Do you use 'I' and 'we' in essays?

I have always been taught not to do this but on reading letters to a law student I noticed that McBride uses such words in his example essays. So is such a thing acceptable for the area of law or is it still to be avoided?

Reply 1

The West Wing

It depends on the context - if you are giving your opinion on a matter of law you're supposed to 'submit' or 'suggest' rather than 'think' - the reason for this is supposed to be out of respect for the judges that made the decisions.

For example - "it is suggested that Williams v Roffey Bros should be revisited in the interest of freedom of contract" as opposed to "I think the judgment in Williams v Roffey Bros sucks".

Reply 2

Prime Suspect

Original post by Sithius

I think you'd only use I/We if you're an authority on what you're talking about?

Reply 3

big-boss-91

Original post by Sithius

depends, if its a quote then it'll be fine, or depends on the context

Reply 4

Sithius

Original post by The West Wing

To quote from the essay in McBride's book...

'I submit that the...'

How's that?

Reply 5

The West Wing

Original post by Sithius

To quote from the essay in McBride's book...

'I submit that the...'

How's that?

I think that would be totally fine. The rationale behind not using 'I' is not out of an irrational hatred for the word, it's to show respect to the opinions in question.

Reply 6

gethsemane342

Original post by The West Wing

I dunno - obviously you have to be respectful but the one thing nearly all of my supervisors have told me is not to say "I submit" because it doesn't make you sound amazingly repsectful - just pretentious. One of my supervisors (one of the main markers for criminal law) actually just said "If you have an opinion, you have an opinion - don't hide behind something else. Just come out with it and write "I think" or "In my opinion"". I think different people look at it differently.

Reply 7

The West Wing

Original post by gethsemane342

That's interesting - obviously all these things are totally subjective and depend on conventions. I would be quite uncomfortable writing for example 'I think Williams v Roffey Bros should be revisited because of freedom of contract' or worse, 'I think we should reconsider Williams v Roffey Bros', it becomes just a bit much like a personal attack on the judges in question.

Reply 8

gethsemane342

Original post by The West Wing

I usually avoid it by writing in the third person :tongue:

. But yeah, at least 2 of them last year thought people who wrote "I submit" were just pretentious idiots. That being said, i'm not fussed about all this formality. It's not like the judge in question is ever going to actually read my scribbled essay nor will they care much...

Reply 9

saiwa

"I will advise…", "I suggest…". Instead of "I think" perhaps use "It is of my opinion that…"

I can't really see using any of the above, or such phrases with "I" as being unacceptable. Obviously, you don't want to be using them all the time - just where it is appropriate.

I once heard a nice quote, can't remember exactly by who, but it was along the lines of "using one word instead of two to say the same thing is always preferable".

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

Festina lente

It really depends from tutor to tutor. I have had tutors who crossed out every mention of "I think" or "In my opinion" and tutors who hated "It is submitted that" as a waste of words and, as others have said, rather pretentious and too unwieldy in an exam where you are under timed conditions.

Personally, I think (see what I did there :smile:

) essays should be written as clearly and simply as possible. Everybody finds their own style. Even a direct and simple style can be respectful in disagreement, accurately representing the other side of the argument and giving reasons etc.

Reply 11

jacketpotato

Its standard practice to write in the third person. This is because you aren't putting forward your opinion, you are making submission. Judges (examiners like to think they are judges) care about submissions, they don't care what your opinion is. "It is submitted", I suppose, is the most accurate way of putting things. You could have "I submit" - although there is an "I" it is your submission not your opinion.

I don't think it would ever be accurate to use "we". You would use "we" if you were writing on behalf of a law firm or on behalf of a company, but you are a student not a firm or a company.