Drafting Legal Documents

As part of our effort to help agencies produce clear, enforceable regulatory documents, the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, presents this guide to legal writing.

To get started, select any of these topics:

• Arrangement
• Headings
• Purpose Clause
• Definitions
• Ambiguity
• Principles of Clear Writing
• Cross References
• Punctuation, Capitalization, Typography, and Spelling
• Format Requirements for Regulatory Documents
• Appendix A -- Words and Expressions to Avoid
• Appendix B -- Preferred Expressions

Page URL: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/write/legal-docs/index.html

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 • Telephone: 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272