10. Commas (cont’d)
As previously noted, commas may also separate the items in a list (as may semicolons).
Commas are less useful as list separators, however, when the list contains complex items that themselves contain commas. In that case, to aid clarity use semicolons instead.
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10. Commas (cont’d)
Enclose “standalone” or explanatory clauses or asides with a comma.
For example, “Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, addressed the nation.”
How to identify explanatory clauses?
The sentence still makes sense if they are omitted.
Source: Strunk and White at 2 (referring to these sorts52 of clauses as “parenthetic expressions”).
10. Commas (cont’d)
In some cases, where the explanatory clause
is a single word (for example, “however”), 
the commas may be omitted if doing so does not disrupt the flow of the sentence.
Do not ever, however, enclose explanatory clauses with just one comma. They take either two commas
– one on either side – or none.
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10. Commas (cont’d)
Real example:
“You wish to enter into a new business venture ‘RCCQ Towing’ with the Royal Car Club of Queensland (‘RCCQ’).”
Correct: “You wish to enter into a new business venture, ‘RCCQ Towing’, with . . .”
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10. Commas (cont’d)
Real example:
“Dayle, your 25 year-old son has worked in the company for the past seven years.”
Correct: “Dayle, your 25 year-old son, has worked for Skerrigan’s for seven years.”
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Participles
Participles are descriptive words, phrases or clauses that are separated from the noun they are trying to modify.
Caution: The participle will always try to modify the noun closest to it.
This means that participles work best when they are placed next to the word that they are trying to modify.
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11. Dangling Participles
(cont’d)
Real example:
“After having been victimized by the accused, the jury was told that the victim suffered from severe anxiety."
[Hint: it wasn’t the jury that was victimized.]
Correct: “The jury was told that, after being victimized by the accused, the victim suffered from severe anxiety.”
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12.Random Capitalization 
•As Meehan and Tulloch explain:
“Capital letters are normally only used at the beginning of a sentence or with proper nouns (such as names of people, places, institutions and official positions.)”
• Generic references to an official position do not take capital letters.
Compare: “The Prime Minister is coming for lunch.” with “Every prime minister of an EU country will be there.”
Source: Meehan and Tulloch, Grammar for Lawyers (2nd
Ed.) at 106.
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12. Random Capitalization
(cont’d)
Capital letters may also be appropriate when you have defined terms:
When a document – a contract, for example - contains defined terms, we often capitalize the defined terms so that readers remember that these terms take their specifically defined meaning as opposed to their ordinary English meaning.
Source: Meehan and Tulloch, Grammar for Lawyers (2nd
Ed.) at 106-107.
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12. Random Capitalization
(cont’d)
Beware of these pitfalls:
Court vs court:
Capitalize “court” when addressing or referring to a specific court. E.g., in a submission to the judge hearing your case, you might write: “this Court ruled last month that . . .”
Do not capitalize “court” when referring to courts generically. E.g., “The courts have often interpreted this section of the Act narrowly.”
udge vs judge: follow the same rule as for “court”.
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