Passive Voice Be Damned!

An open plea to everyone who writes, but especially judges writing decisions and lawyers writing briefs and memos: Please write in an active voice!

Here's just a small sample of the kind of obtuse and just plain sloppy writing law students and lawyers have to read every day, with my increasingly disgruntled questions for the writer (Justice White) in brackets:

In June 1984, appellant began a bill of review proceeding in the Texas courts to set aside the default judgment and obtain the relief. In the second amended petition, it was alleged [by whom?] that the return of service itself showed a defective service and that appellant in fact had not been personally served [by whom?] at all. ... It was also alleged [by whom!?] that the judgment was abstracted and recorded [by whom!?] in the county real property records, thereby creating a cloud on appellant's title, that a writ of attachment was issued [by whom!?], and that, unbeknownst to him, his real property was sold [for great sakes, by whom?] to satisfy the judgment and for much more than its true value. Peralta v. Heights Medical Center, 485 U.S. 80 (1988).

In some cases it's hard for a writer to determine who is responsible for an action, but then, part of your job as a writer is to make yourself clear, and if that means rewriting or doing a little more research to figure out exactly who did what, then that's what you should do. But no, not judges and attorneys. Instead, they just resort to endless strings of passive voice that get so tangled up and knotted that frustrated readers have no recourse other than to throw up their hands and beg for mercy.

I'm begging, but not for mercy, just a some subjects to go along with these verbs, please. Subject, verb, object. Spot is running. Peralta alleged. Heights Medical did not serve Peralta at all. Peralta also alleged. The Texas court (I assume, but I'm guessing) abstracted and recorded the judgment. The Texas court issued a writ of attachment and the sheriff sold Peralta's real property to satisfy the judgment.

It's really not that hard, plus it makes you look smart and clear and precise so that all your readers will love and praise you through the ages. And really, what more could a legal writer want?

Note: Like Three Years of Hell, I'm well into that tired and cranky point of the semester, so if this sounds overly harsh, a slight lack of sleep and generally low levels of patience would be why. Still, please write in an active voice! Thank you.

Posted February 25, 2004 06:31 AM | law school