english-grammar-and-vocabulary-exercises.netlify.com/indexyouryourewhoswhose.htm" target="_blank">Interactive exercises in grammar (who’s – whose; your - you’re)</a><br />
<br />
<b>Relevant resource:</b> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Infographic-Guide-Grammar-Reference-Everything/dp/1507212380" target="_blank">“The Infographic Guide to Grammar: A Visual Reference to Everything You Need to Know”</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Infographic-Guide-Grammar-Reference-Everything/dp/1507212380" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijR-gkbtaNdx5p_ahiKkR3M-AUB25o3SgGhutvFS-91hvJ-O5HPcLqR0J0nU0_CMavVuQVN_soDyCfbAjHJsqJghayQsOB8xIVQ352zF-bxikkqGa-tPJQG3ZoP1DzYZKHBp4Z/s1600/grammar+book+infographic+amazon+250+px.jpg" /></a>Mastering grammar is now easier than ever with this fully illustrated guide that covers the most important rules in grammar and punctuation — making even the most confusing rules easy to understand. <br />
<br />
This illustrated guide to English grammar gives you everything you need for a better understanding of how to write and punctuate correctly. From proper comma usage to the correct form of there, their, or they’re — understanding grammar has never been easier.<br />
<br />
Is it who or whom? Affect or effect? And what is a prepositional phrase? With “The Infographic Guide to Grammar,” you’ll learn the answers to all of these questions, and so much more. Featuring 50 vibrant infographics explaining everything from subject-verb agreement to the Oxford comma and verb tenses this book breaks down the complicated rules and guidelines for writing the English language and makes them clear and straightforward. <br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-38659423164202688662019-08-29T09:16:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:28:42.714+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (23): Typography and visual design for pleadings, motions, court and other legal documents<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 450px;" title="SC Efficient Use of Paper Rule and Proposed Rules on E-Filing"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jump to: <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#efficientuseofpaperrule" title="SC Efficient Use of Paper Rule">Efficient Use of Paper Rule</a> A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC; <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#saveforestsuseplainenglish" title="Efficient use of paper: Save forests, use Plain English">Save forests, use Plain English</a>; <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#SCProposedRulesEfiling" title="SC Proposed Rules on E-Filing">Proposed Rules on E-Filing</a> A. M. 10-3-7-SC; <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#US7CA" title="Requirements and suggestions in typography from US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals">Typography in briefs and other papers, from US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals</a>; <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#SEC" title="US SEC design guidelines for prospectus disclosure documents"> US SEC design guidelines</a>; <a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/10/typographypleadingsmotionscourtdocuments.html#howtocreatepdf" title="Use a scanner to turn your paper documents to PDF">How to create a PDF</a></span></td> </tr>
</tbody> </table>
<a href="http://typo.la/jmp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="Buy this book from Jones McClure or from Amazon"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMiTPQGlMG4WqyzEfb-AVvdo1U51Zrm8k3RRynYq0kucgkUbh_u_3_Hm785_h3Dwft5QTbvJ72lvGZ6FF_C5lFtbcXgog_4rG8HYpAJ4UzeUZ234MH2WD7OH-Sn7l2gfrGZmb/s1600/Butterick+TPL+book.jpg" /></a> <b>1.</b><b> <a href="http://typographyforlawyers.com/" target="_blank">“Typography for Lawyers, Essential Tools for Polished and Persuasive Documents”</a></b> by Matthew Butterick (California-based lawyer; graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in visual and environmental studies; designed fonts for Apple and Microsoft; awarded the Legal Writing Institute’s 2012 Golden Pen Award)<br />
<blockquote>
Good typography is part of good lawyering.<br />
<br />
Good typography reinforces the goals of the text.<br />
<br />
Any lawyer can master the essentials of good typography.<br />
<br />
Typography in legal documents should be held to the same standards as any professionally published material. </blockquote>
<br />
Some of <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/" target="_blank">Butterick’s recommendations for typography in legal documents</a>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Point size should be 10-12 points in printed documents, 15-25 pixels on the web.</li>
<li>Never use <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman-alternatives.html" target="_blank" title="alternatives for Times New Roman">Times New Roman</a> and <a href="http://practicaltypography.com/helvetica-and-arial-alternatives.html" target="_blank" title="alternatives for Arial">Arial</a>.</li>
<li>Line spacing should be 120-145% of the point size. In word processors, use the “Exact” line-spacing option to achieve this. The default single-line option is too tight; the 1½-line option is too loose.</li>
<li>The average line length should be 45-90 characters (including spaces). </li>
</ul>
<b>Butterick’s view on point size for pleadings, motions, and court documents:</b> <br />
<blockquote>
While courts often require text to be set at 12 point—and sometimes larger—it’s not the most comfortable size for reading. If you compare a court filing with the average book, newspaper, or magazine, you’ll notice that the text in the filing is larger.<br />
<br />
When you’re not bound by court rules, don’t treat 12 point as the minimum. Try sizes down to 10 point, including intermediate sizes like 10.5 and 11.5 point—half-point differences are meaningful at these sizes.</blockquote>
<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 210px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="210"><a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better legal writer<br />
or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>2. <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1747309" target="_blank">“Best Dressed Briefs - Why Appearance Matters</a></b><b><a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1747309" target="_blank"><b>”</b></a> by Susan Hanley Duncan, University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law</b> <br />
<blockquote>
US Supreme Court’s clerk accepts only documents using fonts in the Century family and refuses to accept filings of any brief printed in Times New Roman. </blockquote>
<b>3. <a href="http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1664.pdf" target="_blank">“Pay Attention to the Aesthetics of Your Pages</a></b><b><a href="http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1664.pdf" target="_blank"><b>”</b></a> by Bryan A. Garner</b> (Michigan Bar Journal, March 2010)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yet the legal profession is still largely unaware of how important page layout can be. On the whole, we're still stuck in the ugly typewriting mode: we still tend to rely on all-caps text and underlining as means of emphasis. Professional typographers I've spoken with are bewildered by our naiveté about the importance of not just what words appear on the<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="US7CA"></a> page, but how they appear.</blockquote>
<b>4. <a href="http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/forms/type.pdf" target="_blank">“Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers”</a> from US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals</b> <br />
<blockquote>
Use typefaces that were designed for books. Both the Supreme Court and the Solicitor General use Century. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Any face with the word “book” in its name is likely to be good for legal work. Baskerville, Bembo, Caslon, Deepdene, Galliard, Jenson, Minion, Palatino, Pontifex, Stone Serif, Trump Medieval, and Utopia are among other faces designed for use in books and thus suitable for brief-length presentations. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Use italics, not underlining, for case names and emphasis. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Use real typographic quotes (“and”) and real apostrophes (’), not foot and inch marks. Reserve straight ticks for feet, inches, and minutes of arc. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Put only one space after punctuation. The typewriter convention of two spaces is for monospaced type only. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Do not justify your text unless you hyphenate it too. Indent the first line of each paragraph 1/4 inch or less. Big indents disrupt the flow of text. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Cut down on long footnotes and long block quotes. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Avoid bold type. It is hard to read and almost never necessary. Use italics instead. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Avoid setting text in all caps. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Another way to improve the attractiveness and readability of your brief or motion is to emulate high-quality legal typography. The <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/boundvolumes.aspx" target="_blank">opinions of the Supreme Court</a>, and the <a href="http://www.justice.gov/osg/briefs/" target="_blank">briefs of the Solicitor General</a>, are excellent models of type usage.</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/10/twitter-and-the-evolution-of-the-s-1.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank" title="Read New Yorker magazine article on impact of SEC Plain English Handbook on IPO of Google Facebook Twitter"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiid2Ale2aLV8bUGoyBw4dHffrO4dasnkdyEsGAqIhM6wKFJA-LJv7x4OCEaCp6t1buRNJD0BtIv9owlKuFnh2Z3gcjBtnLzmjROR0EF-jeKVDvKFPXeQc58jW0ORkm4fqSO-dI/s200/US+SEC+handbook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="SEC"></a><b>5. US Securities and Exchange Commission “<a href="http://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf" target="_blank">Plain English Handbook”</a> design guidelines</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A plain English document reflects thoughtful design choices. The right design choices make a document easier to read and its information easier to understand. The wrong design choices can make even a well-written document fail to communicate. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Typography (do not use all caps; use serif typefaces; mixing two serif or two sans serif typefaces can look like a mistake; do not use more than two typefaces in any document, not including the bold or italic versions of a typeface.) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Layout (flush left, ragged right; short line length; short paragraphs; vertical lists; white space)</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://typo.la/jmp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><br />
</a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPcRG9GCwoG-9HS81G0DSi9P1ahkUuLGQa77ltpvIOchI0WHCCawsv0TyVhNkHsxIZKz_nnjtSQ5z4Alxe980D4GhP46GH8D6KXJFvYWVE-cojKT3zZyx4w9HYJUm21USTn_B/s1600/US+SEC+BA+1200.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Before and After example from SEC handbook</b></a> (click the graphic to see the enlarged view) <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPcRG9GCwoG-9HS81G0DSi9P1ahkUuLGQa77ltpvIOchI0WHCCawsv0TyVhNkHsxIZKz_nnjtSQ5z4Alxe980D4GhP46GH8D6KXJFvYWVE-cojKT3zZyx4w9HYJUm21USTn_B/s1600/US+SEC+BA+1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kgonkCOLRlwPbXjjOoDU6z1VoVqocaIUdilW8_gGYB-VvdkSEJaXhh_ue3WQXlYWx7tJ7Kbl6zxicFkkpu4y6X0ISkfFXVbbNb7n9td8pzlAVlz0qD-_NtK3wanJ2pHPwY18/s1600/US+SEC+BA+450.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>6. </b><b>“Document Design: Pretty in Print- Part I</b><b>” by Judge Gerald Lebovits </b>(faculty member of Columbia University - Law School, Fordham University School of Law, and New York University School of Law)<br />
<blockquote>
Document design, or typography, refers to the visual component of a word: typeface, type size, white space, margins, alignment, horizontal and vertical spacing, headings, footnotes, endnotes, superscript, straight and curly quotes, boldface, italics, and underlining.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Without effective, legible typography, the reader won't appreciate a document's content. When you have a choice, make the document accessible, comprehensible, persuasive, and professional. </blockquote>
<b>7. <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=918526" target="_blank">“Painting with Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents”</a> by Ruth Anne Robbins</b>, Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law, Camden. <br />
<blockquote>
Persuasion includes looking good on paper — literally. Persuasion is the backbone of a lawyer’s job. Attorneys who are able to appeal to their audience will establish a measure of credibility, ethos, that will enhance the overall effectiveness of the argument. Lawyers are taught to use every part of a document as an opportunity to persuade. Textual design of the document should be approached with the same attitude, i.e., how can it help the lawyer persuade an audience? </blockquote>
<b>Prof. Robbins on point size and court rules:</b> <br />
<blockquote>
There is no definitive scientific answer, however, to whether court rules should require 12-point or 14-point font, given a page that is 8.5 inches by 11 inches. The studies unfortunately did not test the relative legibility of font sizes using lines of text closer to what normally appears on the standard paper size used for most legal documents. There is some discussion that larger font sizes such as 14-point Roman cause longer fixation pauses, which in turn slows reading. Dr. Tinker took care to caution that there was no easy way to draw a final conclusion as to optimal type size because other factors contribute to the equation, such as line length and line spacing. Nevertheless, experts in the field recommend reserving 14-point and larger sizes for headings as opposed to blocks of text. (page 122)</blockquote>
<b>On line length:</b> <br />
<blockquote>
The optimal line length depends on the size of the type. Unfortunately, the standard 6.5 inches of 12-point type in common use, that is, one-inch margins on the left and right sides of an 8.5-inch-wide page, decreases legibility by more than 3%. Based on those studies, more modern publications claim that the ideal line length for 12-point type should range from 2.75 to 4 inches. Modern examples of text using narrow columns for printing include newspapers and online legal research documents from Lexis/Nexis or Westlaw. (pages 122-123)</blockquote>
