Writing Tip of the Week: Commas before Conjunctions Joining Main Clauses

When you join two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction, use a comma before the conjunction.  Although the terminology in this comma rule may sound complicated, it is really quite simple.  A main clause (or independent clause) can stand alone as a complete sentence, whereas a subordinate clause (or dependent clause) cannot stand alone. The seven coordinating conjunctions are as follows:  for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. You can use the mnemonic device “FANBOYS” to remember them.

• The defendant provided his own billing system, and he also paid for his own bookkeeping services. (“and” joins two main clauses)
• The appellate court held that the noncompete agreement was void, but it remanded the case for further determination on the question of trade secrets. (“but” joins two main clauses)

While it may be tempting to add a comma every time you use a coordinating conjunction, the rule applies only when you are joining two main clauses with one of the FANBOYS conjunctions.  A sentence with a compound verb does not have two main clauses; thus, it does not take a comma even though it contains a coordinating conjunction. 

• The defendant provided his own billing system and paid for his own bookkeeping services. (dependent clause comes after “and,” so no comma)

Likewise, do not use a comma to join two main clauses without a coordinating conjunction.  In that case, use a semicolon.

• The defendant provided his own billing system; he also paid for his own bookkeeping services. (two main clauses but no FANBOYS)

For more information, see Anne Enquist & Laurel Currie Oates, Just Writing 211-13 (3d ed. 2009) and Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook 652-53 (5th ed. 2010).

Writing Tip of the Week: Principal and Principle

Principal and principle look and sound alike, yet have different meanings. While principal can be a noun or an adjective, principle is a noun.

As a noun, principal generally means main or head person, such as the principal of a school.  (Some people remember this meaning using the memory device, “the principal is our pal.”)  As a noun, it can also mean a capital sum of money; a perpetrator or aider and abettor to a crime; or one who employs another (an agent) to act for him.  When used as an adjective, principal means “main” or “primary,” such as the principal finding in a study.

On the other hand, principle is a noun that means a rule, tenet, or basic truth, such as the principle of gravity. 

Thus, use principal as a noun to refer to important people and as an adjective to signify someone or something important.  In contrast, use principle, a noun, when you mean a rule or doctrine.

• The principal of the high school led the students in singing the national anthem. (principal as a noun meaning the main or head person)
• The principal issue in this case is whether the defendant waived his right to trial by jury. (principal as an adjective meaning main or primary)
• Freedom and justice are the principles upon which our country was founded. (principle meaning rule, tenet or basic truth)

For more information, see Anne Enquist & Laurel Currie Oates, Just Writing 311 (3d ed. 2009) and Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook 775-76 (5th ed. 2010).

 

Library closed on Oct. 3, 2012

The Westminster Law Library will be closed on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 for the Presidential Debate. Regular hours will resume the next day.

Writing Tip of the Week: Use the Active Voice

When you write in the active voice, the subject of your sentence does the acting. In contrast, in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon.

· Active voice: The batter hit the ball. (the subject, the batter, is doing the action in the verb, the hitting)

· Passive voice: The ball was hit by the batter. (the subject, the batter, is acted upon)

 

Because the active voice is generally clearer and more concise, make a habit of using it unless you have a good reason not to. You can spot passive voice in your writing by looking for some form of the verb “to be.” In some forms of passive voice, you will also see the preposition “by.”

· Passive voice: It can be determined that the rule is violated by prosecutors when they fail to research adequately. (17 words)

· Active voice: Prosecutors violate the rule when they fail to research adequately. (10 words)

In other forms of passive voice, the writer leaves out the subject, requiring the reader to fill in the missing information.

· Passive voice: Every week, all confidential material was shredded and discarded. (Who shredded and discarded the material?)

· Active voice: Every week, the company shredded and discarded all confidential material.

For further information on passive voice, see Anne Enquist & Laurel Currie Oates, Just Writing 69-73 (3d ed. 2009); Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook 176-78, 513-18 (5th ed. 2010); and C. Edward Good, Legal Writing & Its Cure ch. 7, (reprinted in Lawmanac—Clickable help for Legal Writers 2009).

Lexis Office Hours

Look for Lexis Student Reps at the Lexis table on the second floor adjacent to the Library entrance. Visit Jenna Bechtholdt jbechtholdt13@law.du.edu, Jonathan Culwell jculwell13@law.du.edu, Neal McConomy nmcconomy13@law.du.edu, or Antonio Mendez amendez14@law.du.edu with LexisNexis questions during the hours listed:

 

Jenna Bechtholdt jbechtholdt13@law.du.edu:
Tuesday          10:30am – 12:30pm
Wednesday     9:00am – Noon

Jonathan Culwell jculwell13@law.du.edu:

Monday           9:30am – 1:00pm
Tuesday          9:00am – 10:30am

Neal McConomy nmcconomy13@law.du.edu,:

Monday           4:15pm – 6:15pm
Thursday         9:00am – 10:00am; Noon – 2:00pm

Antonio Mendez mendez14@law.du.edu:
Tuesday          2:30pm – 4:00pm; 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Wednesday     Noon – 1:00pm
Thursday         2:30pm – 4:00pm

Contact LexisNexis Account Representative Katherine Sparks between or after hours Katherine.Sparks@lexisnexis.com:

• Call 24-hour Lexis Customer Service: 1- 800-45 – LEXIS (53947)
• Go live http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/help and chat online for research assistance.

Written by Sheila Green, Reference Librarian

Writing Tip of the Week: Its Versus It's

Don’t make the mistake of confusing the possessive “its” with the contractive “it’s.”  “Its” is a pronoun meaning “belonging to it.”  Like the other possessive pronouns (my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, ours, their, and theirs), “its” does not take an apostrophe.  Conversely, “it’s” with an apostrophe is a contraction meaning “it is” or “it has.”  

Here's the simple rule:  if you mean “it is” or “it has,” use “it’s” with an apostrophe.  Otherwise, always use “its” without the apostrophe. 

·    Example:  It’s important to let justice take its course. (first “it’s” is a contraction meaning “it is,” so use the apostrophe or write it out; second “its” is possessive, so no apostrophe)

·    Example:  It’s been a long time since he visited the site. (contraction meaning “it has,” so use the apostrophe or write out the words “it has”)

·     Example:  The company will not voluntarily release its financial records.  (possessive, so no apostrophe)

·     Example:  The court heard its first case this week. (possessive, so no apostrophe)  

 

Because legal writing is a formal style of writing, however, you will rarely use contractions like “it’s.”  Thus, you will normally write out “it is” or “it has” and use only the possessive “its.”

 For more information, see Anne Enquist & Laurel Currie Oates, Just Writing 108-09, 238, 310 (3d ed. 2009); Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook 680, 775 (5th ed. 2010); and Lawmanac—Clickable Help for Legal Writers, “Punctuation, Capitalization & Typeface” (follow “Apostrophe” hyperlink; then follow “Contractions” hyperlink) (C. Edward Good ed., 2009).