More Awful Lawyerisms
Absent
Odds are, the only way you used this word before you went to law school was to describe physical absence: I was absent from school that day because I had the flu.
Then, all of a sudden, in 1L you started saying things like absent evidence to the contrary because it made you sound all, like, lawyer-y.
Please revert to your pre-law ways. Without or even in the absence of will strike your non-lawyer readers as normal.
And that’s a good thing.
In a position …
You aren’t in a position to do X, Y, or Z?
Just say I can’t do X, Y or Z, which is more direct and avoids suggestions of awkward body poses.
Indicate
This is an example of three syllables where one or two would suffice: show, say, suggest are all shorter – and actually clearer.
Upon
The lawyer said (pompously): Upon my return to the office …
Please, just When I return or On my return. Or even When I get back.
You forgot ‘utilize’