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Maria Termini
Abstract: Legal writers, like all writers, must make countless linguistic decisions. One key choice is whether to be positive or negative. A legal writer who looks for guidance in textbooks, style manuals, and the academic literature faces conflicting advice. Conventional wisdom holds that legal writers should be positive; however, recent legal writing scholarship has explored the benefits of negativity that stem from “negativity bias.” This article offers a fresh approach to the choice by distinguishing between two types of negative language used in legal writing: negation and negative valence. It then offers research, theories, and practical considerations relevant to each type of negative language as it applies to legal writing. Last, the article proposes six principles that can guide legal writers in choosing between positive and negative language.