February 25, 2008

Writing Tip of the Week

Capitalization

Capitalization has been known to cause trouble in five places with legal writing:

1. Proper Adjectives

Proper adjectives are adjectives formed from proper nouns. Capitalize most proper adjectives such as American banking system, the Atlantic seaboard, or Vietnamese refugees.

Do not capitalize proper adjectives that have become a part of the general language, such as italic type, murphy bed, or venetian blinds.

2. Titles of officials

Capitalize a title only when it precedes the name or when it replaces the name.

Justice Brennan wrote the concurring opinion. Thank you, Judge, for your advice.

3. The first word after a colon

In general, do not capitalize the first word after a colon. The rare exception to capitalizing the first word after a colon is when trying to emphasize the word or phrase.

Plaintiff asks the court to invoke the most severe penalty: child abuse must be stopped.

4. Common nouns used to refer to specific people or groups

Capitalize a noun that refers to a specific person or organization as well as when the noun replaces the name or organization.

Plaintiff objected to Defendant’s request for tax records.

5. Defined terms

Capitalize a defined term in a document to show that it has previously been defined and that it is being used with a specific meaning.

Meredith Grey (Seller) agrees to sell George O’Malley (Buyer) a Maytag Side-by-Side Refrigerator (Refrigerator) for $300. Buyer agrees that the Refrigerator is offered for sale “as is,” with no warranties expressed or implied by Seller.