part 21 of the legal methods lecture series by terry seligmann
TRANSCRIPT
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Part 21 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series
By Terry Seligmann
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What’s a collective noun?Words like “team,” “crowd,” “committee” and more
particularly in law, “court” and “jury.”
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What pronoun goes with a collective noun?If the action is collective, use “it,” not “they.”
Examples: The committee made its views clear in its report.The court issued its decision yesterday.
Even though a court is made up of individual judges, it only acts as a group.The judges asked questions that revealed their individual
views.The court made its leanings obvious during argument.
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CorporationsA corporation or company is a single entity, not a
collective noun, even if it has a plural proper name – “Lehman Brothers,” “General Motors.”
So it takes a singular pronoun:General Motors found that it could not produce cars that
sell.The company moved its offices to Dubuque.
and verb:The corporation was implicated in the fraud.The corporate officers were implicated in the fraud.
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What verb goes with a collective noun?If the action is collective, treat the subject as singular and
use a singular verb:Example: The jury deliberates on a verdict.Example: The Committee is issuing its report on
Wednesday.The Court always acts collectively
Example: The Court hears oral argument today.
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Want more?The source for this material, and a place to find more on
pronoun references and singular and plural verbs:Bryan Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style §§
10.10, 10.23-10.25.