What is the It?

Each year sees a fresh intake of judges' associates to Australia's courts. The proofing of judgments before publication is one of the most important of the many jobs they will be asked to do. It is also one of the most difficult. And yet the associate might have little or no experience in this task, and is likely to receive little, if any, training. This book exists to fill that gap.

Proofing isn't just reading the judgment. It requires a particular mindset. It calls for focus and concentration, and attention to detail. And you have to know what you are looking for. This book highlights techniques for proofing a judgment effectively, things to watch out for, and traps that are easy to fall into. It also identifies many types of structural errors and ambiguities that appear frequently in judgments, and answers citation questions that won't necessarily be addressed by the court style guide.

You will never look at the word "it" in the same way again.

The author is uniquely positioned to write this book, having worked closely with a generation of associates to High Court judges. In a sense, the book is a distillation of all of the conversations he has had, and the questions he has most frequently found himself answering, over that time.

Although the book is primarily addressed to judges' associates, it will also be an invaluable resource for administrative decision-makers, arbitrators, barristers, law academics, and anybody who is involved in legal writing or editing.