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What a difference a word makes.

Publication: Trial
Publication Date: 01-DEC-03 		Format: Online - approximately 852 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: What a difference a word makes.(language used in jury instructions depends on level of defendants' culpability conduct)

Article Excerpt
Mark Twain once wrote that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." This is certainly true in the law, particularly in the language used in jury instructions. A prime example is the instruction on causation.

In recent years, the keepers of the doctrine of causation in many states developed a distaste for the word "proximate," so they discarded it. (1) Unwilling to let "cause" stand on its own, they selected the word "substantial" as a better companion for it, introducing the language of size into the analysis of causation.

This change is contrary to the laws of my state--New York--and many others. Under tiffs scheme, when causation is...

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