Having explored the uses of the em-dash and the en-dash, we now come to the most commonly known of the dash punctuation marks: the hyphen. The hyphen’s main job is to connect two or more things that are closely…
Risk Management: Lawyers Facing Claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Lawyers facing claims for breach of fiduciary duty, and the counsel defending them, should be aware of the Court of Appeal’s decision last year in Knutson v. Foster, 25 Cal.App.5th 1075 (2018). Plaintiff’s counsel is almost certain to bring…
Use an En-dash to Mark a Range of Things Like Dates and Numbers
After publication of last month’s column on uses of the em-dash, a reader emailed to ask why the instructions I shared for creating this punctuation mark call for leaving no space on either side of it. He asked the…
Risk Management: California’s Mediation Confidentiality Disclosure
California lawyers must disclose the confidentiality rules that apply to mediation to their client before the mediation. California Evidence Code section 1129 ensures that attorneys make their clients aware of the confidentiality rules related to mediation, including that communications…
Use a Pair of Em-dashes to Mark Off an Abrupt Break in a Sentence or One to Emphasize the Text at the End
Depending on the context, an em-dash—so named because its width matches a typesetter’s capital M—can take the place of a comma, parenthesis, or a colon in a sentence. Because it signals an abrupt break in the text, the em-dash…
Risk Management: New “Reporting Up” Requirements For Attorneys Representing Organizations
California Rule of Professional Conduct Rule 1.13 addresses a lawyer’s duties in representing an organization. Lawyers should be aware of the rule’s requirements regarding an attorney’s duty to “report up” under certain circumstances. Rule 1.13(b) requires reporting up an…
Expert of the Month: Martin Balaban
Meet Martin Balaban. A state-licensed safety engineer with a PhD in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley, Martin Balaban is a sought-after expert witness with AR TECH Forensic Experts, Inc. You can find Martin Balaban’s profile in our Register of Experts…
LawYaw Included in National Law Journal’s 2019 Emerging Legal Technologies List
LawYaw, a recent addition to the Bar Association of San Francisco’s list of member benefit providers was recently highlighted by the National Law Journal. LawYaw was included in the 2019 Emerging Legal Technologies special supplement to the National Law Journal. Selected companies were chosen for their…
More Transition Words and Phrases
As promised, here is the second half of legal writing expert Ross Guberman’s handy list of transition words for lawyers and other advocates—organized according to the purpose of the sentence. (If you missed last month’s article, read it here: Broaden…
Expert of the Month: Frank Wisehart
Meet Frank Wisehart. A partner with BakerTilly (formerly known as RGL Forensics), Frank is a business consultant and a court approved expert witness with over 20 years of experience. You can find Frank’s profile in our Register of Experts and Consultants. Simply…
The 2019 BASF Directory has Arrived!
Have you received your 2019 edition of the BASF Directory? The annual directory, published by the Bar Association of San Francisco for over 45 years, includes the extensive Register of Experts & Consultants and the ADR Directory, including Mediators, Arbitrators, and Special Masters.…
Broaden and Deepen Your Repertoire of Transitions
As we discussed last month, writing seamless paragraphs requires use of transitions, or logical connectors. The ones that appear most frequently in legal writing are moreover, additionally, however, furthermore, and nevertheless. The problem is that these words get old fast,…