What general editing objective do the two examples illustrate?

What general editing objective do the two examples illustrate?

• A. Omitting extraneous phrases and insertion of qualifying adjectives
• B. Increasing legal complexity
• C. Introducing new authorities
• D. Rewriting for a different jurisdiction

Answer: (A)

In legal editing, the goal is to make the text clearer and more precise by trimming unnecessary words and adding qualifiers where needed. Omitting extraneous phrases removes redundancy, making sentences leaner, while inserting qualifying adjectives provides essential specificity to avoid ambiguity. Together, these edits tighten the language without altering substantive meaning, which is exactly what the two examples show. The other options describe actions that aren’t about editing for clarity—adding complexity, introducing new authorities, or rewriting for a different jurisdiction would change the text in different ways, not simply refine it.

In legal editing, the goal is to make the text clearer and more precise by trimming unnecessary words and adding qualifiers where needed. Omitting extraneous phrases removes redundancy, making sentences leaner, while inserting qualifying adjectives provides essential specificity to avoid ambiguity. Together, these edits tighten the language without altering substantive meaning, which is exactly what the two examples show. The other options describe actions that aren’t about editing for clarity—adding complexity, introducing new authorities, or rewriting for a different jurisdiction would change the text in different ways, not simply refine it.