Before and after. Today, the sentence that swallowed the defendant.
Every file starts with a sentence like this one. Police reports, answers, adjuster letters, and, too often, our own petitions:
“Plaintiff’s vehicle was involved in a collision with a vehicle operated by Defendant, and injuries were allegedly sustained.”
Read it twice and try to find a human being. Twenty words. Nobody did anything. Let’s operate.
Pass One: Find the Missing Actor.
Was involved. Operated by. Were sustained. Passive voice is a sentence with the subject removed, and grammar does not do that by itself. A writer does. A sentence in the passive has no defendant in it. That is not a style preference. That is the defense.
Pass Two: Put Him Back.
“A man ran a red light and hit her.”
Seven words. One actor, one act, one person hurt. Every word provable, nothing to strike.
Pass Three: Sweep Your Own Paper.
The dangerous passives are not theirs. They are yours. The incident occurred. Injuries were sustained. Write that, and you have pleaded the defense theory for free, under your own signature. Hunt four words in every draft: was, were, occurred, resulted. Each one marks a spot where somebody disappeared.
One honest use survives the sweep. When the actor is unknown, or truly does not matter, the passive tells the truth: the weld failed. If you know who, name him. If you do not, write it that way on purpose, not by habit.
Why It Matters.
The charge will ask the jury whose conduct caused the crash. Whose. From the first sentence of the first paper, one side is answering that question and the other side is dodging it. Know which side your sentences are on.