Prof. Robbins includes in her study the typographic requirements of various US courts.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="efficientuseofpaperrule"></a> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 450px;" title="Efficient Use of Paper Rule A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC in relation to A.M. No. 10-3-7-SC Proposed Rules on E-Filing"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/1473/" target="_blank"><b>“Efficient Use of Paper Rule” A.M. No. 11-9-4-SC</b></a><br />
<br />
The Supreme Court’s “Efficient Use of Paper Rule” became effective as of January 1, 2013. Covered by the Rule are pleadings, motions, and similar papers; all decisions, resolutions, and orders issued by courts and by quasi-judicial bodies under the administrative supervision of the Supreme Court; reports submitted to the courts, and transcripts of stenographic notes. (Please read also <a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/1473/" target="_blank">A.M. No. 10-3-7-SC Proposed Rules on E-Filing</a>.) <br />
<br />
<b>The Rule requires all pleadings and court documents to be written in:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>single space with a one-and- a-half space between paragraphs,</li>
<li>using an easily readable font style of the party's choice,</li>
<li>of 14-size font, and</li>
<li>on a 13-inch by 8.5-inch white bond paper. </li>
</ul>
The Rule also requires a left hand margin of 1.5 inches from the edge; an upper margin of 1.2 inches from the edge; a right hand margin of 1.0 inch from the edge; and a lower margin of 1.0 inch from the edge. <br />
<br />
<b>The Supreme Court justifies the Rule by the following reasons:</b> <br />
<br />
(1) To produce 500 reams of paper, twenty trees are cut and 100,000 liters of water are used, water that is no longer reusable because it is laden with chemicals and is just released to the environment to poison our rivers and seas;<br />
<br />
2) The judicial system needs to cut the use of excessive quantities of costly paper, save our forests, avoid landslides, and mitigate the worsening effects of climate change that the world is experiencing;<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="saveforestsuseplainenglish"></a>(3) The judiciary can play a big part in saving our trees, conserving precious water, and helping mother earth.<br />
<br />
<b>Save forests, use Plain English</b><br />
<br />
“In 1992, the Sierra Club estimated that the average California lawyer used a ton of paper each year, a hefty pile indeed in a state that had about 137,000 lawyers. The environmental group urged the state’s Judicial Council to enact a rule requiring use of recycled paper in documents filed in the courts, a move that the group estimated would save more than 6,000 trees annually.<br />
<br />
“Two days later, a Los Angeles Times reader penned a letter-to-the-editor with a one-sentence solution of his own. ‘If the Sierra Club would like to save whole forests rather than just a few thousand trees,’ he wrote, ‘I suggest that they encourage lawyers to use plain English.’”<br />
<br />
“The letter writer was David Mellinkoff, professor emeritus at the UCLA School of Law and the acknowledged dean of the legal profession’s Plain English movement.”<br />
<br />
Source: <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1515843" target="_blank">“Legal Writing: Sense and Nonsense” by Douglas E. Abrams</a>, Associate Professor, University of Missouri School of Law</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="SCProposedRulesEfiling"></a><b><a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/1473/" target="_blank">Proposed Rules on E-Filing A.M. No. 10-3-7-SC</a>: Guidelines on Submission and Processing of Soft Copies of Supreme Court-Bound Papers Pursuant to the Efficient Use of Paper Rule</b> <br />
<br />
<b>(1)</b> Soft copies of all Supreme Court-bound papers and their annexes must be submitted simultaneously with the hard copy if by compact disc (CD) or within twenty-four (24) hours from the filing of the hard copy if by e-mail. It must be understood, however, that the paper shall be deemed to have been filed on the date and time of filing of the hard copy and not the soft copy. <br />
<br />
<b>(2)</b> The soft copies must be in PDF and individually saved, as well as individually attached to the e-mail, if applicable. The file name of the soft copy must be the same as the document title. Examples: Petition for Review should have a file name "Petition for Review.pdf" Annex A should have a file name "Annex A. pdf" <br />
<br />
<b>(3)</b> Soft copies submitted by e-mail must be addressed to the appropriate docketing office: <br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2" style="float: left; margin: 0px 300px 10px 0px; width: 450px;" title="SC Proposed Rules on E-filing"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="95"><b>Case Type</b></td> <td valign="top" width="95"><b>Docketing Office</b></td> <td height="37" valign="top" width="202"><b>E-mail Address </b>(please verify)<b><br />
</b><br />
<br /></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Judicial cases</td> <td valign="top">Judicial Records Office (JRO)</td> <td height="56" valign="top">efilejro@sc.judiciary.gov.ph</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Administrative <br />
complaints<br />
against personnel of the SC and its decentralized units (e.g., OCA, PHILJA, JBC,<br />
MCLEO)</td> <td valign="top">Office of Administrative Services, SC (OAS-SC)</td> <td height="132" valign="top">efile_oas_sc@sc.judiciary.gov.ph</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Administrative complaints and <br />
matters involving the Court of<br />
Appeals, Sandiganbayan,<br />
Court of Tax Appeals and lower courts, its justices, judges and personnel<br />
<br /></td> <td valign="top">Documentation Division, Legal Office, OCA</td> <td height="132" valign="top">efile_oca@sc.judiciary.gov.ph</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Administrative <br />
matters<br />
involving the SC<br />
and its<br />
decentralized<br />
units</td> <td valign="top">Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc</td> <td height="132" valign="top">efile_occeb@sc.judiciary.gov.ph</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Complaints against lawyers <br />
and other bar matters</td> <td valign="top">Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC)</td> <td height="78" valign="top">efile_bar@sc.jucliciary.gov.ph</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>(4)</b> The above docketing offices have the primary responsibility of ensuring that all Supreme Court-bound papers have the corresponding soft copies. They shall also be responsible for the safekeeping and archiving of the CDs. <br />
<br />
<b>(5)</b> The e-mail shall use the following format:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-NNbCIebTIholELMJ96o01hxwXaSFL2xgJ2Rdw5b_IClJD5rgzVkeci0SGI_csO3sZymnaPIZtt1Wc1DmdBHriegp7CCmyXAgWIw8git9r4JHJ1BJ6xne91XYgypT66pSe-C/s1600/SC+E-Filing+email+body+format.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 10em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-NNbCIebTIholELMJ96o01hxwXaSFL2xgJ2Rdw5b_IClJD5rgzVkeci0SGI_csO3sZymnaPIZtt1Wc1DmdBHriegp7CCmyXAgWIw8git9r4JHJ1BJ6xne91XYgypT66pSe-C/s1600/SC+E-Filing+email+body+format.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>(6))</b> A CD or an e-mail shall contain only electronic documents pertaining to one case. In the same manner, all soft copies of Supreme Court-bound papers and their annexes pertaining to the same case shall be saved in one CD or attached to one e-mail. In case the total file size of the electronic documents exceeds the maximum size of the CD or the maximum size allowed for uploading by the e-mail service being used by the filer, the electronic documents may be saved in different CDs or e-mailed in batches, but must be clearly marked and/or follow the format prescribed above. <br />
<br />
<b>(7)</b> The filer shall also attach to the CD or the e-mail a verified declaration that the pleading and annexes submitted electronically are complete and true copies of the printed document and annexes filed with the Supreme Court. The declaration shall use the following format: <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikMk9GLBVvKQyKHDVmvcgW_ntYWgUm2-FBgzioDjIkeIOeeLNk-I1paXp8wnhpoD_3WVa1gOkAvxboKQsCY0_BdmBTUnuy5s5R-Gn4Y5N_a68dGyCtGErR9eSOdI5M48isB25/s1600/SC+E-Filing+verification.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikMk9GLBVvKQyKHDVmvcgW_ntYWgUm2-FBgzioDjIkeIOeeLNk-I1paXp8wnhpoD_3WVa1gOkAvxboKQsCY0_BdmBTUnuy5s5R-Gn4Y5N_a68dGyCtGErR9eSOdI5M48isB25/s1600/SC+E-Filing+verification.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The declaration attached to the CD must be original, while the declaration attached to the e-mail must be in PDF.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikMk9GLBVvKQyKHDVmvcgW_ntYWgUm2-FBgzioDjIkeIOeeLNk-I1paXp8wnhpoD_3WVa1gOkAvxboKQsCY0_BdmBTUnuy5s5R-Gn4Y5N_a68dGyCtGErR9eSOdI5M48isB25/s1600/SC+E-Filing+verification.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="howtocreatepdf"></a> <br />
<b>How to create a PDF; use a scanner to turn your paper documents to PDF </b><br />
<br />
The Proposed Rules on (paperless) E-Filing require lawyers to submit their pleadings to the Supreme Court in PDF format. PDF stands for “Portable Document Format.” Adobe Acrobat is the standard for creating PDFs (where you can sign your documents online) but it is expensive.<br />
<br />
A cheaper alternative is to use a scanner to turn your paper document to PDF. Late-model printers from HP, Brother, Epson, etc. have scanners bundled with them. (If you only have a generic scanner, you can <a href="http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-Scan-to-PDF-Free/3000-18497_4-75738710.html" target="_blank">download free software</a>.) Here are the steps:<br />
<br />
<b>1.</b> After preparing your documents in your word processor (MS Word, Libre Office, etc.), print them out. Sign the documents and have them notarized.<br />
<br />
<b>2.</b> Scan your documents page by page; if you have voluminous documents, scanning them will be a tedious process.<br />
<br />
You can monitor on your computer screen the scanning progress. Be careful with choosing the scanning type. If you choose a very high resolution, your PDF file will be extremely large. (If you are using Yahoo Mail, it has a limit of 25 megabytes for attachments.)<br />
<br />
Save your documents as PDF to an appropriate folder.<br />
<br />
<b>3.</b> Burn your PDFs into a CD. Or attach them to your email.<br />
<br />
<b>Resources: </b><br />
<br />
How do I scan to PDF? (University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://files.support.epson.com/htmldocs/prv5ph/prv5phug/projs_6.htm" target="_blank">Scanning Directly to a PDF File – Epson</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4895483_scan-document-pdf.html" target="_blank">How to Scan a Document to PDF</a> | eHow<br />
<br />
<a href="http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-Scan-to-PDF-Free/3000-18497_4-75738710.html" target="_blank">Advanced Scan to PDF Free</a> - CNET Download.com<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-29354111609261385712019-08-22T22:41:00.001+08:002020-01-25T06:29:09.877+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (22): Using software — StyleWriter 4, Drivel Defence, MS Word — to improve your writing<b>1.</b> <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>StyleWriter 4 editor software</b></a> checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b><br />
<br />
<b>2. <a href="http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/drivel-defence.html" target="_blank">Drivel Defence</a></b>, free software from Plain English Campaign (identifies your long sentences and provides alternatives for long, complicated words)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HJCJtoc5RBuGrDI54fHc9aU9x3pXjH2EZe7-3B2rNQ5gQUOHWEOQoump1Ko6jyu7G8yRRsRvkYp6NdudDMCz7GnNbhXFF6d3lqhcilatWG_ZQeVQduyRu3JmZS19qnukAwTHqQ/s1600/readability+stats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: .5em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HJCJtoc5RBuGrDI54fHc9aU9x3pXjH2EZe7-3B2rNQ5gQUOHWEOQoump1Ko6jyu7G8yRRsRvkYp6NdudDMCz7GnNbhXFF6d3lqhcilatWG_ZQeVQduyRu3JmZS19qnukAwTHqQ/s400/readability+stats.jpg" /></a> <b>3.</b> <b>MS Word </b>(for newer versions, try “File menu>Options>Proofing tab>Show Readability Statistics>)<b><br />
</b><br />
<br />
Go to Tools - Options - Spelling and Grammar. <br />
<br />
Make sure that “Show Readability Statistics” is ticked. <br />
<br />
Then select the text you want to test and select Tools - Spelling and Grammar (or click F7). <br />
<br />
The dialogue box will ask if you want to check the remainder of the document. Click “no” and you will see the readability statistics.<br />
<br />
<b>Based on the statistics, re-write your text t</b><b>o get the following scores or percentages:</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Flesch Reading Ease: 60 to 70 (or higher) </li>
<li>Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8th to 9th grade (or below)</li>
<li>Passive sentences: reduce to 18% (Judge Mark Painter recommendation) or 15% (Asian Development Bank guideline)</li>
<li>Words per sentence: 25 words or below</li>
<li>Sentences per paragraph: 6 to 8</li>
</ul>
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 445px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="81">Reading ease score</td> <td valign="top" width="134">Style description</td> <td valign="top" width="158">Estimated reading grade</td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="142" valign="top">0 to 30<br />
30 to 40<br />
50 to 60<br />
<span style="color: red;">60 to 70</span><br />
70 to 80<br />
80 to 90<br />
90 to 100</td> <td valign="top">Very Difficult<br />
Difficult<br />
Fairly Difficult<br />
<span style="color: red;">Standard</span><br />
Fairly Easy<br />
Easy<br />
Very Easy</td> <td valign="top">College graduate<br />
13th to 16th grade<br />
10th to 12th grade<br />
<span style="color: red;">8th and 9th grade</span><br />
7th grade<br />
6th grade<br />
5th grade</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For more information about the Flesch-Kincaid and other readability formulas, please read “<a href="http://www.nald.ca/library/research/readab/readab.pdf" target="_blank">The principles of readability</a>” by William DuBay.<br />
<br />
<b>Why should you, as legal writers, aim for a reading level of 8th or 9th grade (or below)?</b> <br />
<br />
<b>(a)</b> Time Magazine articles are written at the 9th grade level. <br />
<br />
<b>(b) </b>Judge Gerald Lebovits, New York City Civil Court, is a faculty member of Columbia University - Law School, Fordham University School of Law, and New York University School of Law. His philosophy of legal writing: <br />
<blockquote>
“Legal writing should be directed to smart high-school students. If they understand you, so will a more educated readership. Keep your words, sentence structure, paragraphs, and organization simple. Complex prose is weak prose. The erudite explain difficult concepts in easy-to-read language.” </blockquote>
<b>(c)</b> The following bestselling authors wrote at the 7th-grade level: <br />
<blockquote>
John Grisham<br />
Tom Clancy<br />
Michael Crichton<br />
