(Semi)colons, Commas, and Capitalization oh my!
The (VERY) Serious CREAC Style Guide
The Cite is Right!
Upside Down Commas (and much more)!
The Kitchen Sink!
100

Name three ways to fix the single error (60 seconds):

Unlike the alleged defamer in Hullick, who made statements to a non-employee board of directors, Ms. Nash made statements not only to board directors but also to a salesperson and a customer, the publication element is therefore met.

Issue: the comma after "a customer" is a comma splice. Three ways to fix this:


1. Add a coordinating conjunction such as "so" after the comma.

2. Replace the comma with a period.

3. Replace the comma with a semicolon.

100

What are the components of a case illustration in order? (30 seconds)



1. Hook

2. Holding combined with key facts

3. Any leftover facts

4. Reasoning



100

Identify the error in this citation (30 seconds): 

Id at 507. 



There should be an italicized period after Id. 



100

Properly add an apostrophe to the words below (45 seconds):

It (singular, possessive)

Crow (plural, possessive)

Cactus (plural, possessive)

Walters (singular, possessive)

Its

Crows’

Cacti’s or Cactuses’

Walters’s 

100

What is the name of Professor Simon's French boyfriend? 

Claude

200

Identify all grammatical errors (90 seconds):

On a warm Monday, much like this one, Ms. Nash read a letter she wrote about Ms. Jackson—a woman who is certainly bad at picking both friends and business partners.

No grammatical errors.

200

What are the three components of an application section? (30 seconds)



1. Thesis of application

2. Rule-based/fact-based reasoning

3. Fact-to-fact/analogical reasoning


200

Identify the two errors in this case name (30 seconds):

Turner v. Wells, 879 F.3d 1254 (11th Cir. 2018). 


  1. Missing Pincite 
  2. Missing explanatory parenthetical (applying Florida law)
200

Identify the errors in the following quote (30 seconds):

"We believe that what Keck meant by "or otherwise" can be discerned from the court's use of Leong v. Takasaki, 520 P.2d 758 (Haw. 1974)."



The inside quotation marks should be single, not double, quotation marks.

"We believe that what Keck meant by 'or otherwise' can be discerned from the court's use of Leong v. Takasaki, 520 P.2d 758 (Haw. 1974)."



200

How long had Ms. Jackson and Ms. Nash been friends? 

Since college. 

300

Identify the single grammatical error (45 seconds):

In Zambrano v. Devanesan, the Court found that the defamer’s statements were actionable mixed opinion when, at a staff meeting, the defamers said that the defamed person neglected his medical practice, deserted his responsibilities, and acted unprofessionally and unethically. 484 So. 2d 603, 605, 607 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986).

"Court" should not be capitalized because the Florida District Court of Appeals is not (1) the U.S. Supreme Court, (2) the highest tribunal whose laws govern the outcome (the Florida Supreme Court), or (3) the court the document is addressing.

300

Identify the three errors in the following sentences of an application section (60 seconds):

Unlike the attorneys and client Hoch that were so closely connected that they were viewed as a single entity, there is no indication that Ms. Jackson and the salesperson or customer are so closely connected to warrant such treatment. Like the statements in Fiore, which were made to newspaper reporters, here Ms. Nash made these statements in front of a salesperson and a customer. Fiore v. Rogero, 144 So. 2d 99, 101 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1962).



1. The “unlike” comparison comes before the “like” comparison.

2. The second sentence is not apples-to-apples.

3. There is a citation in the application section.

300

Identify the four errors in this full citation (90 seconds):

LRX, Inc. v. Horizon Assocsiates Joint Venture through its joint venturers Horizon-ANF, Inc., 842 So. 2d 881, 885 (Fla. Dist. 4th. Ct. App. 2003) 


  1. Associates should be abbreviated to Assocs.
  2. Through it’s joint venturers should be “ex red”
  3. The correct court info in the parenthetical is (Fla. List. Ct. App. 2003) 
  4. Missing end period 



300

Identify the two errors in this sentence (60 seconds):

Arizona has a “strong policy interest 'In fully compensating injured plaintiffs to make them whole. Thus, Arizona allows unlimited recovery for actual damages, expenses for past and prospective medical care, past and prospective pain and suffering, lost earnings, and diminished earning capacity.” Hislop v. Salt River Project Agric. Improvement & Power Dist., 5 P.3d 267, 271 (Ariz. App. 2000).

