Legal Writing

Our Law Firm Can Help You If . . . .

If you’re not a mathematician (or a math teacher), you’re not expected to recall the binomial theorem, or the quadratic formula, or what a tangent is.

And if you’re not an Englician (or English teacher), you’re not expected to recall just what is a subordinating conjuction, or a nominative absolute, or a distributive pronoun.

But if you’re an attorney (or a copywriter for a law firm), you’re expected to know the difference between a gerund and a participle. Even if you can’t define those terms, you’re expected to have a firm grasp of English grammar, and you’re expected to demonstrate it daily.

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Attorneys and copywriters are expected to write grammatically correct, complex sentences — those in which the dependent clause has some relation to the independent clause (whether that dependent clause is non-finite, or adverbial, or relative.)

Now, consider these two complex sentences, each describing the intellectual property practice group of a law firm:

Sentence #1:

Whether you are a new business looking to develop and protect an identity, an independent inventor seeking patent assistance, or an industry leader looking to maximize your research and development investment, our attorneys can help.

Sentence #2:

Whether you are facing litigation over trademark rights and ownership or you wish to obtain the maximum protection for your trademarks through registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or on a more limited basis through state trademark registrations, our attorneys have extensive experience in trademark infringement litigation at the state and federal level and we have an excellent record with trouble-free trademark registrations.

Both begin with dependent clauses (in particular, adverbial clauses of condition).

The first sentence (published by Woods Fuller Shultz & Smith P.C.) is fine; the relation between the dependent clause and the main clause is clear (i.e., our IP attorneys can help you if you find yourself in this situation or that).

The second sentence (published by Best Best & Krieger LLP) isn’t fine at all; there is no relation between the dependent clause and the main clause (i.e., the firm has experienced attorneys who can do x, y, or z, and they can do that whether you need an IP attorney, you need to prove a math theorem, or you need to lower your cholesterol).

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So, why bother with this refresher on English grammar? Because it is so common to find law firm marketing materials containing sentences that begin with some dependent adverbial clause of condition that has no relation (at all) to the main clause.

If your firm produces such materials, do something about it, else potential clients will be left with the impression that your firm’s claim of a commitment to excellence is just so much hot air.

Full post as published by Set in Style on June 18, 2009 (boomark / email).