The lawyers for former President Trump in their initial brief in defense of the impeached president misspelled United States, writing “Unites States.” The lawyers submitted this brief in preparation of a “trail,” which follows an impeachment. We acknowledge that this spelling lapse likely had no effect (not affect) on the outcome of the trial, but we also take this opportunity to remind our readers that spell check is not infallible and we see too (not “to”) often the same recurring errors in briefs. Just a few come to mind: Do not use contractions, but when you do, remember cannot is one word and “it’s” is not the possessive form. “Irregardless” is not a word so do not ignore spell check’s red warning, and “however” requires commas and a comma is not spelled the same as the state of unconsciousness. If you are writing about a proposed statute to remove statues, get it right! Your adversary is counsel, not council, and the former provides advice when he or she advises. Beware of malapropisms that even spellcheck cannot detect: For valuation, an expert will appraise and not apprise (although she can apprise you of her appraisal).

Spell check will not tell you when to use “among” rather than (not “then”) “between,” or “fewer” rather than “less,” or that you are dangling a participle or ending a sentence with a preposition, but you can now sometimes split an infinitive. The basic principle here (not principal): proofread.

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