VBA . . News Journal

tions working on behalf of our veterans—especially those returningfrom Afghanistan and Iraq. If you attended the truly extraordinaryprogram put on by the Committee on Special Issues of National andState Importance at the VBA Annual Meeting in January, which discussed the tremendous challenges faced by our armed forces whenthey return from Afghanistan and Iraq, you know that these menand women have legal, financial and psychological needs which aresimply not being met. The good news is that many across Virginiahave responded. There are pro bono programs for veterans underway at law schools and law firms around Virginia. Every day, morelawyers and judges are getting involved. The VBA has stepped intothis arena to offer its services to help the numerous organizationsinvolved to communicate with one another. The goal is to get thosewith the most knowledge of the need in the same room as thoseinterested in helping meet those needs. In addition of a cadre ofVBA leaders, expected to attend are representatives of the LawyersServing Warriors program, the Virginia Wounded Warrior program, the William and Mary Law School Veterans Benefits Clinic,the Judge Advocate General’s office, military officers and theVirginia judiciary. This summit is the result of many hours of workby former VBA president Jim Meath and Bob Barrett, a Richmondlawyer who is a West Point graduate and a veteran of the war inIraq. Please thank these lawyers when you see them.In addition to these initiatives, our Young LawyersDivision has always been active in providing pro bono services. Formany years, the YLD has spearheaded the Pro Bono Hotlines whichhave helped thousands of Virginians in several of our metropolitanareas. Similarly, our YLD members have provided legal assistanceto victims of natural disasters. Just this year, the YLD has joined acollaborative effort with several law firms and the HispanicChamber of Commerce to help expand the provision of pro bonolegal services to the growing and economically important Hispaniccommunity in Virginia.We cannot rest on these laurels, though. The Chief Justicehas asked us for more. The bottom line is that The Virginia BarAssociation is responding to the Chief Justice's challenge.Sometimes we have the luxury of picking our priorities and ourprojects. But, often, the priorities and projects pick us. That is thecase this year, but I would not have it any other way. At thismoment in our history, the VBA has been asked to help on one ofthe biggest issues facing our communities and our justice system.Our members, indeed all Virginia lawyers, are in a position to makea difference to a lot of people. Let's all get on with it.2009 VBA Life MembersMinerva W. AndrewsJames C. Bishop, Jr.Donald H. ClarkJames D. DavisRoland W. DodsonProf. John E. DonaldsonDavid J. HatmakerThomas T. LawsonJoseph L. LewisHerbert N. MorganDewey B. MorrisWarren S. Neily, Jr.SUMMER 2009Hugh L. PattersonDon R. PippinHon. Lacey E. PutneyWilliam R. RakesL. Wallace SinkR. Gordon SmithWaller R. Staples, IIIHaynie S. TrotterArchibald Wallace, IIIJay F. WilksClifton A. Woodrum, IIIThomas S. Word, Jr.THE VIRGINIA BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS JOURNAL/5

