A. Your Client Has Lied and Deceived and Cheated

RULE 44 If conjunctions separate all the items of the series from each other do not use any commas. EXAMPLES a.Your client has lied and deceived and cheated. b. He is loving and caring and forgiving. c. You have not proved motive or opportunity or intent. d. I did not understand what she meant when she said “He’s neither fish nor fowl nor lean red meat.” e.If I gave him the money or if I wrote a check or if I even owed him money is a mystery to me. f. I did not know that he had no family or that he had no home or that he had no job. 2 3

RULE 45 If the series occurs within the name of a firm or company the commas may or may not be used to separate the individual names. Firms usually omit the comma before and (or the ampersand). The court reporter should check company preferences if possible. EXAMPLES a.We wrote to our financial consultant at

Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc.

b. I was told to come to the offices of

Lerner Warren Babich & Finch.

c.We were outside the offices of

Dewey Cheetam and Howe.

RULE 46 4

Use a comma to separate a series of adjectives when the adjectives are of equal rank in relation to the noun they describe.

EXAMPLES a. They traveled a rough rocky road before they could settle this matter. b. He was a troubled vicious youth.

The black Sony monitor is available. The new court reporting school is in the Northeast. NOTE If and can be placed between the two adjectives without changing the meaning and if reversing the order of the adjectives does not affect the naturalness of the sentence use the comma. If this test does not work do not use the comma.

EXAMPLES c. A small sickly man appeared at the door. d. A small gold key was on the chain.

RULE 47 5

If adjectives follow the noun they describe use a pair of commas around the adjectives to separate them from the rest of the sentence. If the adjectives follow the noun but are at the end of the sentence use a comma to separate the adjectives from the noun.

EXAMPLES a. The handwriting faint and illegible could not be identified. b. It was my old desk scarred and battered. c. I worked for dealerships plural,

RULE 48 Use a comma to separate from the rest of the sentence 6

the name or title of a person being spoken to if the noun of address is at the beginning of the sentence or at the end of the sentence. Use a pair of commas around the noun of address if it comes in the middle of the sentence.

EXAMPLES a. Mrs. Butterfield did you keep the money? b. Do you have an opinion about this Doctor? c. Tell us Ms. Dean if this chart is accurate. d. You ladies and gentlemen of the jury have a very important task ahead of you. e. Please sir wait until I finish.

Remember that the speaker's inflection can alter the punctuation of any group of words; so for the sake of accuracy it is always a good idea to put in as much punctuation as you can as you write.

EXAMPLES f. Who is next Rhonda? (a question to Rhonda) g. Who is next? Rhonda? (a question about Rhonda) RULE 49 Use a comma or a pair of commas to 7 separate a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence. . EXAMPLES a. The doctor said "You have to help yourself first." b. "I can't," I said. c. "You won't get very far," she said "until you try." d. The question was "How many times have you tried?"

The comma is always placed inside a final quotation mark.

NOTE: 8

If words are used to replace punctuation or to include pronunciation in a sentence place commas around those words.

EXAMPLES e. Claire Azmud called me and mumbled into the phone that the faucets were quote dripping unquote. f. It was final and I told her so. My words were "We're through period." (OR: through. Period.") g. You just said the "doors," plural and the "window," singular so I'm confused. Was there another door? h. I'm a crane operator slash side-loader.

RULE 50 9

In writing dates use a comma to separate every item after the day. In writing addresses use a comma to separate every item after the street name.

EXAMPLES a. I saw the doctor on June 17 1993 and on January 5 1994. b. I used the 877 Inman Avenue Edison New Jersey address at that time. NOTE If the date is expressed in military style no commas are used.

EXAMPLES c. I saw the doctor on 12 September 1998. d. I saw the doctor on 12 September.

If the day of the month is omitted the court reporter may omit the commas or use two commas.

EXAMPLES 10 e) I saw the doctor in June 1996 and January 1997. f) I saw the doctor in June 1996 and January 1997.

If the ZIP Code is used do not use a comma between the state and ZIP Code. Do place a comma after the ZIP Code.

EXAMPLES g.) I used the 877 Inman Avenue Edison New Jersey 08820 address. h) That's Colonia New Jersey 07067 for my wife's business address.

RULE 51 11

Use a pair of commas to set off the titles academic degrees etc. that follow personal names or company names.

EXAMPLES a) Charles Arthur CEO president of Pratt Ltd. sold the company in 1996. b) Guerin Inc. was awarded the contract. c) Jaunelle K. Pratt Esquire acted as our attorney for that transaction. d) We hired Joel J. Pratt Ph.D. as a consultant.

NOTE 12

When Jr. or Sr. or a numerical designation follows a name the commas may be omitted. An individual's preference to use or not use commas around the designation may be taken into account if you know it. The same may be true for some companies that use Inc. or Ltd.

EXAMPLES e. John Smith 3d testified. (spoken as the third) f. John Smith III testified. g. John Smith Jr. testified. h. Time Inc. is being sued. i. Carter Inc. is being sued.

