Does the subject of your sentence do something (She said that), or is something done to the subject (That was said by her)? The first is an active construction, the second a passive one.

The active voice is much more effective. It tends to be shorter and simpler, more natural and direct, more engaging.

Lawyers, who are often accused of being verbose and overly complicated, unnatural, indirect and anything but engaging, favour passive constructions.

Which is more forceful? I love you (active) or You are loved by me (passive)? We recommend the chocolate mousse (active) or …

Since 1986 almost all federal Canadian regulations have included a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) following the text of the regulation.

Why should you read the RIAS? Unlike acts, you will not find a discussion of new regulations in Hansard. The RIAS tells you what the rationale was for a given regulation and what it was expected to achieve. A RIAS is usually divided into five sections: issue and objectives; description and rationale; consultation; implementation, enforcement, and service standards; and contact information.

Another benefit of Regulatory Impact Analysis Statements is that they are written for a range of readers. …

I’m sorry if this sounds like a cheesy idea, but it’s a good one nonetheless.

There will be inevitable slings and arrows in the life of any professional. Hopefully, the good days will outnumber the bad.

Some days,  you may need a positive reminder, though

Thankfully, there will always be clients who are good enough to let you know that they feel you’ve done a good job, that they are happy with the results you’ve achieved, and that they truly appreciate your hard work and good service.

For the last little while, I’ve been copying all those thank you emails …

In many ways we’d be better off without the apostrophe, judging by the frequency with which it’s incorrectly used, its functions misunderstood.

Here’s a handy guide.

Possessive

• singular possessor: John’s book
• singular possessor ending in S: James’s is preferable to James’, but both are OK; and the possessive form of many biblical and classical names traditionally leaves out the additional S (Jesus’, Claudius’)
• plural possessors: the Singhs’ house is next to the Joneses’ house [not the Jones’ house – or, heaven forfend, the Jone’s – but the Jones house (non-possessive) would be fine (see ‘Is it

♫ Get a leg up
What’s the matter
Are you shy, shy, shy? ♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by: John Mellencamp.

In an article entitled: 5 Rules for When to Listen to Advice (And When Not To) in Inc. Magazine,  Matthew Swyers, the Founder of The Trademark Company

 stated (here I am just going to summarize) the rules as to determine if advice is worth anything:

1. Context: Determine the weight to be given to advice from the context in which it is given.
2. Unsolicited Advice: Determine why someone is giving you advice.
3. Motivation: What is the person seeking

Many lawyers and legal researchers keep a mental note to look out for new regulations under specific Acts or new proclamations bringing into force an Act of interest. As Shaunna Mireau pointed out in this October 2011 tip though, if you’re only keeping an eye on new issues of the relevant Gazettes, you’ll be days or even weeks behind those who are also keeping an eye on orders in council. Remember, most regulations, proclamations, and orders begin life as orders in council. Then, if required, the OIC is later published in either part of the Gazette. So, stay …

The novelist Graham Greene – a master of lean, mean prose – called adverbs ‘beastly’. (In spite of the -ly ending, that’s an adjective.)

Think of the adverb ‘quite’, which is either ambiguous or weak: ‘quite good’ can mean ‘better than expected’, ‘something a bit less than good’, ‘actually good’, ‘very good’. In any case, it lacks oomph.

Or indeed ‘very’, which the nineteenth-century newspaper editor William Allen White called ‘the weakest word in the English language’. Very true.

In legal writing, adverbs are often used as qualifiers or fillers. I’m thinking of words like ‘generally’, ‘clearly’, ‘unfortunately’.

In opinions, …

♫ The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town…♫

Lyrics and music by: Lydia Ulsaker, sung by teachers, parents and children everywhere.

(image by: LaurMG, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

James C. Collins wrote the best seller: “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Other’s Don’t.”  It has stood the test of time and sold over 4 million copies according to Wikipedia.

Jim has some very good advice that …

Most CanLII users know that CanLII provides point-in-time versions of legislation. However, one feature of CanLII that is less well known is that it allows users to compare two versions of an act.

It is straightforward to compare two versions of an act on CanLII:

1. Find the act you wish to compare the versions of.
2. Underneath the name of the act is a list of point-in-time versions of that act. Select the two versions you want to compare. (They don’t have to be consecutive.)
3. Click on COMPARE.

The older of the two acts will be on the left hand …

What do I mean by this? Pairs of words that lawyers routinely use together, but would be better not to.

These pairs may once (in the late Middle Ages?) have had distinct meanings but now really don’t.

And even in the Middle Ages they may not have: many of these ‘coupled synonyms’ (in Richard Wydick‘s phrase) join an English word with its (Old) French equivalent, in a belt-and-suspenders manoeuvre.

Like ‘free and clear’, which combines the synonymous Old English freo and the Old French cler.

Examples:

Null and void [how about ‘of no effect’?]
No force …