Clive Cussler<br />
Mary Renault<br />
Frank McCourt<br />
Arthur Golden<br />
Harper Lee<br />
Mark Twain</blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6qNEX9Wz3Dwp4up4H3KvBtuNQdQxuXiMQxLFuEQylwHckVn8dL0UNQhRs9ScjOz5CrA0RFN_8XLw6bcWkMWw9V8f9HKHB3sA_oluuZNUYRmnIPDa7yNvUsh1BIOk-oHbgKGw/s200/garner+interviews.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6qNEX9Wz3Dwp4up4H3KvBtuNQdQxuXiMQxLFuEQylwHckVn8dL0UNQhRs9ScjOz5CrA0RFN_8XLw6bcWkMWw9V8f9HKHB3sA_oluuZNUYRmnIPDa7yNvUsh1BIOk-oHbgKGw/s200/garner+interviews.jpg" width="163" /></a> <b>(d)</b> US Supreme Court justices want their decisions to be understood by ordinary people -- Bryan A. Garner’s 2010 interviews with US Supreme Court Justices, from Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13. <br />
<br />
<b>Justice Clarence Thomas: </b> <br />
<blockquote>
I’d love one day for someone at a gas station who is not a lawyer to come up to me and say to me, “You know, I read your opinion, and I don’t agree with you.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful? “I’m not a lawyer, I read your opinion, I understood it, I don’t agree with you, but thanks for making it accessible.” So we talk of it in terms of accessibility. </blockquote>
<b>Justice Stephen Breyer </b>(in reply to Garner’s question, “Do you think it matters whether ordinary people can understand judicial opinions?”): <br />
<blockquote>
If an ordinary person who is not a lawyer can understand it, I think that gives weight to what the Court does, and law is supposed to be intelligible. They should be able to follow it without having to take special vocabulary courses. And the purpose of an opinion is to give your reasons, and you give your reasons both for guidance, but also it should be possible for readers to criticize the writer. Now, people can’t criticize what I say, they can’t explain why they think it’s wrong, unless they can understand. </blockquote>
<b>4. <a class="bluenounderline" href="http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/text-statistics.php" target="_blank">Text Content Analysis Tool</a>, from <a href="http://www.usingenglish.com/" target="_blank">Using English</a></b> <br />
<br />
Simply write or paste text you want to analyze (up to 500KB in size) and this website’s free text analysis tool will give you statistics on word count, unique words, number of sentences, average words per sentence, lexical density, and the Gunning Fog readability index. More detailed statistics are available to members. <br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-49689030975538971942019-08-15T08:22:00.001+08:002020-01-25T06:29:36.391+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (21): Plain Language guidelines from government regulatory offices<b>Australian Securities and Investment Commission: <a href="https://download.asic.gov.au/media/4062323/rg228-published-3-november-2016.pdf" target="_blank">“Regulatory Guide 228 Prospectuses: Effective disclosure for retail investors”</a> (November 2011)</b><br />
<blockquote>
Use the active voice<br />
Use direct language (personal pronouns)<br />
Use the positive and avoid double negatives<br />
Use verbs rather than nouns, where possible<br />
Avoid overusing definitions<br />
Choose simple words for definitions<br />
Avoid including additional content in definitions and using the defined term within the definition<br />
Avoid jargon, where possible<br />
Use short sentences<br />
Use industry accepted terms<br />
Tailor boilerplate text; omit it where possible </blockquote>
<b>Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: <a href="https://www.sfc.hk/web/EN/rules-and-standards/codes-and-guidelines/guidelines/" target="_blank">“How to create clear announcements”</a></b><br />
<blockquote>
Use commonsense names and abbreviations<br />
Don’t use excessive definitions<br />
Use shorter sentences<br />
Prefer the active voice<br />
Avoid hidden verbs<br />
Use simple, common words, not jargon and legalese<br />
Prefer the positive to the negative<br />
Design your document with your reader in mind</blockquote>
<b>Malaysia Securities Commission: “Plain Language Guide for Prospectuses” (2005)</b><br />
<blockquote>
Use personal pronouns<br />
Draft clear and concise sentences<br />
Use common everyday words<br />
Avoid superfluous words<br />
Use active voice<br />
Change nouns to verbs<br />
Use less legal and financial jargon<br />
Use positive sentences and not multiple negatives<br />
Use defined terms sparingly<br />
Use an effective layout</blockquote>
<b>New Zealand Financial Markets Authority: <a href="http://www.fma.govt.nz/assets/Guidance/120601-Guidance-Note-Effective-Disclosure.pdf" target="_blank">“Guidance Note: Effective Disclosure” </a>(June 2012)</b><br />
<blockquote>
Use the active voice<br />
Use pronouns not labels<br />
Avoid double negatives <br />
Use definitions effectively<br />
Do not use jargon unnecessarily<br />
Use short sentences<br />
Ensure layout assists users<br />
Use navigation tools and a well considered structure<br />
Use page numbering<br />
Present important information prominently </blockquote>
<b>British Columbia Securities Commission: “Plain Language Style Guide”(March 2008)</b><br />
<blockquote>
Conciseness<br />
Lean language<br />
Active voice<br />
Regular and reasonable language<br />
Image-evoking, concrete and specific<br />
Tight organization<br />
You and your audience </blockquote>
<b>US Securities Commission: <a href="https://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf" target="_blank">“A Plain English Guide: How to create clear SEC disclosure documents”</a> (1998)</b><br />
<blockquote>
Use the active voice with strong verbs<br />
Don’t ban the passive voice, use it sparingly<br />
Find hidden verbs<br />
Try personal pronouns<br />
Bring abstractions down to earth<br />
Omit superfluous words<br />
Write in the “positive”<br />
Use short sentences <br />
Replace jargon and legalese with short, common words<br />
Keep the subject, verb, and object close together<br />
Write using “if-then” conditionals<br />
Keep your sentence structure parallel<br />
Steer clear of “respectively”</blockquote>
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-76537428414351315802019-08-08T19:29:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:30:07.538+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (20): “Legal Writing in Plain English” by Bryan A. Garner<a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo15506966.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSuuAraf2lMAe5-RG7CAe7J0mKdUhJbTj1d6aNIqAgm5XSN6dT9R4c7gbtkNlSqm7oz6gDtBOrzsaLzuklCjfT6uK7BJ8K8zR3QjkeQUaWD8ZVkqii2RYVsave_eglFS2L5Dd/s1600/garner+book+2.jpg" /></a> <b>Garner is editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary and Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University Law School.</b> He is the president of LawProse Inc. through which he has trained thousands of lawyers in the US on modern legal drafting. He is the author of “Dictionary of Legal Usage” and “Modern American Usage.” He co-wrote “Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges” and “Reading Law” with US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.<br />
<br />
In his book “<a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo15506966.html" target="_blank">Legal Writing in Plain English</a>” published by the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.press.uchicago.edu" target="_blank">University of Chicago Press</a>, Garner provides 50 guidelines with numerous exercises. Some of these guidelines (linked to my previous posts) are:<br />
<br />
<b>Phrasing Your Sentences</b>
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/concisetext.html">Omit needless words.</a><br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/useshortsentences.html">Keep your average sentence length to about 20 words.</a> <br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/simpleclearsentences.html">Keep the subject, the verb, and the object together--toward the beginning of the sentence.</a><br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/useactivevoice.html">Prefer the active voice over the passive.</a><br />
Use parallel phrasing for parallel ideas.<br />
Avoid multiple negatives.<br />
End sentences emphatically.</blockquote>
<b>Choosing Your Words</b><br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/avoidlegalese.html">Learn to detest simplifiable jargon.</a><br />
Use strong, precise verbs. Minimize is, are, was, and were.<br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/08/nominalizationhiddenverbs.html">Turn -ion words into verbs when you can.</a><br />
Simplify wordy phrases. Watch out for of.<br />
Avoid doublets and triplets.<br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/legalwritingandoraladvocacy.html">Make everything you write speakable.</a></blockquote>
<b>Principles Mainly for Analytical and Persuasive Writing
</b><br />
<blockquote>
Introduce each paragraph with a topic sentence.<br />
Bridge between paragraphs.<br />
Vary the length of your paragraphs, but generally keep them short.</blockquote>
<b>Principles Mainly for Legal Drafting
</b><br />
<blockquote>
Draft for an ordinary reader, not for a mythical judge who might someday review the document.<br />
Organize provisions in order of descending importance.<br />
Minimize definitions. If you have more than just a few, put them in a schedule at the end--not at the beginning.<br />
Break down enumerations into parallel provisions. Put every list of subparts at the end of the sentence--never at the beginning or in the middle.<br />
Delete every shall.<br />
Don’t use provisos.<br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/08/avoidusingandor.html">Replace and/or wherever it appears.</a><br />
Prefer the singular over the plural.<br />
Prefer numerals, not words, to denote amounts. Avoid word-numeral doublets.<br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/freeresourcesinenglishgrammar.html">Learn how to find reliable answers to questions of grammar and usage.</a> <br />
Habitually gauge your own readerly likes and dislikes, as well as those of other readers. <br />
<a href="http://famli.blogspot.com/2013/06/classicadviceongoodwriting.html">Remember that good writing makes the reader’s job easy; bad writing makes it hard.</a> </blockquote>
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1.“<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-19658638863346181082019-08-01T18:50:00.001+08:002020-01-25T06:31:22.477+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (19): Avoid dummy subjects and unnecessary preambles<b>1. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/dummy-it-in-grammar-1690414" target="_blank">“It” as a Dummy Subject in Grammar</a></b><br />
<br />
The word “it” can be a subject (or dummy subject) in sentences about times, dates, and the weather (such as, <i>It's raining</i>) and in certain idioms (<i>It's OK</i>). Also known as ambient “it” or empty “it.”<br />
<br />
Unlike the ordinary pronoun it, dummy it refers to nothing at all; it simply serves a grammatical function. In other words, dummy it has a grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning.<br />
<br />
Related discussion: <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/dummy-word-grammar-1690486" target="_blank">“Dummy Words” Have No Meaning</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>2. Avoid dummy subjects or expletive constructions such as</b><br />
<ul>
<li>It is ...</li>
<li>It appears ...</li>
<li>There is ...</li>
<li>There are ...</li>
<li>It will be ...</li>
</ul>
<b>Examples from “A Handbook for Writers In the U.S. Federal Government”:</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="126"><b>Dummy or false subjects</b></td> <td valign="top" width="140"><b>Plain Language revision</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"><span style="color: red;">It is</span> argued in the report that it is essential to simplify the tax code.</td> <td valign="top">The report argues that simplifying the tax code is essential.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"><span style="color: red;">There was</span> no consideration given to the suggestion by the committee.</td> <td valign="top">The committee failed to consider the suggestion.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="55" valign="top"><span style="color: red;">It is </span>her opinion that there are several issues that need to be resolved.</td> <td valign="top">She believes that several issues need to be resolved.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>3. Avoid unnecessary preambles or pompous phrases such as</b><br />
<ul>
<li>It is important to add that...</li>
<li>It may be recalled that... </li>
<li>In this regard it is of significance that... </li>
<li>It is interesting to note that... </li>
<li>I would like to point out ...</li>
<li>I would argue that ...</li>
<li>It should be noted that ...</li>
<li>It has been determined that ...</li>
<li>It is obvious that ...</li>
</ul>
References: “Legal Writing 201” by Judge Mark P. Painter and “How to Write Good Legal Stuff” by Eugene Volokh (UCLA Law School) and J. Alexander Tanford (Indiana University Maurer School of Law - Bloomington)
<br />
<br />
<b>4. How to use ‘There is...’ and ‘It is...’ and dummy subjects</b>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hrXZ6nVcfWo" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>5. There is… There are… (Expletive Construction, Dummy Subjects)</b>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TsmD_epyDlY" width="440"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1, “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-45399735747584362902019-07-25T02:18:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:31:55.153+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (18): Avoid nominalization or hidden verbs<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dNlkHtMgcPQ" width="440"></iframe>
<br />
<b>1. A hidden verb is a verb converted into a noun.</b> It often needs an extra verb to make sense. So we write, “Please make an application for a personal loan” rather than “Please apply for a personal loan.” (US SEC “A Plain English Handbook” 1998)<br />
<br />
<b>2. Two signals of nominalization</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 366px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="180"><b>A. Distinct endings</b></td> <td valign="top" width="186"><b>B. Weak helping verbs</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">- ance<br />
- ence <br />
- ant <br />
- ity <br />
- ant <br />
- ment <br />
- ness <br />
- sion <br />
- tion </td> <td valign="top">be<br />
conduct<br />
do<br />
effect<br />
get<br />
give<br />
have<br />
hold<br />
make<br />
perform<br />
provide<br />
put </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>3. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/nominalization-in-grammar-1691430" target="_blank">What Is Nominalization in English Grammar?</a></b><br />
<br />
In English grammar, nominalization is a type of word formation in which a verb or an adjective (or another part of speech) is used as (or transformed into) a noun. The verb form is nominalize. It is also called nouning.
