NFPA Paralegal Core Competency Exam (PCCE)Legal Writing and CommunicationHard
A paralegal is proofreading a draft appellate brief. The supervising attorney has stressed the importance of precise grammar and punctuation to maintain credibility. The paralegal encounters the following sentence: 'The court's decision, which was issued on May 1st 2023, is clearly erroneous.' Which grammatical correction is most appropriate for this sentence?
- AReplacing 'clearly erroneous' with 'patently incorrect'.
- BAdding a comma after 'May 1st'.
- CChanging 'is' to 'was' to reflect past tense.
- DRemoving the comma after 'decision'.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Adding a comma after 'May 1st'.
When a date includes the month, day, and year, a comma is typically used after the day and after the year if the sentence continues. In 'May 1st 2023,' a comma is needed after '1st' to separate the day from the year, and another after '2023' (which is already present in the original sentence due to the non-restrictive clause). The correct application of punctuation rules for dates is crucial for precision in legal writing.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Replacing 'clearly erroneous' with 'patently incorrect' is a stylistic change, not a grammatical correction, and 'clearly erroneous' is a standard legal term.
- C. The verb 'is' is correct as the decision *is* currently considered clearly erroneous, even if issued in the past.
- D. Removing the comma after 'decision' would incorrectly alter the punctuation of a non-restrictive clause.
Comma Usage with Dates
When a full date (month, day, and year) appears in a sentence, a comma should be placed after the day and after the year if the sentence continues.
- Month, Day, Year format requires two commas.
- If only month and year, no comma is needed between them.
- If only month and day, no comma is needed after the day unless it's the end of a clause.
Memory trick: Punctuate Dates Right, or Your Brief's a Fright!