Gender Neutrality in Legal Writing

I’m proud to be admitted to practice in New York, where gender neutrality in judicial opinions is the official Office of Court Administration Policy.

• Use gender-neutral terms
  • “king” becomes “sovereign”
  • “Madam Justice Ginsburg” becomes “Justice Ginsburg”
  • “Sister state” becomes “sibling state”
  • “Statesmanship” becomes “diplomacy”
• Delete the suffix -man
  • “Assembly member” (not “assemblyman”)
  • “Chair” (not “chairman” or the inelegant “chairperson”)
  • “Firefighter” (not “fireman”)
  • “Supervisor” (not “foreman”)
  • “Presiding juror” or the inelegant but standard “foreperson” (not “foreman”
• Avoid masculine terms: “mankind” (“humanity”); “manmade” (“made by hand”); “common man” (“average person”)
• Change terms once reserved for women (Mrs. and Miss become Ms., unless the person prefers Mrs. or Miss)
• Avoid the suffixes “-ette,” “-ess” and -trix”
  • “Waitress becomes “waiter” or “server”
  • “Actress” becomes “actor”
  • “Executrix” becomes “executor”
• Techniques to avoid gendered language
  • Make the antecedent plural: “An infant younger than seven may not be convicted of petit larceny. He is immune from prosecution.” Becomes: “Infants younger than seven may not be convicted of petit larceny. They are immune from prosecution.”
  • Rephrase to eliminate the pronoun: “He who cannot do the time should not do the crime.” Becomes: “Anyone who cannot do the time should not do the crime.” Becomes: “If you cannot do the time, do not do the crime.”
  • Repeat the noun
  • Use second-person pronoun
  • Use passive voice (a last resort)
• Don’t use these inelegant terms
  • S/he or (s)he
  • S/he/it
  • He or she, him or her
  • Alternating between “he” and “she”