Ten Tips on How To Proofread Legal Documents Efficiently

Ten hacks to implement in your legal proofreading that will save you time, and help you avoid mistakes.

Proofreading legal documents is not a task to be underestimated, especially if you’ve been working on the document in question for a while. Yet, LexisNexis found that 33% of lawyers skip proofreading full stop (pun intended).

And those that don’t skip it? They found that 90% of documents claimed to be proofread by lawyers still contained errors.

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but lawyers are more likely to miss, and make, mistakes whilst proofreading, because they have a higher risk of burnout, and burnout leads to mistakes.

Consultant solicitors are at an even higher risk, because they'll already be doing so much on their own.

When also factoring in a high caseload, skipping proofreading altogether seems like a great choice, because your brain is telling you to prioritise more billable work.

Proofreading is always important, no matter what sector you’re in, but in law, it’s the difference between a contract meaning what you intend, and meaning something completely different.

Take Milton Keynes v. Viridor (Community Recycling MK) Limited [2017] EWHC 239 (TCC) as an example. The contract in this case stated that fixed payments were to be indexed for inflation. But thanks to a drafting error, the contract forgot to explicitly state that the fixed payment will be indexed.

This is quite a big thing to leave out – yet it was.

I suspect either because a) proofreading wasn’t done, or b) it was done by the poor lawyer who had spent days looking at the contract in question already, and was so involved in the context of the price being indexed, his brain didn’t question why it wasn’t explicitly stated. This is why it’s important to consider outsourcing your proofreading, but we’ll come onto that later…

Fear not, there are ten steps I implement when proofreading legal documents for my clients that are a sure-fire way of avoiding any mistakes, that you can implement too. Let’s get started.

1. The Section Method

Before you even start your proofreading, you need to go in with a plan. Using the Section Method is part of that plan.

Breakdown your proofreading tasks into sections. Start with proofreading only to check for grammatical errors. Then proofread again to check for spelling, definitions checks, clause checks, et cetera. If you don’t use this method, proofreading (in my opinion, anyways) is just overwhelming, and you won’t be able to see the wood for the trees.  

2. Use a Proofreading Checklist

This leads me onto the next one – which is to create a proofreading checklist before you begin the proofread. This helps with the Section Method, because you can create a checklist of what to proofread for, and go through each point individually when proofreading. The checklist I use looks something like this:

• Formatting – a must in the legal world, because there are often errors in the clause numbering/list used, especially if the document has had numerous editors. You want to make sure the list is an automatic one created by Word, so the numbering updates when you update the document, otherwise you end up with mismatched clauses, and referring to the wrong clauses – just a nightmare, basically;

• Spelling;

• Grammar;

• Commonly Misspelled Words that affect the meaning of the sentence, which is exceptionally important in law. A few of my favourites include Accept vs Except, Waiver vs Waver, Judgement vs Judgment, Its vs It’s, There vs Their and They’re, and Affect vs Effect. I also always have Force Majeure on there to check, because why is that term so hard to get right?! It’s handy to have on here a word that you know yourself you always struggle with, so you make sure to always double check it;

• Definitions Checks;

• Capitalisation of Definitions;

• Clause Cross-Referencing; and

• Final Sense Check.

3. Use the CTRL+F Feature

This leads me to the wonderful CTRL+F feature. By holding CTRL + F whilst on Microsoft Word, you’re then able to type in any word you’d like to search for, and the document pulls all results up for you. This makes it much quicker to check for words you tend to misspell, and also to check your definitions are being used correctly.  

I love this feature to check that all defined terms have a) been defined correctly, and referred to correctly, throughout and b) to check that all defined terms are capitalised.

4. Automatic Capitalisation - Find and Replace (a lawyer's best friend)

This feature is, not to be dramatic, a life saver when you’re in the legal profession and need to ensure your definitions are capitalised throughout. Words that aren’t usually capitalised, and therefore won’t be picked up in the spellcheck run, can be made to capitalise automatically.

