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).

Westlaw Office Hours

Look for Westlaw Student Reps at the Westlaw table on the second floor adjacent to the Library entrance. Visit Koley Borchard kborchard14@law.du.edu, Christina Brown cbrown13@law.du.edu, or Collin Zundel czundel13@law.du.edu with Westlaw questions during the hours listed:

Koley Borchard kborchard14@law.du.edu:

    Tuesday          1:00pm – 4:00pm

    Thursday         1:00pm – 4:00pm

Christina Brown cbrown13@law.du.edu:

    Monday           11:45am – 1:15pm

    Wednesday     8:00am – 10:00am; 11:45am – 1:15pm

Collin Zundel czundel13@law.du.edu:

Monday           3:00pm – 6:00pm

Wednesday     3:00pm – 6:00pm 

•  Contact Westlaw Account Manager Jeff Brandimarte between or after hours at jeff.brandimarte@thomsonreuters.com or (720) 839-1388.

• Call 24-hour Westlaw Customer Service: 1-800-WESTLAW.

Written by Sheila Green, Reference Librarian

CIA World Fact Book

Have you been asked, or chosen, to write about a country you know very little about? Before you do significant in-depth research, it is generally helpful to begin with background material. You’ll want to find out  some basic information such as geographical information, the political and legal system, something about it’s economy, and, possibly, any significant transnational issues.

One of the primary places to obtain this information is The CIA World Fact Book. The online access provides information on all of these topics and more.  Information on issues such as the language(s) spoken, population,  and religion(s) can be found under the People and Society link drop down.  Mortality rates, drinking water sources, and other health related information can also be located here.

As with any website or other resource, you’ll want to verify the date the material was last updated, and ‘consider the source’ – what isn’t there? Is there a bias to the information? The CIA World Fact Book online is a great place to begin!

Written by Joan Policastri, Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian

Oil & Gas Research

Domestic oil and gas law is the main focus of Oil and Gas Law: A Legal Research Guide   by Lauren E. Schroeder at Law-Level 3 KF1849 .S37 2012. Schroeder also covers international oil and gas sources and oil pollution.

Check the Table of Contents for the following:  

• Primary Sources: Federal, state, cases, and specialized case reporters.
• Secondary Sources: Nutshells, dictionaries, hornbooks, periodicals, institutes, continuing legal education (CLE) materials, and treatises.
• Online Sources: Subscription databases and free Internet sources.
• International Oil and Gas Law: Organizations, secondary sources, industry associations, and online sources.
• Researching Oil Spills and Oil Pollution: Primary sources, secondary sources, websites, and conferences.
• Appendix I. Library of Congress Subject Headings for additional oil and gas research in online library catalogs.
• Appendix II.  Shale deposits in the United States.

This guide is recommended for oil and gas practitioners, lawyers who are new to this specialty, law librarians, law school faculty teaching in this area, and students.

Written by Sheila Green, Reference Librarian

Westlaw By Credit Card to Cease

Westlaw has recently announced that it will discontinue its “Westlaw By Credit Card” service as of August 31, 2012. Presently, this document retrieval service allows users to access to materials on Westlaw, including state and federal case law, statutes, and appellate briefs, with the use of a credit card. It also provides access to KeyCite, West’s citation research service. After August 31, 2012, users will have to have a Westlaw subscription in order to access Westlaw and charges will be billed to the user’s Westlaw account. LexisNexis previously discontinued its “LexisNexis by Credit Card” website.

The Westminster Law Library continues to provide access to a limited public Westlaw service through two public-access computer terminals on the third floor. We also provide public access to the LexisNexis Academic database from public-access computer terminals on any floor. Unfortunately, no remote access is available. Please ask library staff for any needed assistance accessing these services.

Written by Brian Shoemaker, DU LIS Student