Abbreviations

By using abbreviations, we irritate and confuse judges, clients, the public, and each other. If we “define” a name with an abbreviation, our readers have to reconstruct the name from the abbreviation every time they read it.

Senior Judge Laurence Silberman, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, recently chastised lawyers for

abbreviating every conceivable agency and statute involved, familiar or not, and littering their briefs with references to ‘SNF,’ ‘HLW,’ ‘NWF,’ ‘NWPA,’ and ‘BRC.’

Use abbreviations only for entities the public knows by their abbreviation: ATT, IRS, NPR, NRA, NOW. But rather than call the “United States Coast Guard” the “USCG,” call it the “Coast Guard.” Instead of reducing “Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe” to “SSIT,” call them the “tribe.”

Avoiding abbreviations makes your writing smoother and more accessible.