3 Must-Know Comma Rules for Lawyers

Though we may be hired to interpret and apply the law, our clients rely on our writing skills to accurately capture their intent. It’s irresponsible to discount punctuation rules as pedantic and useless. Lawyers must get three comma rules right:

1. Never use commas with restrictive modifiers.
2. Always use commas with non-restrictive modifiers.
3. Consistently use commas before the final item in a series.

The loose rules we used in college aren’t enough for the legal work we do now. Inconsistent or incorrect use of commas in these three areas can cause confusion and ambiguity—and cost your clients. Until you’ve memorized these comma rules and can apply them consistently, look them up every time you write.

What Are You Qualifying or Explaining?

A modifier can be a word or clause that describes, qualifies, or explains an element in a sentence. Our understanding of whether a modifier is restrictive or non-restrictive depends primarily on comma placement and the choice between that and which.

If you must identify a specific person, place, or thing—and distinguish it from other persons, places, or things—use a restrictive modifier. Use that without commas to show a restrictive modifier.

If you’re adding extra information and it is clear what the word or clause modifies and it is unnecessary to distinguish the people, places, or things that are modified, then use a non-restrictive modifier. Use which along with a comma to show a non-restrictive modifier.

Though some writers always use which and rely on the absence or presence of a comma to indicate whether the modifier is restrictive or non-restrictive, legal writers should follow the traditional rule to use that without commas for restrictive modifiers and which with commas for non-restrictive modifiers.

Here are your comma rules to remember:

1. Do Not Use Commas with Restrictive Modifiers

Never use commas to set off a restrictive modifier from the rest of the sentence. If a restrictive modifier is in the middle of a sentence, do not set it off with commas. For a stronger break in either position, use dashes.

2. Always Use Commas for Non-Restrictive Modifiers

If the non-restrictive modifier is at the end of the sentence, insert a comma to set off the modifier from the rest of the sentence. If a non-restrictive modifier is in the middle of a sentence, enclose it within a pair of commas.

For further reading on that, which, and restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers, check out 12.43-12.56 in A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting by WordRake user Ken Adams.