(Avoid Meaningless Parentheses)

Bard of the Bar

Aug 27

“He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier; and now his words are a very fantastical banquet.”

Much Ado About Nothing II,3; Benedick, concerning Claudio, who has fallen in love.

How many times have you seen a paragraph like this:

This appeal arises from a will (the “will”) that Virginia Johnson (hereinafter “Ms. Johnson”) executed naming her husband Joe Johnson (“Mr. Johnson”). The will devised certain real property (hereinafter the “real property”) as well as certain personal property (the “personal property”) to Mr. Johnson upon her demise. There were two (2) copies of the will, and five (5) codicils.Another key thing to understand.

If you are doing this in your briefs, please (I beg you) stop.

Briefs are not contracts. Briefs tell stories. Use peoples’ names, and don’t put a number in parentheses after spelling it out. Instead, show the reader something about the people in the case that is distinctive and memorable.

Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave us a good example. In her dissent in the famous City of New London condemnation case, she could have said: “The Plaintiffs have owned their property for a long time.” Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469, 494-95 (2005) (O’Connor, J. dissenting). Instead, she wrote:

Plaintiffs are nine resident or investment owners of 15 homes in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London, Connecticut. Wilhelmina Dery, for example, lives in a house on Walbach Street that has been in her family for over 100 years. She was born in the house in 1918; her husband, Charles Dery, moved into the house when they married in 1946. Their son lives next door with his family in the house he received as a wedding gift, and joins his parents in this suit.

Id.

The case was about a city taking the plaintiffs’ property for business use to increase their tax base. Knowing something about the people who were losing their homes better described what was at stake.

Don’t be afraid to tell a more nuanced story.

Provide both context and detail, distinguishing your case from all the other cases the court has to decide. Everyone likes a good story. They like it even better if you tell the story well.