List of Prepositions Used in Legal English

Here is a non-exhaustive list of prepositions in common usage in legal English, together with examples of usage. Note that prepositions are sometimes used in twos (pursuant to, owing to, due to etc) and even threes (as far as, by means of, in accordance with etc), and examples of prepositions strung together in this way are also included below.

One word

about – the lawyer was about to go into court when the telephone rang
above – please refer to the paragraph above which deals with the insurance arrangements
across – she went across to the court to issue the proceedings
after – the contract was signed after the parties had agreed the prices to be paid for the goods
against – the company began trademark infringement proceedings against one of its competitors
along – the client did not go along with the advice given by the lawyer
among (or amongst) – a copy of the plan of the property was found among the papers in the file
around – we expect the purchase price to be around €500,000
at – the contract stipulates that the goods must arrive at the depot at 10.00 on 13 July
before – the lawyer appeared before the judge in court and argued her client’s case
behind – it seemed likely that a criminal gang was behind the thefts from the local garage
below – the company was not prepared to consider offers below a threshold of $3 million
beneath – the Emperor of Ruritania considered it beneath his dignity to open a supermarket in Inverness
between – an agreement was reached between Haxter Ltd and Tollby Ltd on 14 September 2011
beyond – it is important not to go beyond what was agreed without discussing the matter with the client first
by – the invoice must be paid by the client by 3 May
concerning – we have received further information concerning the warranties to be included in the share purchase agreement
despite – we have instructions to proceed with the case despite the points raised in the defence
down – the lawyer advised her client to turn down the offer made by the defendant
during – a great deal of new evidence emerged during the course of the testimony given by the witness
except – this restriction applies to all applications except those already received by the company
excluding – the contract contains a provision excluding liability in certain cases of default
following – the following items must be supplied no later than 25 January
for – payment for the goods shall be made on delivery
from – we have now received the necessary undertakings from the defendant’s lawyer
in – the price list is set out in schedule 1
including – we seek delivery of all the missing parts, including those currently stored in the defendant’s warehouse
into – the clerk asked the parties to go back into court following the adjournment
near – the court is near to the cathedral
next – the client agreed to bring the documents to the next meeting
of – the attorney was a member of various professional organisations
off – certain discussions took place between the lawyers off the record
on – the new law on employment contracts comes into force tomorrow
opposite – the court is located opposite the cathedral in the central square
out – the lawyers worked out the terms of a compromise agreement
over – a dispute arose between the landowners over the positioning of the boundary
per – a travel allowance of €40 per day was paid to the employee
plus – the invoice came to €400 plus VAT
regarding – negotiations took place regarding usage of the storage facilities owned by the company
since – there have been a number of significant developments in the case since the previous court hearing
than – the amount of damages awarded by the court was more than the lawyer had anticipated
through – the lawyer read through the papers in the file
to – delivery shall be made to an address notified by the purchaser to the vendor
towards – a great deal of progress has been made towards settlement of the case, but a little more time is required in order to reach final agreement between the parties
under – the witness gave evidence under oath
until – it is unlikely that the case will be settled until the morning of the hearing
up – he brought up the question of our fees again
upon – the proceedings were served upon the defendant yesterday
via – all contact with the claimant was conducted via her lawyer
with – he was charged with murder
within – the goods must be delivered within 14 days of signature of the contract
without – the total amount of the invoice is €30,450 without VAT


Two words

according to – according to the contract, rent must be paid on the third day of each month
ahead of – we should schedule a further meeting ahead of the next court hearing
apart from – there are no further matters to be resolved apart from the copyright issue
as of – the new law on employment is in force as of midnight tonight
as regards – as regards payment of our fee, we can offer an instalment option
aside from – there are one or two issues we need to address aside from the question of trademarks
because of – this litigation arose because of the unreasonable position taken by the defendant
close to – the case is now close to settlement, but there are several issues still to be resolved
due to – the office is closed tomorrow due to a public holiday
except for
far from – the contract is far from ready to be signed, since a number of amendments need to be made to it
instead of – overtime worked by the employee shall be compensated by extra holiday instead of payment
out of – payment was made out of the company’s account
owing to – the advice given to the client was amended owing to a recent decision of the Court of Appeal
prior to – the consent of the bank must be obtained prior to the share transfer being made
pursuant to – the company changed its name pursuant to the new legislation on company names
regardless of – our client wishes to seek an injunction against his neighbour regardless of whether the building work is suspended or not
subsequent to – the court’s decision was handed down subsequent to the new law coming into force
thanks to – a satisfactory outcome was achieved in the case, thanks to the meticulous work undertaken by the claimant’s lawyers
that of – one issue still remains to be resolved – that of the payment method to be used

