TransLegalCommon Mistakes » TransLegal

Principal vs. Principle

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:56:47 +0000

Principal and principle are often confused as they have the same pronunciation, but have different meanings. In non-legal usage, principle (a doctrine, standard, rule, or law, etc.) is always a noun: A principle of management is to treat your employees as you want them to treat your customers.

On the other hand, principal (primary, chief, most important) is both a noun and an adjective, though usually an adjective in non-legal usage: A faulty gasket was the principal reason for the engine’s failure. In general usage principal refers to a person who plays an important role or holds a high position: Last week, there was a meeting among the principals in the deal.

In legal and financial English, however, principal is often a noun (from principal person). In the law of agency, the principal is the one on whose behalf the agent acts: She attended the meeting as the agent of a principal who wished to remain anonymous. In banking the principal (sum) is money invested or borrowed on which interest is paid: The borrower was only able to make the minimum payment, which covered the interest but did not reduce the principal.

Counsel vs. Council

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:54:15 +0000

Do not confuse counsel with council. Counsel means a legal advisor. In the U.K., the term is used for barristers appearing in court; in the U.S., it is used for office practioners such as general counsel, as well as litigators. Note that the plural of general counsel is general counsel, not general counsels

Council, however, denotes a deliberative body or assembly. For example, a city council.

A counsellor is one who gives advice – often but not always legal, but a councillor is a member of a council.

Advise vs. Advice

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:51:53 +0000

Advise can be a noun meaning to give advice, counsel, warn, recommend, or simply inform. It is also used as a verb meaning to give someone advice. In formal settings, advise means to give someone official information. When trying to be formal though, some writers incorrectly use advise as a synonym for “told” although only information and no advice has been communicated.

However, advise should not be confused with the noun, advice. Advice denotes an opinion which someone offers about what you should do or how you should act in a particular situation.

Effective vs. Efficient

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:49:47 +0000

Effective and efficient both mean generally “having effect” but specifically, effective meanings having a high degree of effect, e.g. “The court fashioned an effective remedy.”, while efficient means competent to perform a task, e.g. “The court clerk is extremely efficient at scheduling cases.”

Consequent and Subsequent

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:47:57 +0000

Perhaps because of the logical fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”), consequent is frequently misused for subsequent. Although both a consequent event and a subsequent event occur after a prior event, subsequent merely indicates something that follows an event or occurs at a later time. Consequent, however, indicates something which follows as a result of the earlier event.

Disburse vs. Disperse

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:46:11 +0000

Though they are not homophones, when they are heard out of context “disburse” and “disperse” are easily confused. Disburse is used to refer to the distribution of money or other assets, e.g. “The Board of Directors resolved to disburse dividends to the shareholders.” Disperse is used in reference to the distribution, scattering or spreading of other things, often people, e.g. “The police officers attempted to disperse the crowd that had gathered.

Qualify

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:43:48 +0000

Qualify has many meanings, including to provide with necessary skills, knowledge or credentials. In law qualify means to certify as legally competent or to actions necessary to acquire legal power.

However, another important meaning of qualify is to limit or restrict. Thus it is said that one provision of a statute qualifies or modifies another. And, notably, an unqualified legal opinion is one without exceptions or limitations, not one written by a substandard lawyer.

Wholly owned subsidiary

Peter Dahlen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:39 +0000

Disregarding the presence of any parenthetical modifier, adverbs ending in ‘ly’ always modify the word immediately following them. Thus, they do not require a hyphen to indicate which word they modify. This is true in both British and American English. Accordingly, for example, “wholly owned subsidiary,” does not, and should not, employ a hyphen.

wholly owned subsidiary: a subsidiary company that is owned entirely (100%) by its parent company. “Fasty Limited, a company incorporated in England, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fasty Inc., a company incorporated in the United States.“

Affect vs. Effect

Greg Poehler — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:37:22 +0000

Affect means to have an influence on or cause a change in. For example, “Intense lobbying affected the vote.”

Affect and effect are often used interchangeably. Affect is a verb. Effect, meaning result, “When the witness appeared on the last day of the trial, the effect was that judge granted a continuance.”; the power to produce an outcome, influence, “The government’s actions had an immediate effect on counterfeiting.”; or the condition of being in full force, is usually used as a noun, “The regulation goes into effect next year.”

However, effect can also be used as a verb meaning to bring about, create or execute. “The newly merged company tried to effect a change in the group’s hiring practices.”

When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.

Usage Note:
As a verb affect is most commonly measn to influence, “How drinking affects health”. Effect means to bring about or execute, “The divestments are designed to effect savings.” Thus the sentence, “These measures may affect savings.” could imply that the measures may reduce savings that have already been realized, whereas, “These measures may effect savings.” implies that the measures will cause new savings to come about.

Idiom:
in effect: in essence; to all purposes. “Testimony that in effect contradicted her earlier statement.”

Accede vs. Exceed

Greg Poehler — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:34:51 +0000

Due to the size of the English language – the number of words exceeds 800,000 – it is quite easy to confuse the meanings of and misuse so many of the words that sound or appear the same. This is particularly true if English is not your native tongue.

In addition, there are numerous words used by lawyers – legal and otherwise – that must be used precisely, particularly in the legal context where ambiguity and misunderstanding are not welcome.

The following is a pairing of commonly confused terms used in Legal English.
accede: to adhere to an agreement; become party to a contract
exceed: to go beyond; surpass