To do this, you can:

1.        Press CTRL+A to select all of the text in your document.

2.        Press CTRL+H (or Cmd+H on a Mac) to open the dialogue box for Find and Replace.

3.        In the “Find what” field, enter the word you want to capitalise.

4.        In the “Replace with” field, type the same word with the first letter capitalised.

5.        Click the “Replace All” button, and you’re good to go.

I always use this when checking definitions, because you can be sure that all definitions have been capitalised - and it saves so much time because you no longer have to do it manually.

5. Spellcheck and Ensuring Microsoft Word is in UK English, not American English

Ok, so a contract that has American spelling rather than English isn't going to necessarily raise large questions about the intention. But, it will raise questions about your professionalism - don't shoot the messenger.

Before even running a spellcheck, you want to make sure your Microsoft Word is set to English (United Kingdom), rather than English (United States). It’s quite common for your Microsoft Word to be set to the American version initially. To do this, You can:

1. Go to Options: Click on the "File" tab in the top left corner, then select "Options."

3. Choose Language: In the Options window, click on "Language."

4. Add English (United Kingdom): Under "Languages," click on the "Add" button, and select “English (United Kingdom)”

5. Set as Default: Once English (United Kingdom) is added, select it in the list and click on the "Set as default" button.

7. Apply Changes: Click "OK" to close the Options window.

8. Verify Language: Open a new Word document and check the language settings. The language should now be set to English (United Kingdom).

Once done, then be free to run your spellcheck by pressing F7. Don’t rely on spellcheck though, because it's not always accurate, especially in terms of grammar, so use this as a first check only, and then go in with your own eyes.

6. Proofread More Than Once

Not an ideal tip, especially if you're in a rush. But making a mistake that could leave your legal document open to misconstruction later down the line is a lot worse.

I can also guarantee that you will not spot all of the errors during your first read, and you’ll feel guilty about it when you read the document for a second or third time. But you'll also feel relieved that you were sensible enough to check again.

7. Schedule Regular Breaks

Seems like an obvious one, but when you’re short for time, it’s tempting to try and plough through without a break, which is probably what the lawyer did in Milton Keynes v Viridor.

As a rule of thumb, schedule short breaks every 30 minutes, even if it’s just stepping away from your laptop to make a cup of tea – you’re still getting distance from the document, and will return with a semi fresh set of eyes. I often schedule my breaks after I’ve done each section from the Section Method.

Extra brownie points for planning your diary in advance, so you're able to check your proofreading a day after you initially started, with an even fresher pair of eyes!

8. Read Out Loud - Or Get Your Laptop to Read to You

Reading out loud to yourself can feel a bit weird, so I always recommend getting your laptop to read the document back to you. I also think this even makes it slightly more objective, as hearing it in your own voice runs the risk of you not picking up a mistake vs in a completely different voice.

It is so much easier to hear a mistake in grammar, spelling, you name it, when it’s being read out loud, versus reading the document.

You can do this on Microsoft Word by going to Review > Read Aloud.

9. Print Out the Document

Printing the document out is also really helpful, because it tricks your brain into thinking you’re looking at a fresh document, so you’re more likely to notice any mistakes you initially missed.

As a legal/admin nerd, it’s also satisfying being able to highlight in red any errors, but that’s just me!

10. Outsource to a Virtual Paralegal/Legal Assistant

I saved the best till last. Lawyers are often so involved in their cases, that they’re actually the worst person to proofread the last version of the document, Milton Keynes v Viridor being a big cautionary tale.

Outsourcing proofreading of legal documents to a virtual paralegal, who understands the law and legal jargon, but isn’t heavily involved in your case, provides you with the objectivity and fresh pair of eyes that you need. They’ll question things you won’t, like, “Why isn’t inflation mentioned here when your verbal brief outlined inflation, like, a lot?”

Outsourcing is also a better use of your own time, because you can use the 2, 3, 4 hours taken to proofread to carry out more billable work, rather than focusing on the nitty gritty stuff. Whatever your hourly rate is, if you're spending your hours proofreading, you're losing.

Conclusion

At ELH Assistance, we’re highly skilled in legal proofreading, and assist our clients with this on a daily basis. Our team are highly experienced in the law, so know exactly what to look for when proofreading legal documents.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can take proofreading off your ever-growing plate, reach out for a free 30-minute consultation call via our contact form here.

Or if you prefer, contact Ellie on elliehogarty@elh-assistance.co.uk.