If the name or title is in the possessive form and commas are preferred with the name or title use only the first comma between the name and the title.

EXAMPLES j. John Smith Jr.'s right to the inheritance is in dispute. k. Carter Inc.'s tax records have been located.

If the word senior or junior is used to distinguish a father from a son and appears alone or without the surname using either the word or the abbreviation is acceptable depending on the context. EXAMPLES Q. Did you speak with Figaro Newton? A. Senior or junior? Q. Fig Newton Jr. Q. So you spoke with Fig Jr.? A. Yes. Q. Were any changes noted on Ron Sr.'s will? A. Changes were noted for Ron Sr. and Jr. OR A Changes were noted for Ron senior and junior. RULE 52 13

Use commas around etc. when it appears within a sentence at the end of a series.

EXAMPLES a. I was responsible for supplies mail orders packaging et cetera for the two offices. b. The letters memos logs et cetera were all typed by me.

NOTE Court reporters need not spell out et cetera unless it is the only word on the line.

In Philadelphia court reporters typically spell out et cetera. JDC

EXAMPLE Q. What did she give you? A. She gave me personal things like a blouse sweater handbag shoes earrings -- Q. I see. A. -- et cetera. 14

RULE 53 Use commas to separate numbered references of sections pages verses and acts.

EXAMPLES a. I will read from Article 1 Section 2A page 17 on the matter of surrogates. b. Refer to page 10 line 6 for the witness's explanation.

RULE 54 Use a comma to introduce the first spelled-out enumeration after the verb of the sentence. Use a comma after all other spelled-out enumerations in that same sentence.

EXAMPLES a. I sought first security; second power. b. She wanted first to find him; second to torment him; third to destroy him. 15

RULE 55 Use a comma to set off please when it is the last word of the sentence but not the last word of a dependent clause or phrase. The comma will be placed before the clause or phrase. If please occurs in the middle of a sentence as an interrupting word set it off with commas.

EXAMPLES a. May we have a recess at this time please? b. May we have a recess at this time if you please? c. Show us please on the map where the boy was standing. d. Please show us on the map where the boy was standing.

Writers do not agree on the use of the comma before too and also when they are the last words of the sentence though the trend seems to be to omit the comma. 16

RULE 56 In a number expressed with figures the comma separates hundreds thousands millions and billions.

EXAMPLES a. The budget reflects an increase to $30,000 for the starting salary. b. We require 2,550,000 units for our January promotion.

NOTE Do not use commas in the following numbers when they are expressed in four or more digits: house page policy social security street telephone year ZIP Code. Spaces hyphens and parentheses are sometimes used within these longer numbers. 17

EXAMPLES c. He gave 6227 East First Avenue as his address. d. We found the formula on page 1266. e. My old ZIP was 07065. f. My social security number is 164-82-8105. g. My phone number is (609) 221-6262.

Patent numbers and serial numbers from the United States Patent Office do have commas within them.

EXAMPLES h. That was Patent No. 5,660,221. i. That is from the Patent Office application for Serial No. 630,927.

CAUTION If a number is verbalized in even hundreds that figure may be written as the court reporter hears it that is without a comma.

EXAMPLES j. He ordered 7200 directories. k. Over 3800 new entries have been added. 18

RULE 57 A comma may be used to set off introductory words to a sentence. These words are most frequently adverbs (words that tell how why when where how much). They often act as transitions from one sentence to another or as the speaker's independent view of the idea expressed in the sentence.

EXAMPLES a. Actually he never gave her the coat back. b. Accordingly we asked for his resignation. c. Truthfully did you plan to rehire him? d. Eventually we would have. e. Moreover we would have promoted him. f. Nowadays there would be a fund reserved for that purpose.

One error for no comma between "yes" or "no" and the next word. 19

A. Yes sir. (if no comma one error) A. No ma'am. (if no comma one error) A. No Miss Smith I did not. (if no commas on either side two errors)

One error for each comma missing around a noun of direct address. Q. Mrs. Jones please tell us your address. (if no comma one error) A. Yes sir. (if no comma one error) A. Yes Your Honor I will. (if no commas two errors)

One error each for run-on sentences and comma splices. I will not tell you what I know about this incident and I will not tell her what I know. (run-on: one error for missing comma or period before "and.")

I will not tell you I will not tell her. (comma splice: one error for misused comma; should be a period or at least a semicolon.)

One error for missing comma after an introductory adverbial clause. When I went to the store I saw the shooting. (if a comma does not separate the dependent clause from the independent clause one error.)

One error for missing or wrong punctuation before a statement followed by a question to confirm that statement--usually occurs in the question. *** The correct punctuation is a semicolon between the sentences.*** Q. You said you were there at 8:00; isn't that right? Q. You were at the store; is that right? Q. The car hit your bumper; isn't that true? ; is that true? ; isn't that correct? ; is that correct? You have a choice{ or ; correct? before one word { or ; right? *One point will be deducted for not paragraphing at least once on each page (15 spaces first line). *One point will be deducted each time the student does not have her/his name and page number on each page.