Mastering Legal English Grammar: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Clear and precise grammar is critical in the legal world. One small mistake can lead to misinterpretation, confusion, or even legal risk. For ESL (English as a Second Language) lawyers, mastering legal English grammar is essential for writing contracts, communicating with clients, drafting memos, and speaking in court.

But Legal English grammar is different from everyday English. It is more formal, structured, and precise. In this post, we’ll cover the most common grammar mistakes ESL lawyers make—and how to avoid them. You’ll learn practical strategies to improve clarity, avoid ambiguity, and sound more like a native English-speaking legal professional.

1. Passive Voice: When (and When Not) to Use It

Passive voice is common in legal writing. It focuses on the action rather than the actor.
Example:

• Active voice: “The lawyer filed the motion.”
• Passive voice: “The motion was filed by the lawyer.”

In legal writing, passive voice is often used when the actor is unknown or irrelevant, or when you want to emphasize the action or result.

✅ Appropriate legal use:

• “The contract was signed on March 1st.”
• “The defendant was convicted of fraud.”

❌ Overuse leads to confusion:
Too much passive voice makes writing unclear. Use active voice when it improves clarity:

• Instead of: “The brief was submitted late.”
• Use: “Counsel submitted the brief late.”

🧠 Tip: Aim for a balance. In legal writing, passive voice is acceptable—but don’t rely on it too much.

2. Subject-Verb Agreement

This is one of the most common grammar errors, even among native speakers. The subject and verb must match in number (singular or plural).

• ✅ “The judge rules on the motion.”
• ❌ “The judge rule on the motion.”

Things get tricky with complex legal subjects:

• ✅ “Each of the parties has signed the agreement.”
  (Even though “parties” is plural, “each” is singular.)
• ✅ “Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant is present.”
  (When using “neither…nor,” the verb matches the nearer subject.)

🧠 Tip: In long legal sentences, find the main subject and match the verb to it. Ignore extra words between them.

3. Misuse of Modal Verbs (Shall, May, Must, Should)

Modal verbs express necessity, possibility, permission, or obligation. They are especially important in contracts and legal documents.

⚠️ Common mistake: Using “shall” too often or incorrectly.

• ❌ “The court shall be hearing the case.” (awkward and outdated)
• ✅ “The court will hear the case.” (better for modern legal writing)

🧠 Tip: Use shall carefully in contracts. In general legal writing, prefer must or will unless “shall” has a clear legal meaning.

4. Misplaced Modifiers

Modifiers describe or add information to a sentence. When placed incorrectly, they can change the meaning.

• ❌ “The lawyer reviewed the case with the client who was tired.”
  (Was the client tired or the lawyer?)
• ✅ “The tired client reviewed the case with the lawyer.”
  (Clarity improved.)

In legal writing, modifiers should be close to the word they describe.

• ❌ “We only reviewed the first clause.”
• ✅ “We reviewed only the first clause.”
  (Makes it clear that no other clauses were reviewed.)

🧠 Tip: Read your sentence out loud. If it sounds confusing or unclear, your modifier might be misplaced

5. Preposition Confusion

Prepositions are small words (in, on, at, to, by, with) that create big problems for ESL writers.

Common errors include:

• ❌ “Married with a U.S. citizen”
  ✅ “Married to a U.S. citizen”
• ❌ “Discuss about the issue”
  ✅ “Discuss the issue” (No preposition needed)

Legal phrases with specific prepositions:

• “Liable for damages”
• “Entitled to compensation”
• “In accordance with the contract”
• “Subject to review”

🧠 Tip: Learn collocations—common word combinations like “comply with,” “apply for,” “rely on.”

6. Articles: A, An, and The

Many legal terms don’t need articles, and this confuses ESL writers.

• ✅ “He filed a lawsuit.” (first mention, general)
• ✅ “The lawsuit was dismissed.” (specific, already known)

Common ESL errors:

• ❌ “She is attorney.”
  ✅ “She is an attorney.”
• ❌ “I read agreement.”
  ✅ “I read the agreement.”

🧠 Tip: Use a/an for something new, the for something specific or previously mentioned. Legal nouns often use the (e.g., “the contract,” “the defendant”).

7. Overly Complex Sentences

Legal English often includes long, formal sentences, but ESL writers sometimes make them too complex, leading to confusion.

• ❌ “Whereas the party of the first part has failed to comply with the aforementioned stipulations which are binding and enforceable pursuant to the governing statutes...”
• ✅ “The first party failed to follow the required rules under the law.”

🧠 Tip: Use plain English where possible. Break long sentences into two or three short ones. Avoid outdated legalese like hereby, aforementioned, or party of the first part unless legally necessary.

8. Ambiguous Pronouns

Pronouns (he, she, it, they) must clearly refer to a noun. In legal writing, vague pronouns can cause serious problems.

• ❌ “The lawyer told the client that he would win.”
  (Who is “he”? The lawyer or the client?)
• ✅ “The lawyer told the client: ‘You have a strong case.’”
  (Direct and clear.)

🧠 Tip: Repeat the noun when there’s any chance of confusion.

9. Plural Forms of Legal Terms

Some legal terms have irregular plural forms or are often used incorrectly.

🧠 Tip: When in doubt, check a legal dictionary or style guide (like Black’s Law Dictionary or The Bluebook).

Conclusion

Grammar is more than a formality in the legal profession—it’s a tool of precision. As an ESL lawyer, improving your legal English grammar will help you write stronger arguments, communicate clearly with clients, and gain more confidence in professional settings.

Start by focusing on the pitfalls discussed in this post:

• Passive voice
• Subject-verb agreement
• Modal verbs
• Misplaced modifiers
• Prepositions
• Articles
• Sentence length
• Pronoun clarity
• Legal plurals

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Instead, pick one or two areas to practice each week. Over time, you’ll not only avoid common mistakes—you’ll begin writing like a native legal professional.

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