Three words

as far as – the summons has not yet been served as far as I know
as well as – the vendor must deliver the software as well as the hardware no later than 10 December
by means of – payment shall be made by means of direct bank transfer
in accordance with – the sum of $45,000 must be paid on 5 October in accordance with the court order
in addition to – certain legal documents require the signature of witnesses as well as the parties in order to be valid
in case of – in case of fire the lifts should not be used
in lieu of – the employee shall receive time off in lieu of payment
in spite of – the assignment was completed by the agreed deadline in spite of several unforeseen difficulties that arose along the way
on account of – the firm’s usual practice is to ask clients to pay a certain sum on account of costs prior to carrying out any work for them
on behalf of – the lawyer appeared on behalf of her client at the pre-trial review
on top of – we will need to study the documents carefully in order to get on top of the case
with regard to / with respect to – with regard to / with respect to the question of costs, we consider that the sum of €35,000 should be adequate

Legal English Synonyms?

Legal English is full of words and phrases which are very close in meaning, but which have some subtle differences in meaning or usages. These terms must therefore be treated with extreme care. Here are some examples.

1. Assign & transfer

Assign is mostly used in relation to intangible property, such as rights under a contract. For example, a typical assignment clause might state:

‘Neither Party may assign any or all of its rights and obligations under this contract without the prior written consent of the other Party.’

In ordinary language it can mean to give a task, duty or benefit to someone. For example:

‘The task of cleaning the premises was assigned to John Smith.’

Transfer is generally used in relation to tangible property (such as land and other physical items). For example:

‘The goods shall be transferred to X’s premises at 15B Whiteley Road, Dartsley on 15 September 2011.’

2. Breach & infringement

Breach is used in relation to contractual violations. For example:

‘X is in breach of the payment obligation set out under clause 3.’

Infringement is used in relation to the violation of rights (particularly intellectual property rights). For example:

‘Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees.’

The word violation can be used in respect both of rights (particularly human rights) and contracts.

3. Landlord & tenant / lessor & lessee

Landlord and tenant are terms which can only be used in relation to the lease of real estate.

Lessor and lessee may also be used in relation to the lease of other types of property (e.g. machinery).

4. Obligation & liability

Obligation is generally used to refer to a specific duty under a contract or legal provision. For example:

‘X is obligated to deliver the goods to Y on December 5th, 2011’.

Liability generally refers to legal consequences. For example:

‘If Y fails to pay the invoices as they fall due, Y shall become liable to pay penalty interest on the outstanding amount at a rate of 10% per annum’.

In a nutshell, breach of an obligation may lead to legal liability.

5. Contract & agreement

Contract is generally used in relation to a specific written contract with legal effect (e.g. ‘we signed the contract today’) or to the branch of law that deals with contracts (contract law).

Agreement can be used as a direct synonym for contract in the sense of a specific written contract (e.g. ‘we signed the contract/agreement today’). However, it may also be used in a more general sense to refer to loose understandings or oral agreements which may or may not have legal effect. For instance:

‘We agreed to meet our colleagues at a restaurant for lunch.’

How to Write Numbers

The general rule is that all numbers ten and below should be spelt and numbers 11 and above should be put in numerals. However, there are certain exceptions to this:

• If numbers recur through the text or are being used for calculations, then numerals should be used.

• If the number is approximate (e.g. ‘around six hundred years ago’) it should be spelled out.

• Very large numbers should generally be expressed without using rows of zeros where possible (e.g. $3.5 million instead of $3,500,000). In contracts, the use of both words and numbers is common in order to increase certainty. For example, ‘THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED EUROS (€3,500)’.

• Percentages may be spelled out (twenty percent) or written as numbers (20%)

• Numbers that begin sentences should be spelled out.

Decimal points

In English writing, the decimal point is represented by a dot (.) and commas are used to break up long numbers. Commas cannot be used to represent a decimal point.

Therefore, the number ten thousand five hundred and fifty-three and three-quarters is written like this in English:

10,553.75

while in most Continental European countries, it is written like this:

10.553,75

When referring to sums of money, the following rules apply:

• When writing numerical sums, the currency sign goes before the sum (e.g. $100). Note that there is no gap between the sign and the figure that follows it.

• When spelling out numbers, the name of the currency is put after the number (e.g. ‘one hundred pounds sterling’).

The percentage sign (%) appears after the number to which it relates, and there is no gap between the sign and the number (e.g. 95%).

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When to Capitalise

Legal texts are littered with excessive capitalisation, which is: (1) grammatically incorrect; and (2) distracting for the reader.

Capital letters should only be used in the following situations:

(1) At the beginning of a sentence (e.g. ‘Thank you for your letter’).

(2) When writing proper names (e.g. London, Angela Merkel, Fleet Street).

(3) When writing names which derive from proper names (e.g. Christianity, Marxism).

(4) For certain abbreviations (e.g. USA, NATO, WTO).

(5) For a defined term in a legal document where the definition uses a capital letter (e.g. ‘Roggins plc, hereinafter referred to as “the Company”’).

