What is the ‘It’?: A Handbook for Proofing Court Judgments

by Stan Emmerson

Each year sees a fresh intake of judges’ associates to Australia’s courts. The proofing of judgments before publication is one of the most important of the many jobs they will be asked to do. It is also one of the most difficult. And yet the associate might have little or no experience in this task, and is likely to receive little, if any, training. This book exists to fill that gap.

Proofing isn’t just reading the judgment. It requires a particular mindset. It calls for focus and concentration, and attention to detail. And you have to know what you are looking for. This book highlights techniques for proofing a judgment effectively, things to watch out for, and traps that are easy to fall into. It also identifies many types of structural errors and ambiguities that appear frequently in judgments, and answers citation questions that won’t necessarily be addressed by the court style guide.

You will never look at the word “it” in the same way again.

The author is uniquely positioned to write this book, having worked closely with a generation of associates to High Court judges. In a sense, the book is a distillation of all of the conversations he has had, and the questions he has most frequently found himself answering, over that time.

Although the book is primarily addressed to judges’ associates, it will also be an invaluable resource for administrative decision-makers, arbitrators, barristers, law academics, and anybody who is involved in legal writing or editing.

Genres: Law

164 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2023

Reviews

[Ying Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an extremely niche segment of the population of which I am a part (judges’ associates in Australian jurisdictions). First approached this book as a reference guide as I was proofing a judgment and was disgruntled when it provided no concrete answers to my grammatical questions, gave up reading and cast it aside. Returned when friend, fellow associate and goodreads influencer Valerie told me it was worth reading cover to cover, which I have now done and I have to say it is the way it should be read. Full of very useful reminders, articulately puts forward the case for careful and meticulous proofing. I am inspired to approach my next judgment proof in Emmerson’s venerable style.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished while drinking coffee. I am extremely disappointed in myself that it took me so long to actually pick this up and read it, considering this book is targeted towards an extremely small sub-set of the world (and Australia) of which I currently form a part! An engaging and thoughtful read, which will (at the risk of this sounding too much like a LinkedIn Post) assist with my work tremendously. While the rules & guidelines within this book are, at times, agonisingly esoteric (and I did not agree with some of them… ‘summons’ is an appropriate verb! Also, doesn’t the AGLC use single quotation marks, not double?), the level of care and thought with which Emmerson tackles the English language, within the rubric of the legal form in Australia, is extraordinary. Proofing rulings and judgments halfway through reading this book I was already agonising over words, phrases, styles a lot more. Going back to work on Monday having completely finished this book, I am ready to become an extremely annoying person. More selfishly, I also picked up this book with a view to bettering my own personal writing. This didn’t really do that, it really was catered towards legal writing (and where it expanded beyond that, the extreme precision required for legal writing which isn’t necessarily conducive to good creative or non-legal writing). However, legal writing in general has helped my personal writing, so there will probably be some flow-on effect. At the very least this book has personally re-agitated my need to acquire some Blackwing pencils. And read more John McPhee.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An accessible and super handy guide for anyone looking to improve their legal writing and editorial skills.

[joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

if anyone hears that mr emmerson is seeking an apprentice, please let me know