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Zombie nouns flourish in legal writing. They smother lively verbs and suck the vitality and clarity right out your prose. Bryan A. Garner believes that they are a bigger problem in legal writing than incorrectly using the passive voice.
Do you use the word shall when you draft documents? If so, you may want to reconsider doing so. Bryan A. Garner, the edtior-in-chief of Black's Law Dictionary, makes a compelling case for abandoning shall and using the more precise words must, will, is, may, or the phrase is entitled to in the most recent ABA Journal.
You'll be in good company if you abandon shall; so have all four sets of the major federal rules with the exception of one rule. (Rule 56 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure.)