The main difficulty that arises is that writers fail to distinguish clearly between (1) proper names and ordinary nouns; and (2) defined terms and ordinary nouns.

So, the next time you find yourself using capitals for such terms as ‘a group of companies’ or ‘the sales contract’, ask yourself whether the noun in question is either genuinely a proper name or a defined term. If the answer to both these questions is ‘no’, change to lowercase.

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When to use a comma (,)

The use of commas in English legal writing is undoubtedly a problematic area. However, it is possible to identify eight main situations in which commas should be used.

1) To separate items in a list of more than two items. For example, ‘cars, trucks, vans, and tractors’. In this sentence, there is a comma after vans to show that the list contains four separate categories of items – cars, trucks, vans, tractors – and that vans and tractors do not make up a single category.

2) To separate coordinated main clauses. For example, ‘Cars should park here, and trucks should continue straight on’. In this sentence, the comma after here marks the separation between the different clauses in the sentence.

3) To mark the beginning and end of a sub-clause in a sentence. For example, ‘James, who is a corporate lawyer, led the seminar.’
Here, the commas after James and lawyer allow the writer to indicate to the reader in passing that James is a corporate lawyer, while at the same time placing the main emphasis on the fact that James led the seminar.

4) After certain kinds of introductory clause. For example, ‘Having finished my work, I left the office.’

5) After certain kinds of introductory words. When a sentence begins with a word which does not form part of the clause which follows it, a comma usually appears after this word. These are usually words – or combinations of two or three words – inserted by the author to indicate to the reader how the rest of the sentence is to be understood and how it relates to the previous sentence. For example, however, therefore, of course, nevertheless.

6) To separate a phrase or sub-clause from the main clause in order to avoid misunderstanding. For example:

I did not go to Paris yesterday, because the meeting was cancelled.

Here, the comma after yesterday makes it clear that the writer did not go to Paris, and the reason he or she did not go to Paris was that the meeting was cancelled. If the comma were to be removed, the sentence would be ambiguous – it would give the impression that the writer did go to Paris but that the reason for going to Paris was not that the meeting was cancelled:

I did not go to Paris yesterday because the meeting was cancelled. I went because I had urgent shopping to do!

7) Following words which introduce direct speech (e.g. said). For example, ‘He said, “my lawyer is a genius!”’

8) Between adjectives which each qualify a noun in the same way. For example, ‘a small, dark room’. Here, a comma is placed after small.

However, where the adjectives qualify the noun in different ways, or when one adjective qualifies another, no comma is used. For example, ‘a distinguished international lawyer’ or ‘a shiny blue suit’.

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The Origins of Legal English

Legal English reflects the mixture of languages which has produced the English language generally. However, it owes a particular debt to French and Latin.

Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, French became the official language of England, although most ordinary people still spoke English. For a period of nearly 300 years, French was the language of legal proceedings, with the result that many words in current legal use have their roots in this period. These include property, estate, chattel, lease, executor and tenant. During this period, Latin was the language of formal records and statutes. However, since only the learned were fluent in Latin, it never became the language of legal pleading or debate.

Therefore, for several centuries following the Norman invasion, three languages were used in England. English remained the spoken language of the majority of the population, but almost all writing was done in French or Latin. English was not used in legal matters. In 1356, the Statute of Pleading was enacted (in French). It stated that all legal proceedings should be in English, but recorded in Latin.

As the printed word became more widely used, some writers made an effort to adopt words derived from Latin, in order to make their text more sophisticated. Some legal words taken from Latin in this way are adjacent, frustrate, inferior, legal, quiet and subscribe.

English was adopted for different kinds of legal documents at different times. Wills began to be written in English in about 1400. Statutes were written in Latin until about 1300, in French until 1485, in English and French for a few years, and in English alone from 1489.

The result of this history is that modern legal English contains an unusually high percentage of words and phrases derived from French and Latin as compared to ordinary English. Consider this simple force majeure clause:

Neither party shall be liable to the other for failure to perform or delay in the performance of its obligations caused by any circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

It contains 28 words, of which 17 are Old English, 7 Old French and 4 Latin. Of the Old English words, 9 are articles or prepositions (e.g. the, to, for, in, by). All the important legal terms (e.g. party, liable, obligations, reasonable, perform) are either Old French or Latin.

It follows that Latin-based terminology is essential to legal English. To use a computing analogy, we might say that where legal English is concerned, English is the ‘hardware’ which determines the grammatical construction of the sentences, but the Latin-based terminology is the ‘software’ which provides the legal meaning.

If I tried to draft the same clause relying solely on Germanic-based language, I would fail. The closest I can get is:

It’s not anyone’s fault if they cannot do what they said they would do owing to something they could not do anything about.

Here, we have 23 words, of which 22 are from Old English and Old Norse (an old Scandinavian language) and only one (fault) is from Latin. But it is a painfully unsophisticated text, which lacks the legal precision of the first text and would not work at all without the use of the word fault.