In Defense of the Passive Voice in Legal Writing

Brady Coleman

9 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Technical Writing and Communication

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Legal Language and Interpretation Linguistics and Discourse Analysis Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Abstract

Although the passive voice may be overused in legal prose, warnings in legal writing guidebooks against the passive risk undervaluing its many uses. After briefly introducing the passive voice, and some possible reasons for its misuse, this article will outline the many situations when the passive is more appropriate than the active voice.

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1975A university grammar of English 1995Syntax, Semantics, and Sexual Violence 1991Active verbs with inanimate subjects in scientific prose 1966The Fundamentals of Legal Drafting 1989The Development of the Nineteenth-Century Consensus Theory of Contract 1991The Elements of Legal Style 1987The State of Legal Writing: Res Ipsa Loquitur 1993Language and communication

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1998Using the Active and Passive Voice Appropriately in On-the-Job Writing

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