Legal Commentary

When I am writing, I want to use split infinitives, dangling prepositions, and ?they? to mean just one person, but there's a problem. I?m afraid people will think I?m an ignoramus. Or, at a minimum, not as educated and cultivated as they are.

But there are compelling reasons for using these maligned grammatical constructions. Sentences are simpler when prepositions dangle. Splitting infinitives often conveys more precise meaning. And using singular ?they? is frequently the only expedient means of avoiding pronoun sexism.

So, you are my witness: I am liberating myself from bowing to composition norms I don?t believe in. I am hereby making a deliberate and public decision to not obey these grammatical peccadilloes. And if some reader somewhere thinks I?m a simpleton, well, I?m sorry they feel that way.

No fear!

And, besides, by putting this in writing on PrawfsBlawg, now I'll have something I can cite to as authority in my law review articles.