<br />
<br />
In transformational grammar, nominalization refers to the derivation of a noun phrase from an underlying clause. In this sense, an “example of nominalization is the destruction of the city, where the noun destruction corresponds to the main verb of a clause and the city to its object.” (Geoffrey Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar, 2006).
<br />
<br />
<b>4. <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/the-dark-side-of-verbs-as-nouns/" target="_blank">The Dark Side of Verbs-as-Nouns</a></b> (New York Times)<br />
<br />
It’s not just that nominalization can sap the vitality of one’s speech or prose; it can also eliminate context and mask any sense of agency. Furthermore, it can make something that is nebulous or fuzzy seem stable, mechanical and precisely defined. . . .<br />
<br />
Nominalizations give priority to actions rather than to the people responsible for them. Sometimes this is apt, perhaps because we don’t know who is responsible or because responsibility isn’t relevant. But often they conceal power relationships and reduce our sense of what’s truly involved in a transaction. As such, they are an instrument of manipulation, in politics and in business. They emphasize products and results, rather than the processes by which products and results are achieved. <br />
<br />
<b>5. Example from US Federal Rules of Evidence</b> (Rule 102. Purpose and Construction)<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="126"><b>Original provision</b></td> <td valign="top" width="140"><b>Plain Language revision</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">These rules shall be construed to secure fairness in <span style="color: red;">administration</span>, <span style="color: red;">elimination</span> of unjustifiable expense and delay, and <span style="color: red;">promotion</span> of growth and development of the law of evidence to the end that the truth may be ascertained and proceedings justly determined.</td> <td valign="top">These rules should be construed so as to <span style="color: red;">administer</span> every proceeding fairly, <span style="color: red;">eliminate</span> unjustifiable expense and delay, and <span style="color: red;">promote</span> the development of evidence law, to the end of ascertaining the truth and securing a just determination. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>6. Examples from US SEC “A Plain English Handbook” 1998</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="126"><b>Text with nominalization</b></td> <td valign="top" width="140"><b>Plain Language revision</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">We made an <span style="color: red;">application</span> …</td> <td valign="top">We <span style="color: red;">applied</span> ...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">We made a <span style="color: red;">determination</span> …</td> <td valign="top">We <span style="color: red;">determined</span> ...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">We will make a <span style="color: red;">distribution</span> ...</td> <td valign="top">We will <span style="color: red;">distribute</span> ...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">We will provide appropriate <span style="color: red;">information</span> to shareholders concerning…</td> <td valign="top">We will <span style="color: red;">inform</span> shareholders about…</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">We will have no stock <span style="color: red;">ownership</span> of the company.</td> <td valign="top">We will not <span style="color: red;">own</span> the company’s stock.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">There is the possibility of prior Board <span style="color: red;">approval</span> of these investments.</td> <td valign="top">The Board might <span style="color: red;">approve</span> these investments in advance.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>7. Examples from Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: </b><b><b>“</b>How to create clear announcements</b><b>”</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="126"><b>Text with hidden verbs</b></td> <td valign="top" width="140"><b>Plain Language revision</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Shareholders will be notified of the <span style="color: red;">commencement</span> of the offer.</td> <td valign="top">Shareholders will be notified when the offer <span style="color: red;">commences</span>.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">If there is a refusal by the Court to...</td> <td valign="top">If the Court refuses to...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">The company will make <span style="color: red;">application</span> to the Stock Exchange...</td> <td valign="top">The company will <span style="color: red;">apply</span> to the Stock Exchange...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">The SFC must grant <span style="color: red;">permission</span>...</td> <td valign="top">The SFC must <span style="color: red;">permit</span>...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">The director made the statement in <span style="color: red;">reliance</span> upon...</td> <td valign="top">The director <span style="color: red;">relied</span> on...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">The shareholders have passed a <span style="color: red;">resolution</span>...</td> <td valign="top">The shareholders have <span style="color: red;">resolved</span>...</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"><span style="color: red;">Payment</span> will be made by the purchaser...</td> <td valign="top">The purchaser will <span style="color: red;">pay</span>...</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1.“<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-68491696212964412502019-07-18T12:55:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:32:50.939+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (17): Avoid using “and/or”(Note: Jump to the Philippine Supreme Court decisions on proper interpretation of “and/or” in <a href="https://famli.blogspot.com/2019/07/avoid-using-and-or.html#chinabank">Chinabank vs. HDMF, 1999</a> and <a href="https://famli.blogspot.com/2019/07/avoid-using-and-or.html#dayao">Dayao vs. Comelec, 2013</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>1. Louis-Philippe Pigeon, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada: </b><br />
<blockquote>
“And/or” seems to be used by writers whose main concern is to appear erudite. In my opinion, quite the opposite impression is created. Use of this conjunction which is not a conjunction is repugnant to the spirit of the language, English or French. (Drafting and Interpreting Legislation, 1988) </blockquote>
<b>2. Michigan Bar Journal, August 2003, by Scott P. Stolley: </b><br />
<blockquote>
The real problem with “and/or” is that it plays into the hands of a bad faith-reader. Which one is favorable? And or Or? The bad faith-reader can pick one or the other, or both — whatever reading is better from that reader’s perspective. </blockquote>
<b>3. Bryan A. Garner includes </b><b>“and/or</b><b>” in his </b><b>“Dirty Dozen</b><b>” list of words and phrases that legal writers should avoid. </b>Garner says: “American courts have ruled, as early as 1932, that ‘and/or’ is not part of the English language.”<br />
<br />
<b>4. Some 1930s US cases condemning </b><b>“and/or”</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Minor v. Thomasson, 236 Ala. 247, 182 So. 16, 18 (Ala.1938) (“the interloping disjunctive -conjunctive-conjunctive-disjunctive conjunction”)</li>
<li>Cochrane v. Florida East Coast R. Co., 107 Fla. 431, 145 So. 217, 218 (Fla.1932) (“one of those inexcusable barbarisms which was sired by indolence and dammed by indifference ... senseless jargon”)</li>
<li>Bell v. Wayne United Gas Co., 116 W.Va. 280, 281, 181 S.E. 609, 618 (W.Va.1935) (“a disingenuous, modernistic hybrid, inept and irritating”)</li>
<li>State ex rel. Adler v. Douglas, 339 Mo. 187, 95 S.W.2d 1179, 1180 (Mo.1936) (“meaningless symbol”)</li>
<li>American Gen. Ins. Co. v. Webster, 118 S.W.2d 1082, 1084 (Tex.Civ.App. 1938) (“the abominable invention”)</li>
</ul>
<b>5. Recent Australian cases condemning </b><b>“and/or”</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>Harrison Green vs. The Queen (2000) </li>
<li>Extraman et al vs. Blenkinship et al (2008) </li>
<li>Canberra Data vs. Vibe Construction (March 2010)</li>
</ul>
<b>6. Recent US cases condemning </b><b>“and/or”</b> <br />
<ul>
<li>In Re Estate Of Massey (Superior Court Of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part, Monmouth County, October 1998)</li>
<li>State of New Jersey vs. Zaair Tuck (Superior Court Of New Jersey Appellate Division, January 2006)</li>
<li>State of New Jersey v. Victor Gonzales (Superior Court Of New Jersey Appellate Division, January 2016; please read <a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f5c2d4bb-e3db-48e5-8c54-789c63ae680d" target="_blank">Jury Instructions Deemed Ambiguous “And/Or” Erroneous “And/Or” A “Mongrel Expression”</a>) </li>
</ul>
<b>7. Some Philippine laws using </b><b>“and/or”</b><br />
<ul>
<li>RA 7192 Gender Equality, Section 4, par. (2)<br />
<br />
Include an assessment of the extent to which their programs <span style="color: red;">and/or</span> projects integrate women in the development process and of the impact of said programs or projects on women, including their implications in enhancing the self-reliance of women in improving their income;<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>RA 8972, Section 3, par. (4)<br />
<br />
Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood due to physical <span style="color: red;">and/or</span> mental incapacity of spouse as certified by a public medical practitioner; <br />
<br />
</li>
<li>RA 9048 An Act Authorizing The City Or Municipal Civil Registrar Or The Consul General To Correct A Clerical Or Typographical Error <span style="color: red;">And/Or</span> Change of First Name Or Nickname In The Civil Register </li>
</ul>
<b>8. Philippine Supreme Court decisions on proper interpretation of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="chinabank"></a>“and/or”</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 220px;"><tbody>
<tr><td height="46" valign="top" width="220"><b>Overview of the Supreme Court rulings:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Chinabank vs. HDMF, 1999: </b><br />
<br />
Section 19 of P.D. No. 1752 intended that an employer with a provident plan or an employee housing plan superior to that of the fund may obtain exemption from coverage. If the law had intended that the employer should have both a superior provident plan and a housing plan in order to qualify for exemption, it would have used the word “and” instead of “and/or.”<br />
<br />
<b>Dayao vs. Comelec, 2013:</b><br />
<br />
The legal meaning of the term “and/or” between “refusal” and “cancellation” should be taken in its ordinary significance — “refusal and/or cancellation” means “refusal and cancellation” or “refusal or cancellation.” It has been held that the intention of the legislature in using the term “and/or” is that the word “and” and the word “or” are to be used interchangeably.<br />
<br />
The word “or,” on the other hand, is a disjunctive term signifying disassociation and independence of one thing from the other things enumerated; it should, as a rule, be construed in the sense in which it ordinarily implies, as a disjunctive word. As such, “refusal or cancellation,” consistent with their disjunctive meanings, must be taken individually to mean that they are separate instances when the Comelec can exercise its power to screen the qualifications of party-list organizations for purposes of participation in the party-list system of representation. <br />
<br />
That this is the clear intent of the law is bolstered by the use simply of the word “or” in the first sentence of Section 6 that “the Comelec may, motu propio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, refuse or cancel, after due notice and hearing, the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition.”<br />
<br />
<b>Plain Language summary:</b> <br />
<br />
The controversies in both cases could have been avoided if our legislators had avoided using the phrase “and/or” and had clarified matters by choosing between “and” or “or.” <br />
<br />
From Michigan Bar Journal, August 2003, by Scott P. Stolley: <br />
<br />
“The negligence of Defendant Jones <b>and/or</b> Defendant Smith proximately caused Plaintiff ’s injuries.” <br />
<br />
Alternatives: <br />
<br />
“The negligence of Defendant Jones <b>or</b> Defendant Smith proximately caused Plaintiff ’s injuries.” <br />
<br />
“ … of Defendant Jones <b>or</b> Defendant Smith, <b>or both</b>”</td></tr>
</tbody><tbody></tbody></table>
<a href="https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1999/may1999/gr_131787_1999.html" target="_blank"><b>China Banking Corporation and CBC Properties and Computer Center Inc., Petitioners v. The members of the Board of Trustees, Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF); HDMF President; and the Home Mutual development Fund, Respondents.</b></a> G.R. No. 131787, May 19, 1999 <br />
<br />
<b>Background facts: </b><br />
<br />
1. China Banking Corporation (Chinabank) and CBC Properties and Computer Center Inc. (CBC-PCCI) are both employers who were granted by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) certificates of waiver dated July 7, 1995 and January 19, 1996 for the identical reason of Superior Retirement Plan under Section 19 of P. D. 1752, otherwise known as the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 1980. Under that law, employers who have their own existing provident [sic] and/or employees-housing plans may register for annual certification for waiver or suspension from coverage or participation in the Home Development Mutual Fund. <br />
<br />
2. P. D. 1752 was amended in June 1994 by Republic Act No. 7742. Subsequently, the HDMF Board of Trustees issued the following: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A. Amendment to the Rules and Regulations Implementing R.A. 7742; and <br />
<br />
B. HDMF Circular No.124-B or the Revised Guidelines and Procedure for filing Application for Waiver or Suspension of Fund Coverage under P.D. 175 </blockquote>
<br />
Under the Amendment and the Guidelines, a company must have a provident/retirement and housing plan superior to that provided under the Pag-IBIG Fund to be entitled to exemption/waiver from fund coverage. <br />
<br />
<b>(Note: The phrase “and/or” was used in Section 19 of P. D. 1752; on the other hand, “and” was used in the Amendment and the Guidelines.) </b><br />
<br />
3. Chinabank and CBC-PCCI applied for renewal of waiver of coverage from the fund for 1996, but the applications were disapproved for the identical reason that: <br />
<br />
Our evaluation of your companies application indicates that your retirement plan is not superior to Pag-IBIG Fund. Further, the amended Implementing Rules and & Regulations of R. A. 7742 provides that to qualify for waiver, a company must have retirement/provident and housing plans which are both superior to Pag-IBIG Funds. <br />
<br />
