Help! My student’s cant rite

Professor Ann Ching, Pepperdine University School of LawProfessor Jayne T. Woods, University of Missouri School of Law

The Problem

Photo Credit: Kyoto Hamada/The Atlantic

Typographical Errors

• “pubic policy”• “A karate school that taught exclusively combat-

oriented marital arts was not required to offer less combat-oriented instruction.”

• “On no account should the recipes be changed unless the customer specifically requests certain indigents be excluded.”

• “The defendant committed a hate crime when he defecated a cross.”

• “cat orgies”

Typographical errors

– Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)

Word usage errors

• “seminole case”• “The heresy of the plaintiff should not have been

admitted.”• “It is the burden of the Government to prove malice

after thought.”• “The plaintiff was fired after he failed to purge himself

on the witness stand after being asked to do so by his employer.”

• “the indigenous client”• “The accident was the approximate cause of the

plaintiff’s injuries.”

Word usage errors

And (the best!) modifier errors

• “Plaintiff’s breasts were groped while being verbally harassed.”

• “The Pregnancy Discrimination Act forbids the discrimination against women who are pregnant by employers.”

• “Mary and Michael had unprotected sex that lasted for six months. Michael didn't get tested for HIV until after they had stopped having sex.”

• “Sliced thin and piled high, the deli customers love the corned beef special.”

And (the best!) modifier errors

Why do we care?

• Precision in language is our job• Examples:

– The million-dollar comma– The Motion to Correct Plaintiff’s Name (which was

Conklin but consistently typed as “cock and” on all prior filings)

– The debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment

– The bench slap (referring attorneys to various legal writing texts . . . Maybe that’s not so bad!)

Part 1: Using Classroom Technology

“Clicker” Slides

Photo Credit: Buffalo State University

Demonstration and “Clicker” Set-up

Please change your clicker to channel 41FIRST: Click on the Channel Button on your clicker. This is located in the bottom left-hand corner.

SECOND: Enter the channel number: Press 4 then 1.

THIRD: Click on the Channel Button again.

First click here First click here

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

1. The court issued their ruling.2. The court issued its ruling.

0%0%

Singular subject

Singular modifier

Plural Modifier, so incorrect

Assuming Joe is the plaintiff, which sentence is grammatically correct?

1. Plaintiff’s brief is ten pages long. 2. Plaintiffs brief is ten pages long.

0%0%

Need the possessive.

Pick the grammatically correct sentence.

1. The sun moves in it’s own orbit.2. The sun moves in its’ own orbit.3. The sun moves in its own orbit.

0%0%0%

This stands for “it is.” It is a contraction, not

a possessive.

Not a word.

Which sentence best conveys the author’s thought?1. Among legal scholars, disagreements are common regarding

almost every issue in the law.2. The lack of uniformity of perceptibility is apparent to anyone

who reads any number of treatises.3. Legal scholars are almost never in complete unification on any

issue in the law.

1 2 3

0% 0%0%

Doesn’t pass the “huh?” test. Confusing words

Word choice—“agreement” is better

Reports

Advantages of Clicker Slides

Photo Credit: Turning Technologies

Disadvantages of Clicker Slides

Part 2: Interactive Exercise

How can we get our students care?

Do you think this a well-written passage?

1. Yes2. No

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Do you think the author of this passage intelligent?

1. Yes2. No

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Do you think the author cares about this case?

1. Yes2. No

0%0%

Would you trust the author to represent you if you were facing jail time?

1. Yes2. No

0%0%

• Look at the top of your paper; there should be a letter.

• How many people had A?• A is an untampered-with excerpt from Justice

Scalia’s opinion in White v. Woodall, 134 S.Ct. 1697, 1704 (2014).

• B has errors in fonts and justification• C has errors in spacing and punctuation• D has spelling errors

The Big Reveal

Questions?