As an advocate, what are your two most important words? Can you even identify their part of speech? Verbs? Nouns?
Remember: we’re asking about two particular words, not types of words. Do you give up?
They’re conjunctions—and subordinating conjunctions at that. The words are because and although. These words occur often in first-rate persuasive writing. Clunky writers, naturally enough, use them rarely.
Because, which introduces a reason, appears with great frequency in soundly written point headings. In a well-done table of contents, you’ll sometimes see it in more than half the full-sentence point headings. Example: “Forbis will prevail on the merits because Hamley is subject to a valid and enforceable restrictive covenant.”
Although, a concessive word that typifies the voice of reason, subordinates a contrary point that will be vanquished in the main clause. This word, too, appears frequently in sound point headings. Example: “Although this Court allows a choice in damages between lost value and repair costs, it guards against the very sort of double recovery that the Johnsons gained by this judgment.”
Although we’d like to discourse further on the power of these words, we’d better hold off because we’ve made the point—and we’re short of space.