Erin Leslie Gordon is a freelance legal journalist and former contributor to the Daily Journal. A convalescent lawyer, she spent five years as an associate professor and taught writing at UC Hastings College of the Law. Rule 2a. Hyphen for all numbers composed of twenty-one to ninety-nine. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends spelling numbers from zero to one hundred, and then using numbers, except for integers used in combination with hundreds, thousands, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, and beyond (e.g., two hundred; twenty-eight thousand; three hundred thousand; one million). In the Chicago style, unlike the AP style, we wrote four hundred, eight thousand, and twenty million without numbers – but like AP, the Chicago style would require numbers for 401; 8,012; and 20,040,086. From what my research shows (limited as always), the origin of the practice of spelling or spelling all numbers and then including the numbers in parentheses is lost to history. The Blue Book is also affected by disruptions in the legal industry due to legal technology. [51] In 2017, the startup LegalEase[52] launched a legal citation generator that allows its users to create citations in bluebook format. [53] An atomic number defines “the position of a thing in a series.” The first, second and third are atomic numbers.
Follow the general rule you have chosen for regular numbers (which are actually called “cardinal numbers”) also for ordinal numbers. If you have decided to write integers up to 99 (“ninety-nine”), you must also write ordinals. Note that ordinals are separated by hyphens whenever cardinals are. Sixty-one is separated by a hyphen, so sixty-one too. In any letter, it is boring to spell large numbers instead of using numbers. It`s worse in legal drafting. To appear well on the page in the first place, extra effort is required, and then additional checking. The probability of error increases with each step.
Moreover, from the reader`s point of view, this approach makes it difficult to read a document. If only a small number of applications are affected, this may not cause too many problems. But the more something like this is done, the more problems it can cause. Posted on July 30, 2021 by thebettereditor. Legal drafting can be dry; It can be annoying. At worst, it can be downright horrific: not just exaggerated and tortured. Not many things in professional writing really make me angry, but this is one of them.* Some **/must/**numbers be spelled out – especially financial, where a slipped decimal can have big consequences.* “Best practice is to spell out all numbers ten and less and use numbers for 11 and more.” • When numbers return to the text or are used for calculations, Then the numbers must be used. Spell out numbers less than 10 and large round numbers. Nine, 15, a thousand I have struggled to find a reliable source – and I want to be clear: any trustworthy source – that demands, specifies, encourages, justifies or even tolerates this practice. Even in this manual (my related boundary document was created in Massachusetts, so I guess it follows the rules of the fair), there is no reference to this sort of thing. However, I probably shouldn`t take this as gospel: the “General Laws of Massachusetts” is a document that is a blatant culprit when it comes to spelling numbers instead of using numbers. Compare these two example pages to see if you can read a guiding principle in the good old “M.G.L.” In non-technical writing, Chicago suggests spelling out distances, lengths, temperatures, and other measurements of the physical world.
However, I consider legal writing to be technical writing, so I suggest “80 yards,” “14 miles,” and “97 degrees,” even if you write hundred-numbered numbers. Even Chicago sees the clarity of a “40-watt bulb” and a “32-inch inner seam” instead of advertised versions. Claims about intellectual property made by HLR Association may or may not be false. But in any event, the tactics used by HLR`s lawyer in his dealings with Mr. Malamud and Professor Sprigman are regrettable. The Harvard Law Review claims to be an organization that promotes knowledge and access to jurisprudence. It is a revered part of Harvard Law School traditions. But these Harvard Law Review actions are about competition, not justice. [44] Write down fractions that do not follow integers (e.g., “use three-quarters of a bag of chocolate chips”). However, one point worth addressing is the statement that I misplaced the word “only” in a sentence. This is a fair criticism, and there are many specific cases where the meaning changes significantly depending on where that modifier ends.
In this case, it is clear in context what it means. A rearrangement does not improve the sentence. The original “[this] was unusual and was only made for important documents” is functionally equivalent to the revised version “[this] was unusual and was only done for important documents”. These variations have slightly different nuances of meaning compared to exclusivity, but this is a difference without distinction. There is no likelihood of confusion that, for example, “he killed only those who offended him” versus “he killed those who offended him only.” Legal documents can range from bank checks and purchase contracts to statements and court decisions. The risk of ambiguity makes it advisable to provide not only accurate and precise amounts and figures, but also the written number. Although cashier`s checks are not used as often these days, most people have seen numbers written to make sure that the amount of the check is not confused. Legal Writing Standards: Dates, Numbers, Citations and Titles You may have noticed a problem when it comes to the English language: most rules are not standardized. This (somewhat frustrating) fact is especially true when it comes to spelling numbers. Should you write them down with words or leave them as numbers? To spell numbers correctly, you also need to identify potential differences between major style guides (like MLA, APA, and Chicago, to name a few), as these guides often describe different rules for using numbers when writing. Going back to my heavy construction, your suggestion “[this] was only done for important documents” becomes idiomatic and obscures the water even more (what is a “single important document?”), while another alternative, “[this] was only done for important documents”, changes the meaning. If two numbers are side by side in a sentence, be sure to spell one of those numbers.
The main purpose of this rule is not to confuse the reader. The reason for this is relatively intuitive. Writing large numbers not only wastes space, but could also be a huge distraction for your readers. Policies and philosophies vary from one medium to another. America`s two most influential style and usage guidelines have different approaches: the Associated Press Stylebook recommends spelling numbers from zero to nine, and then using numbers — until a million is reached. Here are four examples of writing AP-style numbers greater than 999,999: 1 million; $20 million; 20,040,086; 2.7 trillion. But I want to explain why I like the old, disgusting method. It actually has to do with the point raised by the very experienced lawyer. If one number is wrong and the other is correct, it can be problematic. But this is not as problematic as if an instance of the number is false. What kind of argument can you make in that situation if the other party argues that the number is correct? A bad one. Plus, writing the number into words, as well as writing the numbers, makes you much less likely to make a mistake.
I`ve seen people add zeros to digits or reverse numbers when they write the number, but never when the number is written and the number added.