Bryan A. Garner

Welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of legal writing and English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. Last week, we learned that 59% of our readers would never use “their” in the place of “his or […]

In last week’s Grammer Pole, you voted to overwhelmingly approve the use of split infinitives. Fifty-three percent of Above the Law readers said that splitting infinitives is acceptable, even if it should be done sparingly. An additional forty percent said, “Yes. It’s great to liberally split infinitives!” This suggests to me that ATL readers are […]

In an event Lat did a few years ago at the University of Chicago with Judge Richard Posner, Judge Posner tossed out a delicious little blind item. He mentioned a federal judge in Chicago who would fire law clerks for what she viewed as a very grave offense: splitting infinitives in written work product. But is splitting infinitives really such a crime?

In last week's edition of Grammer Pole of the Weak, we turned to an issue of grammar with some stylistic flair that was brought to our attention by another member of SCOTUS, Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts isn't a fan of the word "which" when used in legal writing. He much prefers use of the word "that"....

In Grammer Pole of the Weak — yes, “Grammer” is intentionally misspelled, as are “Pole” and “Weak” — we consider questions of English grammar and usage. Last week, for example, we looked at a fun an interesting topic: the adjectival use of “fun” (which over 85 percent of you support, even if traditionalists frown upon […]

Everybody’s working for the weekend. But for now, while you’re still stuck at work, you should take a look at our latest Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. Last week, we found out that even federal judges […]

Above the Law readers are traditionalists in matters of grammar, usage, and writing style. How do y'all feel about neologisms? Let's look at two new words, coined by none other than the newly svelte Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit....

Happy Friday, and welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. Last week, we discovered that 82% of our readers are willing to strangle, maim, and kill over the use […]

Here at Above the Law, we've been discussing English grammar and usage forever -- well, at least since 2006. We've now decided to formalize the discussion. Every Friday we will raise an issue of grammar, spelling, or style, in our newest ATL feature: Grammer Pole of the Weak. Today's topic: "all right" versus "alright." Let's discuss....

My overlords here at ATL thought it would be fun to run a poll about whether there should be one space or two after a period. As if these things are decided by popularity, rather than by rules. This is strange, really, because just about all of you reading this are lawyers or studying to […]

Does legal education need to be reformed? If so, how? The New York Times solicited views from a panel of experts (including Above the Law's own David Lat).