1. The I that starts the internal quotation should be lowercase

2. Missing the closing single quotation mark

300

What is the name of Prof. Simon's dog?

Duke

400

Identify the error in this sentence (45 seconds):

Ms. Nash, an aggressive impulsive business partner, wrote a letter about Ms. Jackson, read the letter at a board meeting, and then stormed out of the meeting room.

There should be a comma between “aggressive” and “impulsive."


400

Identify the two errors in the following sentences that start a case illustration for Hislop (60 seconds):

The closely related person element is not met when there is no "familial relationship, or something closely akin,” between the victim and the bystander. Hislop v. Salt River Project Agric. Improvement & Power Dist., 5. P.3d 267, 269 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2000); see also Keck v. Jackson, 593 P.2d 668, 670 (Ariz. 1979) (holding that a claim was stated when the victim was the bystander's mother). In Hislop, the plaintiffs witnessed their coworker and friend die. Id.



1. The parenthetical is in the middle of the case illustration rather than the end

2. The holding should come before the facts

Bonus?

3. Incorrect use of Id.!


400

Identify the three errors in this citation (2 minutes):

Id. at 1265–66, See also Ozyesilpinar v. Reach PLC, 365 So. 3d 453, 459–60 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2023) 

  1. There should be a semi colon after the Id. pincite, not a comma. 
  2. See also should be italicized
  3. See should be lowercase
400

Identify both errors (60 seconds):

According to Mrs. Dormer, Ms. Shalet was apologetic after the accident and explains that she “noticed Randy…and thought it would be funny” to throw the stuffed bird at him.



1. Change "explains" to "explained" to match the past tense verbs (parallelism)

2. The ellipses are improperly spaced and should have a space between each period . . . like this





400

What is wrong with these sentences? (2 errors)

A statement was read at the board meeting. She made the decision because she hated Ms. Jackson. 

1. Passive voice

2. Nominalization

Example correction: Ms. Nash read a statement bird the board meeting. She decided to read it because she hated Ms. Jackson. 

500

Identify all six grammatical errors (60 seconds):

Unsurprisingly a Court is probably going to make the wrong decision here and find that the Defamatory Statements element is met: everyone knows they go easy on CEO's.


1. Add a comma after “Unsurprisingly."

2. Do not capitalize "Court" because this sentence is not directed at a known court handling this matter.

3. Do not capitalize "Defamatory Statements."

4. The colon should be a semicolon.

5. Court is an “it” not a "they." (and then "go" becomes "goes")

6. There should be no apostrophe before the "s" in "CEO's" because this is a plural, not a possessive.

500

Identify the two errors in the following point heading for the CREAC (60 seconds):

A. The element is met because Ms. Nash made the statements to a third party.

1. The point heading does not specify which element is at issue in the following CREAC.

2. The point heading includes a conclusion rather than the operative facts.



500

Identify and correct the four errors in this citation (2 minutes):

Hay v. Independent Newspapers, Inc., 450 So.2d 293, 295 (when the court considers the totality of the circumstances)(Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1984). 


  1. Independent should be abbreviated to Indep. 
  2. There should be a space between So and 2d. 
  3. Parenthetical does not begin with a present participle 
  4. The court and date parenthetical should be before the explanatory parenthetical 
500

Identify the four errors in the following sentence (60 seconds):

‘A negligent infliction of emotional distress cause of action requires the plaintiff to: (1) witness an injury to a closely related person, (2) suffer mental anguish manifested as physical injury, and (3) be within the zone of danger so as to be subject to an unreasonable risk of bodily harm’. Pierce v. Casas Adobes Baptist Church, 782 P.2d 1162, 1165 (1989)



1. Single quotations should be double: ‘ → “

2. NO PERIOD AFTER THE QUOTATION MARK!!!

3. Missing “Ariz.” in the parenthetical

4. Missing period at the end of the citation

500

What is Professor Simon's NFL team?

KC Chiefs