LawProse Lesson #197: Using ellipsis dots with quotations.

Using ellipsis dots with quotations. Lawyers frequently need ellipsis dots because of the abundant quotations in legal writing—quotations that often need trimming. Properly used, ellipses are perfectly respectable and often necessary to avoid both the reproduction of extraneous words (a time-waster) and any suspicion that the writer has tampered with the quotation’s meaning (a credibility-waster). Judges expect punctilious accuracy, even in the minutest details. The correct use of ellipsis dots can challenge even the most careful legal writers. Try these helpful guidelines. (The examples are all drawn from pp. 173–74 of Making Your Case. The full text is reproduced at the end of this lesson.) Tip #1. Use three ellipsis dots to signal that you’ve omitted one or more words midsentence within a quotation. Omit any punctuation that appears on either side of the removed matter, unless it is grammatically needed in the new sentence. Ex.: “Don’t announce regretfully . . . that it looks as if your time has run out.” Ex.: “When the red light comes on, . . . take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence and prepare to sit down.” (Note the retained comma.) Tip #2. Use four dots—three ellipsis dots plus a period—when you’ve omitted one or more words at the end of a sentence. Put a space before the first ellipsis dot. Ex.: “Rarely will judges relent to those unsubtle suggestions . . . .” Ex.: “When the red light comes on, or when you are otherwise informed that your time is up, take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence . . . . Don’t look yearningly at the presiding judge as if requesting more time.” Tip #3. Use four dots—a period plus three ellipsis dots—when you’ve omitted material after a full sentence but the quotation continues. Don’t put a space before the first dot (the period). Ex.: “Don’t announce regretfully (much less resentfully) that it looks as if your time has run out. . . . Bad note to end on.” Tip #4. Center three widely spaced ellipsis dots on a separate line when you’ve omitted a full paragraph or more.

Ex.: “When the red light comes on, or when you are otherwise informed that your time is up, take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence and prepare to sit down.

.          .          .

        “Whether or not you have time for a summary or a zinger, you should at least conclude with a graceful ending rather than just trailing off into silence.”

Tip #5. Don’t begin a quotation with ellipsis dots. Not this: “. . . You should at least conclude with a graceful ending . . . .” But this: “[Y]ou should at least conclude with a graceful ending . . . .” (The bracketed capital letter signals that the y was lowercase in the original, which means something was left out.) Tip #6. Don’t use ellipsis dots if the quoted matter is worked into the syntax of the sentence. Not this: If you are out of time, “. . . take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence . . .” before you sit down. But this: If you are out of time, “take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence” before you sit down. Tip #7. Use nonbreaking spaces to prevent the ellipsis dots from being separated by a line break. A nonbreaking or “hard” space is the same width as a word space. Use it to keep the text and ellipsis dots together. In Microsoft Word, hit control + shift + space bar (command + shift + space bar on a Mac). A terrific reference for formatting issues is Matthew Butterick’s Typography for Lawyers (2010). He discusses nonbreaking spaces on pp. 63–64. Ellipses streamline your prose and keep it on track, thereby increasing the odds that the quoted parts will actually be read. You can quote me on that. The Full Passage from Making Your Case 86. Stop promptly when you’re out of time. When the red light comes on, or when you are otherwise informed that your time is up, take at most five or ten seconds to finish your sentence and prepare to sit down. Don’t look yearningly at the presiding judge as if requesting more time. Don’t announce regretfully (much less resentfully) that it looks as if your time has run out. Rarely will judges relent to those unsubtle suggestions, and when they do they will resent the imposition. Bad note to end on. 87. When you have time left, but nothing else useful to say, conclude effectively and gracefully. The time allotted for oral argument is typically so short that a concluding summary of your remarks, going back over all your principal points, is neither necessary nor possible. The exception to this may be the conclusion to the appellant’s rebuttal. [This paragraph continues.] Whether or not you have time for a summary or a zinger, you should at least conclude with a graceful ending rather than just trailing off into silence. [This paragraph continues.] Further reading on ellipses: The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style §§ 1.45–1.50, at 36–39 (3d ed. 2013). Garner’s Modern American Usage 678, 689–90 (3d ed. 2009). Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage 747 (3d ed. 2011). The Winning Brief 390–95 (3d ed. 2014). The Chicago Manual of Style §§ 13.48–13.56, at 637–41 (16th ed. 2010).