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http://www.amazon.com/Legal-Writing-Getting-American-Casebooks/dp/0314154345 ACTIVE VOICE
Active voice is the term for the grammatical structure indicating that the subject of the sentence performs or causes the action expressed by the verb. Because the subject does the acting and the verb describes that action, active voice moves the reader's eye from the left to right.
The boy hit the ball.
Defendant argued that the court should suppress the evidence.
The court decided that freedom of association was not an issue.
This use of active voice prevents the legal reader from having to double back to understand the point.
The ball was hit by the boy.
It was argued by the defendant that the evidence should be suppressed by the court.
It was decided that freedom of association was not an issue.
The passive voice can also create a sentence that is less precise, as in the last example, which makes the reader wonder who decided.
Active voice also makes the sentence shorter in most cases.
The court held that the plaintiff could not collect punitive damages.
rather than
It was held by the court that punitive damages could not be collected by the plaintiff.
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Therefore, if wordiness is a problem in your writing, read through the draft once when REVISING just for passive voice. Check each subject and verb and translate from passive to active whenever active is appropriate. For related information, see CONCISENESS.
Use active voice unless the writing requires the passive for effect. For examples of times when passive is useful, see PASSIVE VOICE.
PASSIVE VOICE
In general, use ACTIVE VOICE rather than passive, both in OBJECTIVE WRITING and PERSUASIVE WRITING, because the active voice keeps the reader's eye moving forward and clarifies both the subject and the action. Active voice thus promotes CLARITY and PRECISION.
Passive voice, on the other hand, makes the reader's eye move backwards because the subject of the sentence receives the action, rather than causes the action. As a result, passive voice forces the reader to stop at the end of the sentence and think back through the sentence to sort out who did what.
The plaintiff was hit by the defendant, [passive voice] but
The defendant hit the plaintiff, [active voice]
A decision was made by the court, [passive voice] but
The court made a decision, [active voice] or
The court decided, [active voice]
Passive verbs also sometimes leave the actor out of the picture.
The plaintiff was hit.
A decision was made.
This use of passive voice often creates ambiguity. For example, the following regulation would be inadequate if it did not specify who has the responsibility for the clean-up.
Any manufacturer who generates toxic waste must dispose of that waste by one of the following means.
rather than
Toxic waste must be disposed of by one of the following means.
Passive voice is useful, however, in four specific situations. In legal writing, use it consciously and for these reasons only; otherwise eliminate it.
1. Use passive voice to de-emphasize unfavorable facts or law. For example, the attorney for the defense might want to write the following.
The plaintiff was assaulted by the defendant.
The attorney for the prosecution, however, might write the following. The defendant assaulted the plaintiff.
2. Use passive voice to hide the identity of the actor. A decision was made to cut your salary.
Here passive voice avoids telling who made the decision.
PEOPLE OR PERSONS?
3. Use passive voice when the subject is very long. In this situation, using passive voice creates a more readable sentence because the active voice would put the subject and verb so far apart that the sentence would be too hard to read.
This action is required by statutory law, by the common law principle of due care, and by a general sense of justice.
rather than
Statutory law, the common law principle of due care, and a general sense of justice require this action.
4. Finally, use passive voice when the subject is much less important than the object.
Freedom of speech cannot be encumbered by concerns of propriety.
rather than
Concerns of propriety cannot encumber freedom of speech. For related information, see ACTIVE VOICE
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