Two practical suggestions

Since this is not the place to launch forth upon a detailed discussion of the complex rules of spelling to which, according to Crystal, at least 80% of words conform, only two practical suggestions can be made.

First, the best way of learning how to spell is simply to read good writers carefully and learn from their example. Secondly, if this seems too haphazard, or your tastes are such that you seldom, if ever, read good writers, you may simply have to learn the correct spellings of a number of words which are commonly spelt incorrectly.

In terms of law, few things annoy examiners more than students who are unable to spell words which they should have read dozens, if not hundreds, of times. The following is a non-exhaustive list of common errors:

arguement (for argument),

contractural (for contractual),

defendent (for defendant),

enviroment (for environment),

goverment (for government),

interpretate (for interpret),

Parliment or Parlament (for Parliament),

perogative (for prerogative),

president (for precedent),

priveledge (or something similar) for privilege,

sovreign (for sovereign),

Westminister (for Westminster).

In more general terms, the following words are commonly misspelt in various ways:

accommodate;

committee;

definitely;

discipline;

embarrass;

exaggerate;

excellent;

except;

gauge;

guarantee;

guard;

harass;

necessary;

occasion;

opportunity;

recommend;

separate;

succeed.

In ordinary usage, judgment and judgement are normally regarded as being straightforward alternative spellings, with the only requirement being that you should be consistent as to which one you use within a single piece of work. However, in legal usage, judgment is always used when referring to a decision of a court. Therefore, there is much to be said for adopting this version as your standard usage in all cases, because this will give you one fewer thing to think about when you are trying to write well.

Two pairs of words which are commonly confused are principle/principal and practice/practise.

Principle can only be a noun, as for example, in the mongoose principle. Principal can be either a noun or an adjective. For example, The principal of the college, and the principal reason for buying this book is to improve your study skills in law are both correct.

Practice is a noun; practise is a verb. For example, you would talk about a solicitor’s practice, but you would say I used to practise criminal law.

This distinction between the noun form and the verb form also appears in a number of other words, including advice/advise and licence/license. For example, you give someone advice when you advise them; and when you have a licence to do something, you are licensed to do it.