3 Consistency

Consistency has a drafting consequence that runs beyond style. In a legal text, variation is read as intention. If the agreement says "the Company" in clause 3, "the firm" in clause 7 and "the employer" in clause 9, a court is entitled to ask whether three different things were meant. So the rule for legal writing is the opposite of the rule taught for essays: do not reach for a synonym. Define the term once, at first use, in a definitions clause or an opening parenthesis, and then use it in exactly that form until the document ends. The same discipline applies to numbers — write "Rs 5,000 (five thousand rupees)" the first time and use one form thereafter — and to gender and number, which is where Nepali drafters writing in English most often slip between "he", "she" and "they".