4. Chinabank and CBC-PCCI thus filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Regional Trial Court of Makati; they sought to annul and declare void the Amendment and the Guidelines for having been issued in excess of jurisdiction and with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. They alleged that the HDMF Board exceeded its rule-making power by requiring the employer to have both a retirement/provident plan AND an employee housing plan in order to be entitled to a certificate of waiver or suspension of coverage from the HDMF.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td height="20" valign="top" width="225"><b>Issue raised by Chinabank and CBC-PCCI:</b> <br />
<br />
The Amendment and Guidelines should be set aside and declared void for being inconsistent with the enabling law, P.D. 1752, as amended by R.A. 7742.<br />
<br />
R.A. 7742 merely requires as a precondition for exemption for coverage, the existence of either a superior provident (retirement) plan and/or a superior housing plan, and not the concurrence (or existence) of both plans.</td> <td valign="top" width="225"><b>Answer by HDMF Board: </b><br />
<br />
The use of the words “and/or” in Section 19 of P.D. No. 1752, which words are diametrically opposed in meaning, can only be used interchangeably and not together, and the option of making it either both or any one belongs to the HDMF Board.<br />
<br />
There is no question of law involved. The interpretation of the phrase “and/or” is not purely a legal question and can be determined administratively. In denying the applications for waiver of coverage under R.A. 7742, the Board was exercising its quasi-judicial function, and its findings are generally accorded not only respect but even finality. </td> </tr>
</tbody> </table>
<br />
<br />
When the RTC ruled against them by dismissing their petition, Chinabank and CBC-PCCI filed an appeal with the Supreme Court by certiorari under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure on pure questions of law. <br />
<br />
<b>Supreme Court ruling: What is the proper interpretation of “and/or”? </b><br />
<br />
The assailed Amendment to the Rules and Regulations and the Revised Guidelines suffer from a legal infirmity and should be set aside. <br />
<br />
The legal meaning of the words “and/or” should be taken in its ordinary signification, i.e., either and or; e.g. butter and/or eggs means “butter and eggs” or “butter or eggs.” <br />
<br />
The term “and/or” means that effect should be given to both the conjunctive “and” and the disjunctive “or”; or that one word or the other may be taken accordingly as one or the other will best fulfill the purpose intended by the legislature as gathered from the whole statute. The term is used to avoid a construction which by the use of the disjunctive “or” alone will exclude the combination of several of the alternatives or by the use of the conjunctive “and” will exclude the efficacy of any one of the alternatives standing alone. <br />
<br />
It is accordingly ordinarily held that the intention of the legislature in using the term “and/or” is that the word “and” and the word “or” are to be used interchangeably. <br />
<br />
Section 19 of P.D. No. 1752, intended that an employer with a provident plan or an employee housing plan superior to that of the fund may obtain exemption from coverage. If the law had intended that the employee should have both a superior provident plan and a housing plan in order to qualify for exemption, it would have used the word “and” instead of “and/or.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="dayao"></a> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2013/jan2013/gr_193643_2013.html" target="_blank"><b>Antonio D. Dayao, Rolando P. Ramirez and Adelio R. Capco, Petitioners, vs. Commission on Elections and LPG Marketers Association Inc., Respondents.</b></a> G.R. No. 193643, January 29, 2013 <br />
<br />
<b>Background facts: </b><br />
<br />
1. On May 21, 2009, LPG Marketers Association, Inc. (LPGMA) sought party-list accreditation with the Comelec, through a petition for registration as a sectoral organization for the purpose of participating in the May 10, 2010 elections under Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act. <br />
<br />
2. After the requisite publication, verification, and hearing, and without any apparent opposition, LPGMA’s petition was approved by the Comelec in its Resolution dated January 5, 2010. <br />
<br />
3. Four months later, Antonio Dayao, Rolando Ramirez, and Adelio Capco lodged before the Comelec a complaint for the cancellation of LPGMA’s registration as a party-list organization. They were later on joined by the Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. (FPII) as a complainant-in-intervention. <br />
<br />
The petitioners claimed that LPGMA does not represent a marginalized sector of the society because its incorporators, officers and members are not marginalized or underrepresented citizens; they are actually marketers and independent re-fillers of LPG that control 45% of the national LPG retail market and have significant ownership interests in various LPG refilling plants. <br />
<br />
4. In its resolutions dated August 5, 2010 and September 6, 2010, the Comelec dismissed the complaint for two reasons. First, the ground for cancellation cited by the petitioners is not among the exclusive enumeration in Section 6 of R.A. No. 7941. Second, the complaint is actually a belated opposition to LPGMA’s petition for registration which has long been approved with finality on January 5, 2010. <br />
<br />
5. Ascribing grave abuse of discretion to the Comelec, the petitioners filed with the Supreme Court petitions for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, asking it to rule on the correctness of the Comelec resolutions. <br />
<br />
6. Supervening event while the petitions were being heard by the Supreme Court: As shown in Resolution dated December 13, 2012, LPGMA passed the automatic review conducted by the Comelec on the qualifications of party-list groups. The Comelec found LPGMA to be compliant with the guidelines set by law and jurisprudence, and its accreditation was retained for purposes of the 2013 party-list elections. <br />
<br />
<b>Supreme Court ruling: Difference between “refusal” and “cancellation” and proper interpretation of “and/or”</b> <br />
<br />
The Comelec had no valid justification for the dismissal of the complaint for cancellation. But because of Comelec Resolution dated December 13, 2012, the petitions were dismissed. <br />
<br />
An opposition to a petition for registration is not a condition precedent to the filing of a complaint for cancellation. <br />
<br />
Section 6 (“Refusal and/or Cancellation of Registration”) of R.A. No. 7941 lays down the grounds and procedure for the cancellation of party-list accreditation. For the Comelec to validly exercise its statutory power to cancel the registration of a party-list group, the law imposes only two conditions: (1) due notice and hearing is afforded to the party-list group concerned; and (2) any of the enumerated grounds for disqualification in Section 6 exists. <br />
<br />
<b>(Note: The title of Section 6 uses the phrase “and/or” between the words “Refusal” and “Cancellation.”) </b><br />
<br />
The distinctiveness of the two powers (“Refusal” and “Cancellation”) is immediately apparent from their basic definitions. To refuse is to decline or to turn down, while to cancel is to annul or remove. Adopting such meanings within the context of Section 6, refusal of registration happens during the inceptive stage when an organization seeks admission into the roster of Comelec-registered party-list organizations through a petition for registration. <br />
<br />
Cancellation, on the other hand, takes place after the fact of registration when an inquiry is done by the Comelec, by itself or upon a verified complaint, on whether a registered party-list organization still holds the qualifications imposed by law. Refusal is handed down to a petition for registration, while cancellation is decreed on the registration itself after the petition has been approved. <br />
<br />
The legal meaning of the term “and/or” between “refusal” and “cancellation” should be taken in its ordinary significance — “refusal and/or cancellation” means “refusal and cancellation” or “refusal or cancellation.” It has been held that the intention of the legislature in using the term “and/or” is that the word “and” and the word “or” are to be used interchangeably. <br />
<br />
The term “and/or” means that effect should be given to both the conjunctive “and” and the disjunctive “or” or that one word or the other may be taken accordingly as one or the other will best effectuate the purpose intended by the legislature as gathered from the whole statute. The term is used to avoid a construction which by the use of the disjunctive “or” alone will exclude the combination of several of the alternatives or by the use of the conjunctive “and” will exclude the efficacy of any one of the alternatives standing alone. <br />
<br />
Hence, effect shall be given to both “refusal and cancellation” and “refusal or cancellation” according to how Section 6 intended them to be employed. The word “and” is a conjunction used to denote a joinder or union; it is pertinently defined as meaning “together with,” “joined with,” “along or together with.” The use of “and” in Section 6 was necessitated by the fact that refusal and cancellation of party-list registration share similar grounds, manner of initiation and procedural due process requirements of notice and hearing. With respect to the said matters, “refusal” and “cancellation” must be taken together. The word “or,” on the other hand, is a disjunctive term signifying disassociation and independence of one thing from the other things enumerated; it should, as a rule, be construed in the sense in which it ordinarily implies, as a disjunctive word. As such, “refusal or cancellation,” consistent with their disjunctive meanings, must be taken individually to mean that they are separate instances when the Comelec can exercise its power to screen the qualifications of party-list organizations for purposes of participation in the party-list system of representation. <br />
<br />
That this is the clear intent of the law is bolstered by the use simply of the word “or” in the first sentence of Section 6 that “the Comelec may, motu propio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, refuse or cancel, after due notice and hearing, the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition.” <br />
<br />
Consequently, the Comelec’s conclusion that the complaint for cancellation, filed four months after the petition was approved, is actually a belated opposition, obliterates the distinction between the power to register/refuse and the power to cancel. Since an opposition may only be sensibly interposed against a petition for registration, the proceedings for which involve the Comelec’s power to register, it is wrong to impose it as a condition for the exercise of the Comelec’s entirely separate power to cancel. As such, the absence of an opposition to a petition for registration cannot serve to bar any interested party from questioning, through a complaint for cancellation, the qualifications of a party-list group. <br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-67225188740695158872019-07-11T05:30:00.001+08:002020-01-25T06:33:15.522+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (16): OECD’s Principles of Style<a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/oecd-style-guide_5jrvz9lpjfg4.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhLSJf_IxtyzEX8eXMDk5rZxi53rD3lJnjxmQw-yy78s89rtOGUddx6nlfsuTKFOuPxf5dMfateHQTMgZFWV2da0XA5N_MxLwJALdvSlfVpzs-6tMM-vZi6tpBVrSfjAiKYz5/s1600/OECD+200+px.jpg" /></a>The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/" target="_blank">Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)</a> was officially born on September 30, 1961. It has 34 member-countries that account for 80% of world trade and investment. These member-countries include Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, and the United Kingdom. More than 20 member-countries have plain language policy on law drafting. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Some “drafting tips and principles of stye” from the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/oecd-style-guide_5jrvz9lpjfg4.pdf" target="_blank">OECD Style Guide</a> (3rd Edition) are:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Use basic, simple sentence structures.</li>
<li>Choose the simplest tenses.</li>
<li>Don’t bury long dependent clauses in mid-sentence.</li>
<li>Avoid using a long word when a shorter word will do.</li>
<li>Avoid using foreign words and expressions unless there is no English alternative. If foreign words or expressions are unavoidable, ensure that they are in italics.</li>
<li>Think twice before using empty and overused adjectives.</li>
<li>If necessary, remove weak intensifiers and qualifiers.</li>
<li>Ban redundancy which often comes in the form of an adjective that unnecessarily repeats the meaning of a noun or a verb.</li>
<li>Put statements in positive form.</li>
<li>Write with verbs.</li>
<li>Reduce prepositional phrases (on, of, in, for, with).</li>
<li>Prefer the active voice.</li>
<li>Beware of vague, empty words that clog beginnings.</li>
<li>Place emphatic words at the end of the sentence.</li>
<li>Avoid over-elaborate introductions.</li>
<li>Eliminate fluff and false starts such as I think, there was, it is.</li>
<li>Use the simplest, most specific language your subject allows. The more specific your words, the more likely you are to hold the reader’s attention.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Exercise: The text below comes from the OECD Style Guide. What principles were used in revising the original sentence?</b><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="204"><b>Original text</b></td> <td valign="top" width="196"><b>Revised text</b></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">It is the widespread opinion of delegates that the report is of a rather general nature and does not succeed in addressing the issue, which is currently of such significance, of reforming pensions. Furthermore, there is complete agreement among delegates on the fact that no new data on unemployment across countries are presented in the report. </td> <td valign="top">Delegates believe that the report is too general and fails to discuss the important issue of pension reform. They also agree that it does not present any new data on unemployment in OECD countries. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-71630861816398394022019-07-05T07:47:00.002+08:002020-01-25T06:33:51.913+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (15): Use gender-free language<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 3px 0px; width: 130px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2344983" target="_blank">The US Supreme Court and Gender-Neutral Language: Splitting La Difference</a>” by Judith D. Fischer, University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) 2012</span></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Traditional writing uses masculine pronouns like “he” or “his” to refer to both men and women. “Gender-neutral” language, on the other hand, uses “he or she,” “his or her,” “he/she,” “his/her,” or the “singular they.”<br />
<br />
