3.125 (Three Point One Two Five) Reasons To Approximate

Okay, okay: Here’s the easy one.

In a brief, don’t say that something happened “on or about” a certain date.

In a pleading, that sort of hedge might be necessary: Don’t say October 1 when it might have been October 2. Maybe you’ll be called a liar, and being wrong by a single day might matter.

But in a brief, it’s hugely unlikely that the one day will matter. And if the other side makes a stink about it, the other side will generally look like a jerk: “BigCo wrote October 1, and it’s really October 2! The fiends!”

So what? Unless the date really matters (for the statute of limitations, or some such thing), the minor error is irrelevant. Smith sent the email on the second, not the first. So what? You can scream, but it reflects worse on you than it does on me.

(It’s the same thing with numbers: “He paid approximately $1,992,367.42 (one million, nine hundred ninety two thousand, three hundred sixty seven dollars and forty two cents) as the purchase price.” In a contract, or some other binding document, perhaps — perhaps — it’s necessary to say “approximately” and then specify the amount to the penny, because there’s some uncertainty. And perhaps you must write out the number parenthetically, because there’s less chance of error if you provide the number both in Arabic numerals and in words. But in a brief? Gimme a break. No one’s gonna call you a liar for saying, “He paid nearly $2 million.” Unless the precise amount matters, fuggedaboutit.)

When does precision matter?

It does not matter in your chronology of the case:

“Plaintiff filed the complaint on January 15. Defendant removed on February 1. Defendant moved to dismiss onFebruary 15. Plaintiff opposed on February 28. Defendant replied on March 5.”

What are you doing?

I’m the reader. You’re trying to persuade me.

And I hate you!

Don’t burden me with unnecessary dates. Unless someone should really care about all this detail, omit it.

That’s the first rule: If the date doesn’t make any difference, omit it. Don’t burden the reader with irrelevant facts.

But there’s more than that. There’s a difference between September 20, 2016; September 2016; and 2016. Each of those references to a date can be right, depending on the circumstances.

Suppose we’re talking about the statute of limitations, and the plaintiff blew it by one day.

The precise date on which the accident occurred, and the precise date on which the plaintiff filed the complaint – either one year, or one year and one day, later — really, really matters. Provide the dates: September 20, 2016, and September 21, 2017.

In other situations, there’s more room to approximate: “This case has been pending since September 2013, and the plaintiff only now — more than three years later — realizes that it has sued the wrong defendant.” [Or whatever.] We’re talking about matters of years; the precise date in September 2013 doesn’t make any difference. Don’t inflict it on the reader.

And, of course, there are times when even the month is unnecessary: “This case has been pending since 2002. And plaintiff now asks for a ninth continuance of the trial date. At some point, this must stop.”

Typically, but not always, the choice between whether to specify a day, a month, or a year will depend on the span of time that you’re writing about. If you’re writing about the Iron Age, you probably don’t have to say: “On June 2, 1199 B.C.” You’re dealing with huge spans of time; approximating to within a few hundred years will probably suffice.

When you’re dealing with smaller amounts of time, provide a year. As the amount of time involved gets smaller, provide both the year and the month.

When precision matters, provide the exact date.

For some events, specify the time of day: “Plaintiff filed the complaint at 9:08 a.m., just seven minutes after he emailed his resignation from the company.”

But think!

Don’t inflict the date on your reader simply because you happen to know it.

You know many things; they’re not all essential to telling the story.

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Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now responsible for litigation and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].