what does it mean a misplaced comma for a lawyer

What is an example of a misplaced comma?

In one extreme example, a misplaced comma was at the heart of a death-penalty trial. Roger Casement, an Irish nationalist, was hanged in 1916 under the 1351 Treason Act. He had incited Irish...

What do the commas after James and lawyer mean?

3) Here, the commas after James and lawyer allow the writer to indicate to the reader in passing that James is a corporate lawyer, while at the same time placing the main emphasis on the fact that James led the seminar. 4 After certain kinds of introductory clause. For example, ‘Having finished my work, I left the office.’

What is a comma and how to use commas?

Commas are used to show a short pause within a sentence. They should be used with care as a misplaced comma can alter the intended meaning of the sentence. For example: James hit Ian and Edward, then ran away.

What's the biggest comma dispute in history?

One of the biggest cases battled over a comma was a dispute between two Canadian telecommunications companies. Rogers Communications and Bell Aliant fought a legal battle worth CAD$1m ($760,000) over a contract to replace utility poles across the country. The argument stemmed from a single sentence:

What is a comma in a contract?

Commas in contracts link separate clauses in a non-definitive way, leaving their reading open to interpretation. While a full stop is literally that – a full and complete stop to one thought or sentence, and the signal of the start of another – commas occupy a linguistic middle ground, and one that’s often muddled.

When was the comma law introduced?

In 1872, an American tariff law including an unwanted comma cost taxpayers nearly $2m (the equivalent of $40m today). The United States Tariff Act, as originally drafted in 1870, allowed “fruit plants, tropical and semi-tropical for the purpose of propagation or cultivation” to be exempt from import tariffs.

Why is there no comma after "shipment"?

The drivers managed to successfully argue that because there was no comma after “shipment” and before “or distribution”, they were owed overtime pay. If a comma had been there, the law would have explicitly ruled out those who distribute perishable foods.

What is contract language?

Contract language is like software code: do it right and everything works smoothly. But make a typo and the whole thing falls apart. “Contract language is limited and stylised,” says Adams. He compares it to software code: do it right and everything works smoothly. But make a typo and the whole thing falls apart.

Why is there a second comma after "promote"?

But in its original draft, the second comma was placed after “promote”, not before it: “ The Parties have a right to, and should promote, sustainable development. ”. Some countries weren’t happy with the original wording because they didn’t necessarily want to be locked into promoting sustainable development.

Is the Oxford comma optional?

Arguments have been fought over the value of so-called Oxford commas (an optional comma before the word “and” or “or” at the end of a list).

Did the comma matter in Casement?

Despite Casement’s lead counsel’s assertion that “crimes should not depend on the significance of breaks or of commas”, and “if a crime depended on a comma, the matter should be determined in favour of the accused, and not of the Crown”, the court ruled that the comma mattered. Casement was found guilty and executed.

What is the comma in a sentence?

The Oxford comma (also known as a serial comma) is the comma that writers may choose to use, or not to use, after the next-to-last entry in a list of three or more items, before the conjunction . In the sentence “I have a dog, a cat, and a turtle,” the second comma is an Oxford comma. It would be just as correct to write “I have a dog, a cat and a turtle” because whether to insert a comma before “and” is a matter of style. The rules of punctuation do not require or forbid the use of an Oxford comma.

What is an absent Oxford comma?

The difficulty of divining the meaning of an absent Oxford comma recently presented itself in a case that construed Maine’s overtime law. Three delivery drivers sued Oakhurst Dairy for unpaid overtime. The drivers claimed that the law of Maine, where Oakhurst employed them, classifies them as nonexempt employees and that they were thus entitled to overtime. The dairy countered that Maine’s overtime law exempts employees who distribute the products that the dairy produces.

Does Maine use the Oxford comma?

The Maine Legislative Drafting Manual instructs legislative staffers who write statutes to omit the Oxford comma . If the drafting manual had instructed scriveners to use the Oxford comma, courts construing the overtime law might see its omission as evidence that “shipment or distribution” should be read together, both relating to “packing,” not as describing the separate job duties of shipping and distributing.

Is the Maine statute ambiguous?

In the end, the court concluded that, notwithstanding the district court’s opinion , the statute was ambiguous. Since rules of punctuation and grammar did not help the court understand the legislature’s intent, the court examined the purpose of the exemption, which was far from clear in the legislative history. Concluding that the legislature failed to make its intent clear, the court resorted to another rule, one that was directed by the Maine legislature.

What is the comma at the end of a long list of items?

The Oxford, or serial, comma is one which is put at the end of a long list of items before the “and” or “or”. There was no such comma at the end of the relevant clause relating to overtime payments in the law of Maine. This clause says that employers have to pay employees one-and-a-half times their normal hourly wage for any work ...

Who said Punctuation is the servant and not the master of substance and meaning?

In textbook Modern Legal Drafting, the authors quote law academic and judge Sir Robert Megarry, who once argued that we shouldn’t get too hung up on these matters: “Punctuation is the servant and not the master of substance and meaning.”.

How much did a poorly placed comma cost in 1872?

In 1872, one poorly placed comma in a tariff law, dubbed the most expensive typo in legislative history, cost Civil war era taxpayers more than $2 million, or $38,350,000 in today’s dollars.

Why is bad legal writing bad?

Bad legal writing not only reflects poorly on attorneys and the entire legal profession, but also can weaken cases and waste the time of judges, clients, and other legal professionals. In the legal industry, wasted time is wasted money.

Which court found in favor of the drivers?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found in favor of the drivers, stating that the absence of a comma in the statute produced enough uncertainty to rule in their favor. In the words of the lawyer who represented the drivers, “That comma would have sunk our ship.”.

Do judges dismiss spelling errors?

Consequently, judges are not above dismissing complaints that contain excessive spelling errors, are poorly organized, and generally utilize bad grammar, and have been known to issue public reprimands requiring attorneys to take legal writing courses.

Is there a comma before "and"?

Also known as a serial comma, an Oxford comma is placed before the word “and” and another conjunction in a series of three or more terms. Some people put a comma there, others leave it out, and many people, including judges, have strong opinions regarding its use. Regarding the case above, Maine’s overtime law states:

What does a comma after a van mean?

In this sentence, there is a comma after vans to show that the list contains four separate categories of items – cars, trucks, vans, tractors – and that vans and tractors do not make up a single category.

Why do we use commas in sentences?

Commas are used to show a short pause within a sentence. They should be used with care as a misplaced comma can alter the intended meaning of the sentence. For example: James hit Ian and Edward, then ran away. James hit Ian, and Edward then ran away.

When to use a full stop?

Full stops should be used in the following situations: • At the end of all sentences which are not questions or exclamations. The next word should normally begin with a capital letter.

Do you put a comma after "small"?

8 Between adjectives which each qualify a noun in the same way. For example, ‘a small, dark room’. Here, a comma is placed after small. However, where the adjectives qualify the noun in different ways, or when one adjective qualifies another, no comma is used.