<b>A. The British Columbia Securities Commission advocates “gender-free” language (Plain Language Style Guide, 2008).</b> The BCSC explains that the occasional use of “he or she” and other gender-neutral terms may be non-intrusive, but their repetitive use distracts and annoys readers. For example:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;" valign="top"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top">Traditional use of masculine pronoun:</td> <td valign="top">Gender-neutral language:</td> <td valign="top">Gender-free language:</td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="189">The <span style="color: red;">borrower</span> who is not prompt in making the payments due under <span style="color: red;">his</span> mortgage risks losing <span style="color: red;">his</span> home through a foreclosure procedure.</td> <td valign="top">The <span style="color: red;">borrower</span> who is not prompt in making the payments due under <span style="color: red;"> his or her</span> mortgage risks losing <span style="color: red;">his or her</span> home through a foreclosure procedure.</td> <td valign="top"><span style="color: red;">Borrowers</span> who are not prompt in making the payments due under <span style="color: red;">their</span> mortgages risk losing <span style="color: red;">their</span> homes through foreclosure procedures.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>B. Richard Lauchman, in his free PDF (A Handbook for Writers in the U.S. Federal Government), provides six ways to cut </b><b>“his,</b><b>” </b><b>“his/her,</b><b>” </b><b>“his/hers,</b><b>” </b><b>“his or her,</b><b>” </b><b>“s/he</b><b>”:</b><br />
<br />
1. Cut “his/her,” “his or her” from the sentence, if possible.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td>Every writer must use <span style="color: red;">his/her</span> good judgment. </td> <td>Every writer must use good judgment. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
2. Use “you.”<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td>Each researcher must bring <span style="color: red;">his/her</span> driver's license or other photo identification. </td> <td><span style="color: red;">You</span> must bring your driver's license or other photo identification. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
3. Make the first term plural, and then use “their.”<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td><span style="color: red;">Each researcher</span> must bring <span style="color: red;">his/her</span> driver's license or other photo identification. </td> <td><span style="color: red;">All researchers</span> must bring <span style="color: red;">their</span> driver's license or other photo identification. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
4. Use an article (“a,” “an,” or “the”).<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td>Each researcher must bring <span style="color: red;">his/her</span> driver’s license or other photo identification. </td> <td>Each researcher must bring <span style="color: red;">a</span> driver’s license or other photo identification.</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
5. Write a passive construction.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td>Each researcher must bring his/her driver’s license or other photo identification. </td> <td>A driver’s license or other photo identification is required. </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
6. In a lengthy document, you can use “he“ and “she“ interchangeably.<br />
<br />
<b>C. <a href="https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/guidelines.shtml" target="_blank">UN Guidelines for gender-inclusive language in English</a></b> (with <a href="https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/assets/pdf/EN-Toolbox-Apply-the-guidelines-to-a-text_(self-paced).pdf" target="_blank">self-paced exercise</a> in PDF format)<br />
<br />
1. Use non-discriminatory language<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1.1 Forms of address<br />
1.2 Avoid gender-biased expressions or expressions that reinforce gender stereotypes</blockquote>
<br />
2. Make gender visible when it is relevant for communication<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2.1 Using feminine and masculine pronouns<br />
2.2 Using two different words</blockquote>
<br />
3. Do not make gender visible when it is not relevant for communication<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3.1 Use gender-neutral words<br />
3.2 Using plural pronouns/adjectives <br />
3.3 Use the pronoun one<br />
3.4 Use the relative pronoun who<br />
3.5 Use a plural antecedent<br />
3.6 Omit the gendered word<br />
3.7 Use the passive voice</blockquote>
<br />
<b>D. <a href="https://lawyerist.com/avoiding-sexism-in-legal-writing-the-pronoun-problem/" target="_blank">“Avoiding Sexism in Legal Writing — The Pronoun Problem”</a></b> by Matthew Salzwedel<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Garner says that legal writers can simply avoid the pronoun problem by:<br />
<br />
Deleting the pronoun. For example, instead of writing “No one can be elected to be a judge after he has reached the age of 65,” a writer can say “No one can be elected to be a judge after the age of 65.”<br />
<br />
Changing the pronoun to an article like a(n) or the. For example, instead of writing “The attorney must file his brief by the deadline,” a writer can say “The attorney must file the brief by the deadline.”<br />
<br />
Pluralizing the sentence so that he becomes they.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>E. Youtube videos</b><br />
<br />
Gender Neutral Language (Singular They)<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oAtxp9NU9HQ" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
Singular They<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/f21t7DRKlg8" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>F. Exercise: The text below comes from the Civil Service Commission website. (1) Locate the five gender-neutral terms. (2) Revise the sentences by using gender-free language. </b><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote>
<div>
<br />
1. CSE-PPT <br />
<br />
Results of the CSE-PPT are usually released from three to four months after the examination. The names of passed examinees shall be posted at the CSC website www.csc.gov.ph. <br />
<br />
Those who passed the examination must personally claim their Certificates of Eligibility at the CSC Regional Office/Field Office upon presentation of required documents. On the other hand, those who failed the examination may secure a copy of their Report of Rating through the CSC website. No Report of Rating shall be mailed to those who failed. To secure a copy of the Report of Rating, an examinee must key in his/her name, date of birth, examinee number, examination date, and examination type. Thus, examinees are advised to safe keep or remember their examinee number until receipt of the examination result. <br />
<br />
2. CSE-CAT <br />
<br />
Results of the CSE-CAT are usually released within two to three hours after the examination. Examinees are strongly advised to wait for the examination results. Those who passed shall receive their Certificate of Eligibility, while those who failed shall receive their Report of Rating. Should an examinee fail to claim/receive his/her examination result on the examination day, he/she has to personally return at a later date to claim either his/her Certificate of Eligibility or Report of Rating.<br />
<br />
The names of passed CSE-CAT examinees shall be posted at the CSC website.</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-91140243045448198782019-06-28T09:50:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:34:21.559+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (14): Asian Development Bank’s Clear Writing guidelines<a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/31385/hsu-2017.pdf" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="407" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu12xCXF-yl9c8MIjlACj-aoA8vFi4lz3E5GPZUnxHyeMMc9D5ECkRZoYvxI4EYqKVbEAw3z9tnpfmT4rP_9hJSHJ-iMadJ0vy1tVpagdcdf7ziPH-y0vrT-Paa_fTfdkBN-_Y/s320/ADB.jpg" width="250" /></a> <b>1.</b> “Clear Writing” from the <a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/31385/hsu-2017.pdf" target="_blank">ADB Handbook of Style and Usage </a>(2017 edition, pages x to xix)<br />
<br />
<b>2.</b> In “<a href="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/27646/using-plain-english.pdf" target="_blank">Using Plain English</a>” (Knowledge Solutions, October 2008), ADB’s Olivier Serrat urges writers to:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Select simple words.<br />
Make lists.<br />
Keep sentences short.<br />
Refrain from giving unnecessary details.<br />
Cut down on jargon and use defined terms sparingly.<br />
Discard superfluous words.<br />
Reduce nominalizations.<br />
Avoid weak verbs.<br />
Use the active voice with strong verbs.<br />
Be specific rather than general.<br />
Write personally, as if you were talking to the reader.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
3. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-52279194594811713802019-06-21T04:42:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:34:50.250+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (13): Use simple, clear sentence structures<a href="http://www.lawprose.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Guidelines-for-Drafting-and-Editing-Court-Rules.pdf" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OJGOJ3gTO9AQyWCICz4eOpj-aib_ED8Z04GerZtKvu5u9KIyKJpon04seq5BWtXVFn83n54keTJCsvNurVzS5kaCrI3sfPek7GLjrj8cx5_bR4uIXX6lizwUCBxF_2OP5qpo/s1600/Garner+drafting+court+rules.jpg" /></a> <b>1. “<a href="http://www.lawprose.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Guidelines-for-Drafting-and-Editing-Court-Rules.pdf" target="_blank">Guidelines for Drafting and Editing Court Rules</a>” by Bryan A. Garner</b> (used in the Plain Language-restyling of the 1998 US Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure) <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Avoid interruptive phrases between the subject and the verb by moving them to the beginning or end of the sentence. <br />
<br />
Enumerate at the end – not at the beginning – of a sentence. </blockquote>
<br />
<b>2. From <a href="https://www.oecd.org/about/publishing/OECD-Style-Guide-Third-Edition.pdf" target="_blank">Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Style Guide 2nd Edition</a></b> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Use basic, simple sentence structures<br />
<br />
Choose the simplest tenses<br />
<br />
Don’t bury long dependent clauses in mid-sentence</blockquote>
<br />
<b>3. <a href="https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_engineering/indot_workshop_resources_for_engineers/documents/20080306044359_727.pdf" target="_blank">Five principles of readability, from OWL Purdue</a></b> (listed below are three principles that are similar to guidelines by Garner and OECD)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Principle One: Sentences that have a subject-verb-object order are more readable than those that don’t.<br />
<br />
Principle Two: When possible, put the agent (subject) and action (verb) close together in the sentence.<br />
<br />
Principle Three: Keep modifiers and the words they modify close together in the sentence.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>4. Free resources from the Michigan Bar Journal:</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Down with Provided That (by Prof. Joseph Kimble, president, Thomas Cooley College of Law, Michigan, USA; Burton Awards for “Reform in Law” Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (2007) and Federal Rules of Evidence (2011) <br />
<br />
The 20 Most Common Sentence-Level Faults Among Legal Writers (by Bryan A. Garner)<br />
<br />
Clearing Up Ambiguity from a Series Modifier<br />
<br />
Ambiguous Drafting and the 12-Pound Cat </blockquote>
<br />
<b>5. Videos</b><br />
<br />
English Sentence Structure - English Grammar Lesson<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jul2urONzOQ" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
Grammar Lesson #1 - Tips to Improve Your Sentence Structure<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Drv6jD8xWdw" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
Word Order / Sentence Structure - English Grammar Lesson (Part 1)<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VPyo8-Pr55Q" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-85422069614995713412019-06-13T08:01:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:35:50.142+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (12): Use the active voice, minimize the passive<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Fs78WBOgxs0" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>1. Passive voice is one of the biggest problems with government documents. </b>(From US National Archives and Records Administration <a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/open/plain-writing/style-guide.pdf" target="_blank">Style Guide</a>)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Active voice is the best way to identify who is responsible for what action.<br />
<br />
In an active sentence, the person or organization that’s acting is the subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the person or item that is acted upon is the subject of the sentence. Passive voice obscures who is responsible for what and is one of the biggest problems with government documents.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>2. A sentence is in the active voice if the subject performs the action expressed in the verb.</b> For example:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The dog bit the boy. (Active voice)<br />
<br />
The boy was bitten by the dog. (Passive voice)</blockquote>
<br />
<b>3. Some US cases that were decided against parties that used the passive voice</b> (from Mark Cooney, Michigan Bar Journal, June 2005)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Coroles v Sabey, 79 P3d 974, 981 (Utah App 2003)<br />
<br />
Castro v Hastings, 74 Fed. Appx. 607, 609 (CA 7, 2003)<br />
<br />
Zito v Leasecomm Corp, No. 02 Civ. 8074 (GEL), 2003 WL 22251352, at *10 (SD NY Sept 30, 2003)<br />
<br />
In re MJB, 140 SW3d 643, 656 (Tenn App 2004)<br />
<br />
United States v Wilson, 503 US 329, 334–35 (1992)<br />
<br />
DaimlerChrysler Serv No Amer, LLC v State Tax Assessor, 817 A2d 862, 865 (Me 2003)<br />
<br />
Arlington Educ Ass’n v Arlington School Dist No. 3, 34 P3d 1197, 1200 (Or App 2001)</blockquote>
<br />
<b>4. Recent US cases that involved the issue of passive voice:</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pendergest-Holt et al v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London, No. 10-200069 (5th Cir. March 15, 2010)<br />
<br />
Sherley v. Sebelius No. 10-5287, slip op. at 2 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 29, 2011)</blockquote>
<br />
<b>5. Reasons to use the active voice (articles from the Michigan Bar Journal):</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stay Active! (Part 1)<br />
<br />
Stay Active! (Part 2)</blockquote>
<br />
<b>6. Exercise: Locate the passive voice verbs in this example from the Civil Service Commission website. </b>(Answer at the bottom of this page)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Historical Highlights <br />
<br />
The civil service system in the Philippines was formally established under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900 by the Second Philippine Commission. A Civil Service Board was created composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner. The Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in government service. It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905. <br />
