Legal Clichés that Should Be Illegal

Welcome to cliché week on my blog! Every profession has its own clichés. This week, we’ll review some common clichés in the legal profession and the world beyond.

Clichés are a writer’s cop-out. Using clichés suggests that you can’t find your own words. Avoid tiresome clichés and speak human instead.

Let’s start with some common legal clichés :

• within the purview of
• slippery slope
• Achilles’ heel
• Pandora’s box
• fishing expedition
• part and parcel
• lion’s share
• pulled out of whole cloth
• can’t see the forest for the trees
• the devil is in the details
• all fours
• red herring
• fraught with peril
• second bite at the apple
• cut to the chase
• it is axiomatic that
• eminently qualified
• incumbent upon
• dilatory tactics
• begs the question

… and so on ad nauseum.

Coming next: clichés from other fields, such as human resources. (Friends, we are not alone.)

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