Principles Of Drafting

Question 1

What is drafting?

Answer 1

Drafting is communication in a permanent form. Words written must match the client’s instructions.

Question 2

What are the aims of legal drafting?

Answer 2

The aims of legal drafting are conciseness, comprehensibility, and clarity.

Question 3

What are the fundamental rules of legal drafting?

Answer 3

Every legal draft should ensure it is accurate, complete, precise, clear, conforms with contemporary standards, and is short and simple.

Question 4

What are the stages of legal drafting?

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

What are the types of paragraphing techniques?

Answer 5

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).

Question 6

What are draftsman’s habits to avoid?

Answer 6

Draftsman’s habits to avoid include long and uncommon words, intricate expressions, verbose style, and archaic words.

Question 7

What does ‘will/shall’ mean in legal drafting?

Answer 7

‘Will/shall’ means obligatory.

Question 8

What does ‘may’ mean in legal drafting?

Answer 8

‘May’ means it is discretional.

See Bamaiyi v. A.G Federation & 3 Ors

Question 9

How can ambiguity be avoided when using ‘may’?

Answer 9

A better draft will be ‘…may, in his discretion…’.

Question 10

What does ‘and’ mean in legal drafting?

Answer 10

‘And’ means it is conjunctive. A better draft to avoid ambiguity is ‘Both…and…’.

Question 11

What does ‘or’ mean in legal drafting?

Answer 11

‘Or’ means it is disjunctive. A better draft is ‘Either… or…’.

Question 12

What is the difference between ‘means’ and ‘include’ in a definition clause?

Answer 12

‘Means’ delimits or narrows the definition, while ‘include’ extends the definition.

Question 13

What is the purpose of the phrase ‘without affecting the generality of the foregoing’?

Answer 13

It is used to exclude the application of the ejusdem generis rule.

Question 14

What is the effect of ‘subject to contract’ in a letter?

Answer 14

The document or agreement is not binding until a formal contract is reached by the parties.

See Tejumola & sons v. UBA

Question 15

What is the effect of ‘without prejudice’ in a letter?

Answer 15

The document is not admissible in court against the maker.

See S. 196 Evidence Act 2011; Ashibuogu v A.G Bendel State

Question 16

What are examples of official or formal letters?

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

What is a memorandum?

Answer 17

A memorandum is an in-house official correspondence used by a company or institution.

Question 18

What is the format of a memorandum?

Answer 18

The format includes letterhead, title (Internal Memorandum), from, to, date, subject, body of the memo, and signature with designation of the writer.