<br />
The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for employment in government. The following years also witnessed the expansion of the Bureau’s jurisdiction to include the three branches of government: the national government, local government and government corporations. <br />
<br />
In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil Service Law, was enacted. This was the first integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy, superseding the scattered administrative orders relative to government personnel administration issued since 1900. This Act converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status. <br />
<br />
In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of government. Its present mandate is derived from Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution which was given effect through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The 1987 Administrative Code). The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the administration of the bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government employees to self-organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987 Constitution.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>7. Videos on active and passive voice</b><br />
<br />
Active versus Passive Voice<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/W1_IRU6zx9g" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
Active and Passive Voice<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/7glMZfnKVoA" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
Grammar Series - Active Voice vs Passive Voice<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/G9UDyaix2TY" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
How to Eliminate Passive Voice From Your Writing<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/abyHVVUIT-4" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>8. Answers to the exercise (passive voice shown in boldface):</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Historical Highlights <br />
<br />
The civil service system in the Philippines <b>was formally established</b> under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900 by the Second Philippine Commission. A Civil Service Board <b>was created</b> composed of a Chairman, a Secretary and a Chief Examiner. The Board administered civil service examinations and set standards for appointment in government service. It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905. <br />
<br />
The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for employment in government. The following years also witnessed the expansion of the Bureau’s jurisdiction to include the three branches of government: the national government, local government and government corporations. <br />
<br />
In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil Service Law, <b>was enacted</b>. This was the first integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy, superseding the scattered administrative orders relative to government personnel administration issued since 1900. This Act converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status. <br />
<br />
In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of government. Its present mandate <b>is derived</b> from Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution which <b>was given</b> effect through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The 1987 Administrative Code). The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the administration of the bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government employees to self-organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987 Constitution. </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2.“Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-46475896083971001512019-06-04T20:55:00.000+08:002019-06-04T21:00:53.573+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (11): Revising wordy sentences using the Paramedic Method<b>1.</b> <b>Prof. Richard Lanham of the UCLA Writing Center developed the Paramedic Method for revising wordy sentences.</b> Here are the steps:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Step 1: Underline the prepositional phrases in the sentence.<br />
<br />
Step 2: Circle the “to be” verbs (is, are, as, were)<br />
<br />
Step 3: Place a box around nominalizations and identify the primary action.<br />
<br />
Step 4: Write the nominalization/primary action into a single verb.<br />
<br />
Step 5: Ask “Who what performs the action?” Then write the new base clause with the agent in the subject position.<br />
<br />
Step 6: Keep the base clause near beginning of the sentence.<br />
<br />
Step 7: Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases.</blockquote><br />
<b>2. Videos</b><br />
<br />
Write Well: Editing Sentences Using the Paramedic Method (Macalester College)<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HvJ2diCCJuY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Help from Dr. Lanham<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EzGDrt_Pzpc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Richard Lanham - Revising Prose<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/YpRnAJuy-Ck" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Paramedic Method<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XNo3v-pDtqE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Self-Editing (Paramedic Method)<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lBsDkVOXfR8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
The Paramedic Method<br />
<br />
<iframe width="440" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/I-giy45vIwM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-for-general-writing.netlify.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-59375260534093419502019-05-24T09:11:00.000+08:002019-05-24T09:46:47.469+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (10): How to write clear, concise, and direct sentences<a href="https://www.ragan.com/100-years-on-strunks-advice-rings-true/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvYeeNvzIlglaKtbDl7-6pHUV7Jx2N0J31UZMQemDMH7cUMdYnBvoURMJBM9JeQdWqah5O8aVeF25_kXO_jxAC-6t8QrU6oiMTue9Ki40EVJ8vuk1iowrTSfQz7xTnGHkHJ48/s1600/Elements+of+Style+by+Strunk+and+White.jpg" /></a><b>1.</b> “Vigorous writing is 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 parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” — <a href="https://www.ragan.com/100-years-on-strunks-advice-rings-true/" target="_blank">“Elements of Style” by Strunk and White </a><br />
<br />
<b>2.</b> “Short sentences are not an end by themselves. As legal writers, your goals are short and clear sentences.” As Napoleon Bonaparte emphasized to his runners who brought messages to his battlefield commanders, “Make it clear! Make it clear! Make it clear!”<br />
<br />
<b>3. </b><a href="http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ClearConciseSentences.html" target="_blank">“Techniques in creating clear, concise, and direct sentences”</a> (The Writing Center, University Wisconsin – Madison):<br />
<ul>
<li>Unless you have a reason not to, use the active voice. Put the action of the sentence in the verb. </li>
<li>Reduce wordy verbs.</li>
<li>Use expletive constructions (“It is,” “There is,” “There are”) sparingly. </li>
<li>Try to avoid using vague, all-purpose nouns, which often lead to wordiness. </li>
<li>Unless your readers are familiar with your terminology, avoid writing strings of nouns. </li>
<li>Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases.</li>
<li>Avoid unnecessarily inflated words. </li>
<li>Put wordy phrases on a diet. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>4.</b> <a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm" target="_blank">“Writing Concise Sentences”</a> (from The Guide to Grammar and Writing, sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation in Hartford, Connecticut) <br />
<ul>
<li>Pruning the Redundant</li>
<li>Abbreviated Redundancies</li>
<li>Reducing Clauses to Phrases, Phrases to Single Words</li>
<li>Intensifiers that Don't Intensify</li>
<li>Avoiding Expletive Constructions</li>
<li>Phrases You Can Omit</li>
<li>Eliminating Clichés and Euphemisms</li>
<li><a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/wordy_quiz.htm" target="_blank">Writing Concise Sentences</a> (exercises)</li>
<li><a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/nova/nova8.htm" target="_blank">Eliminating Wordiness</a> (exercises)</li>
<li><a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/nova/nova11.htm" target="_blank">Rewriting Bloated Sentences </a>(exercises)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>5.</b> <a href="https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conciseness-handout/" target="_blank">“Identifying and addressing wordiness in sentences”</a> (from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) <br />
<ul>
<li>Eliminate redundant pairs</li>
<li>Delete unnecessary qualifiers</li>
<li>Identify and reduce prepositional phrases</li>
<li>Locate and delete unnecessary modifiers</li>
<li>Replace a phrase with a word</li>
<li>Identify negatives and change them to affirmatives</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>6.</b> <a href="https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/write-clear-and-concise-sentences/" target="_blank">“How to Sculpt Concise Sentences (So Your Message Becomes Clear and Strong)”</a><br />
<br />
<b>7. </b>Writing Concise Sentences<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dyy7FJq-J1k" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>8. </b>Lesson 16: Wordy Sentences<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/85tka-0K9Gs" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>9.</b> Keep it Simple: Clearer, Concise Sentences<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ATwZcyn0lWw" width="440"></iframe><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-for-general-writing.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-64017731958695366252019-05-14T10:34:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:36:26.894+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (09): Use short sentences<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="float: left; margin: 0px 15px 10px 0px; width: 190px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="210"><b>Recommended average number of words per sentence in legal documents: </b><br />
<br />
<b>15 words</b> (Federal Register Document Drafting Handbook, October 1998 Revision, page 216)<br />
<br />
<b>Between 15 and 18</b> (<a href="https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/132/download/" target="_blank">“Plain English: Eschew Legalese”</a> by Judge Gerald Lebovits, New York State Bar Association Journal, November/December 2008, page 60)<br />
<br />
<b>18 words</b> (“Appellate Practice—Including Legal Writing From A Judge’s Perspective”, page 7, by Judge Mark P. Painter, the only American so far to be appointed to the UN Appellate Tribunal)<br />
<br />
<b>20 words or fewer</b> (US Federal Aviation Administration “Writing Standards, Order 1000.36”)<br />
<br />
<b>20 words</b> (“Legal Writing in Plain English” by Bryan A. Garner) 20 words (“How to write clearly” from European Commission)<br />
<br />
<b>20 to 25 words</b> (“How to create clear announcements” Project on the Use of Plain Language, by Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission”)<br />
<br />
<b>20 to 25 words</b> (“Tips for Better Writing in Law Reviews and Other Journals” by Joseph Kimble, Michigan Bar Journal, October 2012)<br />
<br />
<b>22 words</b> (“Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer” by Anne Enquist and Laurel Currie Oates)<br />
<br />
<b>25 words</b> (“Mightier Than the Sword: Powerful Writing in the Legal Profession” by C. Edward Good)</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
(Jump to <a href="https://famli.blogspot.com/2019/05/use-short-sentences.html#modernenglishsentence">“The modern English sentence is short, averaging below 20 words per sentence”</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>1.</b> “After 14 years as a legal adviser to the Government, I had got into the habit of writing concisely and going straight to the point. I think I might have lost the knack to express myself in a literary style. Government minutes are written in plain English. Now, I try to use short sentences to capture all my ideas and arguments.” (<a href="https://journalsonline.academypublishing.org.sg/Journals/Inter-Se/e-Archive/ctl/eFirstSALPDFJournalView/mid/534/ArticleId/1110/Citation/JournalsOnlinePDF" target="_blank">Singapore Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>2. </b>“Legal sentences tend to be long and flabby.” (Prof. Joseph Kimble, president, Thomas Cooley Law School, Michigan, USA; drafting consultant, Plain Language-restyling of the US Federal Rules of Court)<br />
<br />
<b>3. </b>“The genius is having a ten-dollar idea in a five-cent sentence, not having a five-cent idea in a ten-dollar sentence.” (US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in an interview with Bryan A. Garner, <a href="https://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/garner-transcripts-1.pdf" target="_blank">Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>4.</b> “The more complicated your information is, the shorter your sentences should be.” (from “Writing to Win: The Legal Writer: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Will Make Your Case—And Win It” by Steven D. Stark)<br />
<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781594601514/Plain-English-For-Lawyers-Fifth-Edition" target="_blank"><br />
</a></div>
<b>5.</b> “Seeking to be precise, we become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, we become verbose. Our sentences twist on, phrase within clause, within clause, glazing the eyes and numbing the minds our readers. The result is a writing style that is wordy, unclear, pompous, and dull.” (“<a href="http://www.cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781594601514/Plain-English-For-Lawyers-Fifth-Edition" target="_blank">Plain English for Lawyers</a>” by Richard Wydick, Professor Emeritus in Legal Writing at University of California - Davis; the National University of Singapore uses this book for its Legal Writing Programme.)<br />
<br />
<b>6.</b> “Short sentences are a supreme advantage when communicating with people from a non-English speaking background. If you want your English to be understood worldwide—write short sentences. If you want to avoid embarrassing grammar mistakes and excruciating international misunderstandings—use short sentences. If you want your international clients to read your documents easily, confidently and accurately—use short sentences.” (“Global English for Global Business,” page 38, by Rachel McAlpine)<br />
<br />
<b>7. Examples of long sentences:</b><br />
<br />
<b>BSP Circular No. 702, protection of credit card holders from unfair collection practices (235 words in one sentence)</b><br />
<br />
