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The Court is an “It”

The Court is an “It”. Part 21 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series By Terry Seligmann. What’s a collective noun?. Words like “team,” “crowd,” “committee” and more particularly in law, “court” and “jury.”. What pronoun goes with a collective noun?.

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The Court is an “It”

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  1. The Court is an “It” Part 21 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series By Terry Seligmann

  2. What’s a collective noun? • Words like “team,” “crowd,” “committee” and more particularly in law, “court” and “jury.”

  3. 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.

  4. Corporations • A 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

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