What does a comma mean in law?

• Creating a List of Three or More Items. If the ACT gives you a list of three or more items, always use a comma, placing it in front of the “and" that comes before the final item. ...
• “Stop" Punctuation. ...
• “Go" Punctuation. ...
• Setting off Unnecessary Info.

Does comma in legal name matter?

That's up to you. The states do not require or mandate the use of a comma between the title of your business and the corporation or LLC designation when naming your business. That said, many business owners prefer to use the comma to set apart their business name and to meet state requirements for the designation.

Do lawyers use serial comma?

series of three or more words, phrases, or clauses. Although the serial comma is optional in many other types of writing, you should use it in legal and business writing because it is more precise.

How do you signal an interruption in legal writing?

The use of parentheses is the most widely accepted form of punctuation for signaling an interruption in formal legal writing. This is because parentheses are less intrusive and emphasize the interruption without taking away from the overall flow of the sentence.

How do you emphasize a word in legal writing?

To emphasize something in writing, many lawyers resort to typographical gimmicks: italics, bold, underlining, all capital letters, or some combination of these. To de-emphasize something, many lawyers either bury it in a footnote or, worse, omit it completely, hoping that if ignored, the thing will just go away.

What is an example of interrupting words?

Other common interrupters include to say the least, however, generally speaking, sadly, happily, and unfortunately.

What does interrupted mean in law?

Interruption of the possession is where the right is not enjoyed or exercised continuously; interruption of the right is where the person having or claiming the right ceases the exercise of it in such a manner as to show that he does not claim to be entitled to exercise it.

What is the Oxford comma in law?

Lawyers should use the Oxford comma to help avoid ambiguity. Three ambiguities may arise without this comma: Whether the two final items in a list are one combined element or separate. Whether one noun phrase modifies the others when there are two or more noun phrases next to each other in a list.

Do you put a comma before and in legal writing?

1. Thou Shalt Include a Comma Before a Conjunction That Introduces an Independent Clause. Put a comma before a midsentence “and” or “but” if what follows could have been a sentence on its own. If what follows is just a phrase, a comma is optional but almost always unnecessary.

What format do lawyers write in?

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, print. The style most commonly used by lawyers and legal scholars.

Why do you put a comma before a name?

The basic idea is that if the name (in the above example, “Jessie”) is the only thing in the world described by the identifier (“my oldest friend”), use a comma before the name (and after it as well, unless you've come to the end of the sentence). If not, don't use any commas.

Do you put a comma before or after saying someone's name?

If the name comes at the end of the sentence, the comma precedes the name: Stop jumping on the beds, boys. And if the name (or names) comes in the middle of the sentence, surround it with commas: What I said, Sean and Duncan, was to stop jumping on the beds!

Can you have punctuation in your legal name?

This restriction originated in 1986, when Proposition 63 established English as the California's official language. Names must only contain “the 26 alphabetical characters of the English language with appropriate punctuation if necessary.” And guess where little X Æ A-12 was born?

How do you punctuate legal documents?

According to Cuny School of Law, commas must separate independent clauses whenever they are joined together by coordinating conjunctions, such as and, for, but, or, yet and nor. You should also use commas to separate three or more phrases, clauses or words within a sentence (eg:phrases, clauses or words).

How do you know when to put a comma before which?

You need a comma before “which” when it introduces a nonrestrictive clause: a clause providing extra information that isn't essential to the sentence's meaning. There's no comma before “which“ when it introduces a restrictive clause: a clause that couldn't be removed without changing the sentence's meaning.

Why do people refuse to use the Oxford comma?

The AP Stylebook considers the Oxford Comma unimportant, and many journalists agree that they shouldn't be required to use it. Why don't they use it? Many opponents of the Oxford comma claim that it makes a piece of writing sound more pretentious and stuffy, and that it can make things seem cluttered and redundant.

What's the difference between an Oxford comma and a comma?

What is an Oxford comma? To give the Oxford comma its technical definition, it is a comma used before the final conjunction in a list of three or more items. When you're writing a list, you naturally include commas to separate each item, but an Oxford comma is when you also put a comma before the “and [Final Item]”.

Why is the Oxford comma so controversial?

Opponents say that a grammatical rule cannot simply be disregarded whenever it seems to become ambiguous. If you favor the Oxford comma, it needs to be used every single time. There are severals ways to avoid ambiguity when using an Oxford comma, like using certain punctuation or changing the structure of the sentence.

What is the word to break a law?

On this page you'll find 34 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to breaking of the law, such as: breach, crime, error, fault, infraction, and infringement.

What is burglar in law?

Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of illegally entering a building or other areas without permission, typically with the intention of committing a criminal offence.