Principles Of Drafting Flashcards
What is drafting?
Drafting is communication in a permanent form. Words written must match the client’s instructions.
What are the aims of legal drafting?
The aims of legal drafting are conciseness, comprehensibility, and clarity.
What are the fundamental rules of legal drafting?
Every legal draft should ensure it is accurate, complete, precise, clear, conforms with contemporary standards, and is short and simple.
What are the stages of legal drafting?
The stages of legal drafting are receiving and understanding the client’s instructions, analyzing the instruction, designing the draft, composing the draft, and scrutinizing the draft.
What are the types of paragraphing techniques?
The types of paragraphing techniques are two-layered text (introductory statement and numbered paragraphs) and three-layered text (introductory statement, independent paragraphs, and concluding statement).
What are draftsman’s habits to avoid?
Draftsman’s habits to avoid include long and uncommon words, intricate expressions, verbose style, and archaic words.
What does ‘will/shall’ mean in legal drafting?
‘Will/shall’ means obligatory.
What does ‘may’ mean in legal drafting?
‘May’ means it is discretional.
See Bamaiyi v. A.G Federation & 3 Ors
How can ambiguity be avoided when using ‘may’?
A better draft will be ‘…may, in his discretion…’.
What does ‘and’ mean in legal drafting?
‘And’ means it is conjunctive. A better draft to avoid ambiguity is ‘Both…and…’.
What does ‘or’ mean in legal drafting?
‘Or’ means it is disjunctive. A better draft is ‘Either… or…’.
What is the difference between ‘means’ and ‘include’ in a definition clause?
‘Means’ delimits or narrows the definition, while ‘include’ extends the definition.
What is the purpose of the phrase ‘without affecting the generality of the foregoing’?
It is used to exclude the application of the ejusdem generis rule.
What is the effect of ‘subject to contract’ in a letter?
The document or agreement is not binding until a formal contract is reached by the parties.
See Tejumola & sons v. UBA
What is the effect of ‘without prejudice’ in a letter?
The document is not admissible in court against the maker.
See S. 196 Evidence Act 2011; Ashibuogu v A.G Bendel State
What are examples of official or formal letters?
Examples include letter of demand, letter of information to the client, application letter, status letter, request letter, opinion letter, confirmation letter, and pre-action notices.
What is a memorandum?
A memorandum is an in-house official correspondence used by a company or institution.
What is the format of a memorandum?
The format includes letterhead, title (Internal Memorandum), from, to, date, subject, body of the memo, and signature with designation of the writer.