Banks/quasi-banks and their subsidiary or affiliate credit card companies shall also provide the following information to their cardholders:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. A table of the applicable fees, penalties and interest rates on credit card transactions, including the period covered by and the manner of and reason for the imposition of such penalties, fees and interest; fees and applicable conversion reference rates for third currency transactions, in plain sight and language, on materials for marketing credit cards, such as brochures, flyers, primers and advertising materials, on credit card application forms, and on credit card billing statements: Provided, That these disclosures are in addition to the full disclosure of the fees, charges and interest rates in the terms and conditions of the credit card agreement found elsewhere on the application form and billing statement; and<br />
<br />
2. A reminder to the card holder in the monthly billing statement, or its equivalent document, that payment of only the minimum amount due or any amount less than the total amount due for the billing cycle/period, would mean the imposition of interest and/or other charges; Provided, That such table of fees, penalties and interest rates and reminder shall be printed in plain language and in bold black letters against a light or white background, and using the minimum Arial 12 theme font and size, or its equivalent in readability, and on the first page, if the applicable document has more than one page. </blockquote>
<br />
<b>Senate impeachment rules (106 words in one sentence)</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
VI. The President of the Senate or the Chief Justice when presiding on the trial may rule on all questions of evidence including, but not limited to, questions of materiality, relevancy, competency or admissibility of evidence and incidental questions, which ruling shall stand as the judgment of the Senate, unless a Member of the Senate shall ask that a formal vote be taken thereon, in which case it shall be submitted to the Senate for decision after one contrary view is expressed; or the Presiding Officer may at his/her option, in the first instance, submit any such question to a vote of the Members of the Senate.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="modernenglishsentence"></a><br />
<br />
<b>8. The modern English sentence is short, averaging below 20 words per sentence.</b><br />
<br />
<b>A.</b> From “The Principles of readability” by William DuBay:<br />
<br />
In 1880, a professor of English Literature at the University of Nebraska, Lucius Adelno Sherman, began to teach literature from a historical and statistical point of view.<br />
<br />
He compared the older prose writers with more popular modern writers such as Macaulay (The History of England) and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He noticed a progressive shortening of sentences over time.<br />
<br />
He decided to look at this statistically and began by counting average sentence length per 100 periods. In his book (1893), Analytics of Literature, A Manual for the Objective Study of English Prose and Poetry, he showed how sentence length averages shortened over time:<br />
<br />
Pre-Elizabethan times: 50 words per sentence<br />
Elizabethan times: 45 words per sentence<br />
Victorian times: 29 words per sentence<br />
Sherman’s time: 23 words per sentence.<br />
<br />
In our time, the average is down to 20 words per sentence.<br />
<b><br />
B.</b> Ellegard Norm: The modern English sentence has an average of 17.6 words per sentence. (From 1978 study by Swedish researcher Alvar Ellegard of 1 million words corpus of 20th century American English writing called the Brown Corpus collected by Brown University in 1964)<br />
<br />
<b>C.</b> <a href="http://harrisonrichard.com/article1.html" target="_blank">“What is Happening to Written English?”</a><br />
<br />
Essentially, the sentence has become shorter – quite dramatically. In a study by Brock Haussamen (1994) using text from a variety of sources, the average sentence length was shown to have reduced from 40-70 in the period 1600-1700 to the low 20s in the 1990s.<br />
<br />
Year 1600 - 1700: Sentence length 40 - 70 words<br />
Year 1800 - 1900: Sentence length 30 - 40 words<br />
Year 1990s: Sentence length 20s<br />
<br />
<b>D.</b> <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/topic6b/auth_style/8auth2.htm" target="_blank">Comparison of average sentence length of several writers</a><br />
<br />
Jane Austen: 42<br />
John Steinbeck: 18.4<br />
D. H. Lawrence: 13.5<br />
<br />
<b>E. </b> <a href="https://www.aje.com/en/arc/editing-tip-sentence-length/" target="_blank">“Editing Tip: Sentence Length”</a><br />
<br />
" ... the average sentence length for Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who can be considered representative of a modern English writer with a general audience, is 12 words ..."<br />
<br />
<b>F.</b> <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bies.201190063/pdf" target="_blank">“The long sentence: A disservice to science in the Internet age”</a><br />
<br />
If we want the fullness of science in necessarily long papers to be appreciated, it must increasingly be written in short sentences.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-80012669827183396432019-05-02T20:55:00.003+08:002020-01-25T06:37:11.399+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (08): Keep your text concise<b>1.</b> Thomas Jefferson: “The most valuable of talents is never using two words when one will do.”<br />
<br />
<b>2.</b> George Orwell: “Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” <br />
<br />
<b>3. </b>“Write clearly and simply if you can, and you’ll be more likely to be thought of as intelligent.”<br />
<br />
Prof. Daniel M. Oppenheimer of Princeton University published his study titled “<a href="http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/psy3001/files/simple%20writing.pdf" target="_blank">Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity</a>” in the 2006 Applied Cognitive Psychology Journal. Actually, the title (as I quoted it) is incomplete; Prof. Oppenheimer was having fun because the other half of his study’s title is “Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.”<br />
<br />
Oppenheimer surveyed 110 Stanford University students. Among other things, he asked them the following questions:<br />
<blockquote>
“Have you ever changed the words in an academic essay to make the essay sound more valid or intelligent by using complicated language?” 86.4% said yes.<br />
<br />
“When you write an essay, do you turn to the thesaurus to choose words that are more complex to give the impression that the content is more valid or intelligent?” 75% said yes. </blockquote>
Among Oppenheimer’s findings are:<br />
<ul>
<li>People are more likely to use big words when they are feeling the most insecure.</li>
<li>Leaders facing crucial decisions might use more complex vocabulary and end up undermining others’ confidence in their leadership ability.</li>
<li>Write clearly and simply if you can, and you’ll be more likely to be thought of as intelligent.</li>
</ul>
<b>4. </b>“Conciseness” or “concision” ordinarily means being brief but technically, it means being direct to the point. Your goal as a legal writer is to be concise and clear. Some ways to keep your text concise and clear are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Use short, simple words (for example, use “needs” instead of “necessitates”)</li>
<li>Avoid big words and pompous diction (use “because” instead of “due to the fact that”)</li>
<li>Omit redundant words (use “”facts” instead of “actual facts”)</li>
<li>Avoid redundant pairs </li>
<li>Avoid redundant modifiers</li>
<li>Avoid modifiers such as absolutely, actually, completely, really, quite, totally, and very</li>
<li>Avoid doublets and triplets (use either word instead of “authorize and empower”)</li>
<li>Watch out for “of,” “to,” “on,’ and other prepositions</li>
<li>Avoid noun strings</li>
<li>Avoid legal, foreign, and technical jargon</li>
<li>Avoid hidden verbs or nominalization (say “I decided” instead of “I made a decision”)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>5. </b>Free resources:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.clearest.co.uk/plain-english-lexicon" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: .15em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazHa9y2JBFHYr4oQMXFqSuoZAaS3qHiVGOPG2kK3XX20kyYdPFVTEwdHRwhaav4ImW4eHxXZRQe2tz5fkVk0ojepdyhBGBa3_XyO4ByHc1pS1dGWeuwdBxNpUcoSpRH9AfYbl/s1600/plain+english+lexicon.jpg" /></a>“Plain English Lexicon” by <a href="https://www.clearest.co.uk/plain-english-lexicon" target="_blank">Plain Language Commission</a><br />
<br />
“The A to Z of alternative words” from <a href="http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/the-a-z-of-alternative-words.html" target="_blank">Plain English Campaign</a><br />
<br />
<b>6.</b> Being Concise in Your Writing (University of Glasgow)<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/a-BYEGqRttE" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>7.</b> Writing Clearly and Concisely (North Carolina State University)<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/36IsNsYc7Ws" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>8.</b> Succinct Writing (University of British Columbia)<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rVx2Qtlwgmg" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>9.</b> English Writing Workshop - Clear and Concise Sentences <br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rVPsO5-WW8Y" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>10.</b> Keep it Simple: Clearer, Concise Sentences<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ATwZcyn0lWw" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>11.</b> Make Your Writing Concise<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4ug8KuOwodk" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>12.</b> Nine Ways to Use Clear, Simple Vocabulary to Sound More Professional in English<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KRlg2XFZjG8" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260617.post-70538988323417703462019-04-26T08:56:00.000+08:002020-01-25T06:38:08.294+08:00Clear, concise, and effective English for law students, bar examinees, and legal writers in organizations, private companies, and government offices (07): Legal writing and oral advocacy<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/garner-transcripts-1.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt2jUY4gNodq8DKf5i3e8ajQ2CHVDwhR2Y0ml9OmecuPFFO7BSKlf5QetXMPdHMox1VzzL0eNa6-2dqGJkgO2ZCTe7fYoQPF4vx82XAnKt9FPn1BrivdLnzyl5QbtoD040qh3u/s1600/garner+interviews+2019.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.lawprose.org/bryan-garner/garners-interviews/supreme-court-interviews/" target="_blank">Video interviews of US Supreme Court<br />
justices available in LawProse website</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<b>Bryan A. Garner is the editor-in-chief of all current editions of Black’s Law Dictionary. In 2010, he interviewed the US Supreme Court Justices.</b> The transcripts of these interviews are available from <a href="https://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/garner-transcripts-1.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scribes Journal of Legal Writing Volume 13</a>; excerpts from the interviews are posted below.<br />
<br />
<b>Justice Clarence Thomas: </b> <br />
<blockquote>
I’d love one day for someone at a gas station who is not a lawyer to come up to me and say to me, “You know, I read your opinion, and I don’t agree with you.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful? “I’m not a lawyer, I read your opinion, I understood it, I don’t agree with you, but thanks for making it accessible.” So we talk of it in terms of accessibility. </blockquote>
<br />
<b>Justice Stephen Breyer </b>(in reply to Garner’s question, “Do you think it matters whether ordinary people can understand judicial opinions?”): <br />
<blockquote>
If an ordinary person who is not a lawyer can understand it, I think that gives weight to what the Court does, and law is supposed to be intelligible. They should be able to follow it without having to take special vocabulary courses. And the purpose of an opinion is to give your reasons, and you give your reasons both for guidance, but also it should be possible for readers to criticize the writer. Now, people can’t criticize what I say, they can’t explain why they think it’s wrong, unless they can understand. </blockquote>
<br />
<b>Chief Justice John Roberts on the topic of legal writing (interview by Garner)</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZIjBzn7rbPE" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>A Crash Course in Legal Writing by Bryan A. Garner</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sR72bsOeooE" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>Quick Tips on Oral Advocacy by Judge Richard Gabriel</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bnxW8Oc8qv8" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>How to Speak like a Veteran Lawyer in 11 minutes</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3NcDB1F5zGw" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>2008 Davis Moot Court Winning Oral Argument</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/GALrNK6Kk3o" width="445"></iframe><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>How to speak so that people want to listen | Julian Treasure</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="248" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/eIho2S0ZahI" width="445"></iframe><br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="4" style="width: 450px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><b>Free seminars:</b><br />
<br />
1. “<a href="https://betterenglish-rx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">English Proficiency Course</a>” (4 hours; for college students, K-to-12 teachers, other groups) <br />
<br />
2. “Clear, concise English for effective legal writing” (3-5 hours; for Student Councils, academic organizations, fraternities, sororities, NGOs, LGUs, any interested group; <a href="https://plain-english-resources-and-exercises.netlify.com/" rel="" target="_blank">test yourself with the interactive exercises</a>)<br />
<br />
Seminars are for Metro Manila only. For more information or to schedule a seminar, please contact Atty. Gerry T. Galacio at 0927-798-3138. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://editorsoftware.com/" target="_blank"><b>Be a better writer or editor through StyleWriter 4</b></a>: this software checks 10,000 words in 12 seconds for hundreds of style and English usage issues like wordy and complex sentences, passive voice, nominalization, jargon, clichés, readability, spelling, etc.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 graphs your style and sentence variety, and identifies your writing habits to give an instant view of your writing. You can learn to adjust your writing style to suit your audience and task. You can learn, for example, the writing style of Newsweek, Time, The Economist, and Scientific American.<br />
<br />
StyleWriter 4 is widely used in the US federal government (for example, the Environmental Protection Agency). It can be used by educators, students, and professionals in various fields - business, law, social or physical science, medicine, nursing, engineering, public relations, human resources, journalism, accounting, etc. <a href="http://editorsoftware.com/Downloads.php#hgm1_2" target="_blank"><b>Download your free 14-day trial copy now</b></a><b>.</b></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Atty. Gerry T. Galaciohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233852101336409722noreply@blogger.com0