Lawyer's Tricks to Perfect Proofreading (No More Embarrassing Mistakes!)

Introduction

As a lawyer, we are naturally expected by the society to pass up a perfect and flawless piece of work.

For that reason, making reckless mistakes such as typo, grammatical error etc, can be quite embarrassing.

It may cause you to lose respect, lose cases and lose clients.

Therefore, to stay as a highly competent lawyer, it couldn't be more imperative that we should get the proofreading technique right.

In just 3 steps, this guide will teach you how to proofread with 99.99% success rate, within a short time, with no cool down needed and without asking others for help.

Are you ready for it?

1. Proofread on papers

How many times have you found yourself in the following situation:-

Let's say you drafted something in Microsoft Word and you need to show your work to a superior.

You wanted the work to be flawless.

You have read it over and over again. You felt assured that it will be flawless because of the number of times you have checked the work.

But just seconds after you passed the work to your superior, you caught a sight of a glaring mistake!

Too late.

You may wonder: "Why hadn't I noticed it just now? Had my brain made a fool of me?"

Then, on bad days, you may doubt your ability to proofread or to detect mistakes on a foolproof basis every time you are preparing a document. You just pray it won't happen again. Perhaps better luck next time?

If you have experienced this before, don't worry, you are not alone.

I experienced this as well when I started it.

If that's you, then try to understand the following principle:

Don't proofread at the same place you first created it

Yes, try not to do your proofreading on the Microsoft Word, it is far less effective.

Why so? You may ask.

To explain, we need to understand how our mind works.

To avoid boring you with scientific explanations, to keep it short, know this: Our (dumb ass) brain has huge tendencies to be blind to our own mistakes.

(That weakness, of course, is not limited to area of proofreading)

Here's why.

When you try to proofread on Microsoft Word, your mind struggles to differentiate whether you are:

1) Making, editing a document; or

2) Proofreading a document.

Why does it struggle?

Well, because our mind does not operate as a computer does where it executes things exactly as you commanded it.

On the other hand, our mind is hardwired to create shortcuts by itself and to make quick judgments on its own.

It runs by itself, so at times it gets sneaky and it will override your conscious decisions.

In other words, your brain is not good in taking instruction when to "edit" or when to "proofread", it makes its own judgment based on the experience you fed it.

So what happens is when you proofread on Microsoft Word, your brain may sometimes misunderstand that you are editing it. It will overlook the mistake. Yes, it saw the mistake but it won't bring to your attention.

Consider this:

Editing and creating is a process where your mind enjoys an unhindered flow of creativity and freedom to make changes and to implement ideas on written form.

On the other hand, proofreading is a strict process where your mind has to be critical, paying attention to the minute details, putting everything under a close scrutiny.

They are very distinct functions. So, don't confuse your mind.

You need to give your brain a cue when to act and how.

How to overcome that then?

May I humbly suggest, print out your drafts and do the proofreading on papers.

Don't proofread on Microsoft Word.

Proofread it on papers.

You need a fresh pair of eyes to see things clearly.

2. Make corrections, intentionally

After you print out your documents, what do you do then?

Get yourself a red pen, preferably with 1.0mm thickness. Have a go at your draft.

Correct your own work. Have fun.

When you are doing that, be merciless, be critical.

Correct even the slightest misalignment. Circle mistakes, underline the parts you are unhappy with, cross out irrelevant parts, add-in where you think necessary, insert comment etc.

To your heart's content.

I have to emphasize here the importance to keeping things red. This is due to the reason that red represents correction and creates alertness, marking in other colours will never have the same effect.

(I know there will still be some people who want to stick with pencil, well, suit yourself)

Once you start doing the "correcting", your action will clearly communicate to your own mind that you intend to proofread a document.

Mistakes will surface, fighting for your attention.

When you are marking your own draft, work systematically from top to the bottom, from the first item to the last item (i.e. the page header to intitulement, name of the document, the body, the conclusion, the signing, endorsement, to page number)

Work systematically and you will feel a sense of fulfillment and confidence from the process. It is liberating, you won't experience the same "brain fog" you had the other day.

Bonus:

What gets even better?

By relying the said process over time, it will help your mind to register, spot mistakes more easily, to bring to your attention the common mistakes so that you will know how to prevent it next time.

It will make the mistakes more glaring, leading to significant reduction of your mistakes over time.

It will help you to understand what are the sources of the problem, the tendencies etc.

It is a benefit which you will not get when you proofread on the editing software, as it is impossible to track your edits.

3. Implement the changes

Lastly, for sake of completeness, migrate the corrections you made back to the editing software.

As mentioned earlier how marking on papers will help you to understand the sources of mistakes, I will now share with you, the 3Fs mistakes that help you master the art of proofreading.

Bonus Tips: Triple F Mistakes

After you had a thousand of proofread drafts under your belt, you will come to realization that there are essentially only a few type of mistakes, which make up a hierarchy according to its seriousness.

To make it easy to remember, I will call it the 3Fs:

the Fatal, the Frequent and the Face-costing.

Here's what they are:

#1 THE FATAL

There are some mistakes which are fatal, which could potentially render your cause papers defective and objectionable.

They are the following:

1. The wrong case number
2. The wrong figures / amount
3. The wrong numbers
4. The wrong dates
5. The wrong names
6. The wrong parties
7. The missing signature

When you run into these things, they demand respect, pay extra attention and focus, double check and triple check. You can't afford to make mistakes on these areas.

#2 THE FREQUENT

Here's the defiant, the insubordinate and the troublemaker.

They may be the lesser of evil but the frequency of their troublemaking deserve special caution. Making these mistakes will reflect poorly on you as a professional.

They may make up a long list, but I will categorize them in 5 categories.

1. The plurals / singulars
2. The auto-corrected
3. The commonly misspelled (EN: accommodate, acknowledgment, calendar, fulfill, indispensible, necessary, occasion, separate)(BM: peruntukan, memasuki, memasukkan, termasuk, termaksud, eksibit etc.)
4. The Common grammatical mistakes
5. The "mixed-up in translation / transliteration" (BM: Affidavits, Plaintiffs, Defendant, Deponent etc.)

Recognizing the Frequent will dramatically reduce your rate of making reckless mistakes.

#3 THE FACE-COSTING

Last but not least, there are mistakes which are face-costing. What does it mean?

That means, even if you find yourself making these mistakes, it is not a big deal except that you will lose some credibility, make you look less professional, therefore losing your "face".

Therefore, by recognizing the 3Fs, you will know what to expect.

You will know what are the mistakes which are costly to make.

You will foresee where mistakes will most likely to appear.

You will see things through a different lens.

That said, you will be able to work at a higher level of efficiency and confidence. You will sleep well at night, knowing that mistakes are no longer a problem to you.

Conclusion

That's all my sharing of what I learned over years of mistakes, I hope it will be of some help to you.

Thank you for reading.

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