Writer’s BlockGRAMMAR CONFIDENTIAL:DISPELLING COMMON WRITING MYTHSBY David H. sprattUrban myths or shared folklore are asignificant part of our common heritage. Much, if not all, of this folklore, ispassed down from generation to generation without questioning its accuracy.Some can be tested or proved usingcommon sense, e.g., it doesn't takemuch verification to see the wisdom ofyour mother's comment to "look bothways before crossing the street." (Onthe other hand, although as adults wesee the fallacy of the expression, "stepon a crack, break your mother's back,step on a line, break your mother'sspine," some of us still find ourselvesacting overly careful when walkingdown a sidewalk.) Other rules that survive through the years are much lessreasonable and often steeped in fiction.Many of these rules relate to basicgrammar. This column seeks to debunkmany of the grammar "myths" thathave gained a stronghold in our collective conscience.Urban Myth #1:If you swallow a piece of chewing gum,it will take seven years to pass throughyour system. False!Although gum resists the body'sattempts at digestion, gum is eliminated as human waste the same way andat the same rate as anything else thatwe swallow.Grammar Myth #1:Never Split an Infinitive. False!Splitting an infinitive, while it soundsa bit draconian, is nothing more thanplacing one or more words between theword "to" and a verb. Probably themost-quoted example of a split infinitive can be traced to Star Trek: "To boldly go where no man has gone before."To split infinitives is something thatstrict grammarians like my high schoolEnglish teacher and William Strunk, Jr.(at least in the early editions of TheElements of Style) would haveabhorred. Modern grammar texts,however, including the later and onlineversions of Strunk and White, haveabandoned this rule, and advocatesplitting infinitives if doing so eliminates confusion, adds precision, or simply sounds better.Merriam-Webster Online, in discussing the usage of split infinitives,states, "Even though there has neverbeen a rational basis for objecting to thesplit infinitive, the subject has become afixture of folk belief about grammar.You can hardly publish a sentence containing one without hearing about itfrom somebody. Modern commentators know the split infinitive is not avice, but they are loath to drop such apopular subject." 1"Wait," you might be saying, "youtold us in your last column that weshould always know our audience. If Iam writing for someone who is a stickler for long-abandoned grammar rules,should I still split my infinitive and riskthe wrath of my reader who now thinksI have made a grammar mistake?" Myadvice here is no different: know yourreader and recognize that certain readers will be distracted when faced with asplit infinitive. In short, there is nothing incorrect about refusing to routinely split infinitives unless this refusalresults in a misplaced modifier or addsambiguity to a sentence that would otherwise be clear (forgive my split, Icouldn't help myself).Urban Myth #2:Mikey from the Life cereal commercialdied after eating Pop Rocks and drinking Coca-Cola. False!We can all breathe a collective sigh ofrelief. John Gilchrist, the child actorwho played Mikey, is alive and well.Pop Rocks when eaten with any type ofcarbonated beverage produce at most,an unwelcome burp.Grammar Myth #2:Never Begin a Sentence with aCoordinating Conjunction (like "and,""but," or "or"). False!Starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction is not incorrect. Beforedoing so, however, consider whetheryour idea can be better expressed without resorting to such "deviant" behavior; often, a phrase that begins with acoordinating conjunction is really a sentence fragment, not a complete sentence. And given your likely audienceand purpose, persuading or providinginformation to a court, client, or otherlawyer, writing in complete sentences ispreferable.Urban Myth #3:Never go swimming within one hour ofeating or you will get a severe, life-6/THE VIRGINIA BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS JOURNALthreatening stomach cramp, causingyou to drown. False!According to internet urban legendwebsites (and again, you've got to lovemy sources), not one death has beenreported where someone drowned simply as a result of going in the water toosoon after eating.Grammar Myth #3:Never End a SentencePreposition. False!withaThis supposed "rule," unlike theother two, is less commonly quotedthese days, due in some part to WinstonChurchill, who mocked its absurdity,stating either "This is the sort of Englishup with which I will not put" or "This isthe sort of bloody nonsense up withwhich I will not put." The exact quoteseems to be unverified, and the numberof unsubstantiated variations on thequote continues to grow.There are some readers, however,who still feel somewhat queasy whenconfronted with a dangling preposition. When ending a sentence with apreposition, ask yourself two questions:1) does the sentence need the endingpreposition or would the same point bemade by deleting it? (If so, delete thedangling preposition); and 2) doesrevising the sentence to remove thedangling preposition to put it somewhere else make sense or does the revision sound as strained as Churchill'squote? (When the sentence becomesstrained after trying to revise it, leavethe dangling preposition.)Future columns will likely deal withadditional rules you learned from along-dead English teacher. Let meknow if there are any others I should beaware of. I hope I didn't shatter yourworld.NOTES:1) infinitiveDavid H. Spratt is a professor at TheAmerican University, Washington Collegeof Law, where he teaches Legal Rhetoric,Introduction to Advocacy, and Family LawPractice and Drafting. Professor Sprattpracticed family law for ten years and is aformer chair of the VBA DomesticRelations Section.SPRING 2009

VBA Rule of Law Project: Teaching the TeachersThe Virginia Bar Association Rule of Law Project and the Virginia LawFoundation hosted an event for more than 50 Virginia public school superintendents and administrators on Law Day, May 1, at the Virginia HolocaustMuseum in Richmond. The four-hour program introduced the Project to astatewide audience of educators following the successful pilot program in middle school civics classes in the Roanoke Valley in February.Moderating the event was Roderick B. "Rod" Matthews, ABA WorldJustice Project Commission member and member of the Virginia HolocaustMuseum board of trustees and Virginia Law Foundation board of directors.Project chair and VBA immediate past president, G. Michael Pace, Jr., presentedan overview of the Project to attendees, highlighting the need for a better understanding of the rule of law in public and private education in Virginia. TimIsaacs, director of curriculum development for Roanoke City Public Schools,gave attendees a history of the Project and the benefits of the program to teachers and students, emphasizing the opportunity for collaborative learning. DeanRodney Smolla from Washington & Lee School of Law presented a simulatedoral argument before the Supreme Court, featuring the application of the rule oflaw in two fictitious scenarios which produced a lively debate among the educators who were anointed as temporary Supreme Court justices.Participants were enthusiastic about bringing the program to theirrespective school districts for an October 2009 roll out date. Leaders of theProject thanked Jay M. Ipson, founder, president and executive director of theVirginia Holocaust Museum, and Jay M. Weinberg, secretary of the board oftrustees of the Museum and an attorney with Hirschler Fleischer for their helpwith the program.The Rule of Law Project has been recognized with an Award of Meritfrom the Virginia State Bar, and the Virginia Law Foundation has nominated theprogram for the National Conference of Bar Foundation's Award for BarFoundation Exce

VBA The Virginia Bar Association 701 East Franklin Street, Suite 1120 Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 644-0041 FAX: (804) 644-0052 E-mail: thevba@vba.org Web: www.vba.org