'in light of' or 'in the light of'?

[bertietheblue]

I am in the process of compiling a list of common errors/inconsistencies made by native English lawyers at the law firm I work, with a view to putting them up on the proofreading department's intranet page. I have just sent an email to all my colleagues to ask what their pet annoyances are. One colleague has already replied with this:

'"… in light of …" (just when did "the" drop out ?? - remember the TV series "The Light of Experience"?)'

which suggests he always inserts 'the'. I think he's wrong and that either is acceptable. Any thoughts?

In case anyone is curious, here's the list so far:

• Gender-neutral pronouns - is it 'he', 'he or she' or 'they'? Here's an example from a document I proofread: 'If a director acts improperly in the interests of his/her appointer then he may be in breach of their duties". Add to that 'it': 'Each investor will be responsible for any tax liabilities arising out of its investments …. An investor's return from investments will not necessarily be the same as if they had made those investments themselves.'
  [*]Plural or singular for entities - 'ABC has … they have …'
  [*]Non-agreement of subparagraphs with introductory paragraph - '... is required to: (a) do …; (b) to do …; and (c) doing …'
  [*]Incorrect word order before which/that relative clauses, where the grammatical subject (the nearest noun in the main clause) is not the noun that the writer is referring to - I haven't a ready example yet but I know this is very common (probably my pet annoyance)
  [*]The ambiguous use of 'this Clause' when the xref style is 'Clause 1' and' Clause 1.1'
  [*]Comparing non-equivalents: 'The German Corporate practice was relatively small compared to other international law firms in Germany'
  [*]'In addition … also'
  [*]'Neither … or'; 'not … nor' ('This Report may not be used nor relied on')
  [*]USD, EUR but £
  [*]Here's a common one: 'Member States are required to provide to the tax authorities of another Member State'
  

 

[Allen165]

NOTA TEACHER.

I've come across both "in light of," which I prefer, and "in the light of" in reading law textbooks and articles. I'd say that the former is more common in American English while the latter is more common in British English. In any case, I'm sure both are correct.

 

[Raymott]

I am in the process of compiling a list of common errors/inconsistencies made by native English lawyers at the law firm I work, with a view to putting them up on the proofreading department's intranet page. I have just sent an email to all my colleagues to ask what their pet annoyances are. One colleague has already replied with this:

'"… in light of …" (just when did "the" drop out ?? - remember the TV series "The Light of Experience"?)'

which suggests he always inserts 'the'. I think he's wrong and that either is acceptable. Any thoughts?

In case anyone is curious, here's the list so far:

• Gender-neutral pronouns - is it 'he', 'he or she' or 'they'? Here's an example from a document I proofread: 'If a director acts improperly in the interests of his/her appointer then he may be in breach of their duties". Add to that 'it': 'Each investor will be responsible for any tax liabilities arising out of its investments …. An investor's return from investments will not necessarily be the same as if they had made those investments themselves.'
  [*]Plural or singular for entities - 'ABC has … they have …'
  [*]Non-agreement of subparagraphs with introductory paragraph - '... is required to: (a) do …; (b) to do …; and (c) doing …'
  [*]Incorrect word order before which/that relative clauses, where the grammatical subject (the nearest noun in the main clause) is not the noun that the writer is referring to - I haven't a ready example yet but I know this is very common (probably my pet annoyance)
  [*]The ambiguous use of 'this Clause' when the xref style is 'Clause 1' and' Clause 1.1'
  [*]Comparing non-equivalents: 'The German Corporate practice was relatively small compared to other international law firms in Germany'
  [*]'In addition … also'
  [*]'Neither … or'; 'not … nor' ('This Report may not be used nor relied on')
  [*]USD, EUR but £
  [*]Here's a common one: 'Member States are required to provide to the tax authorities of another Member State'

I've only heard of "In light of the ...." I can't see your colleague's reasoning in implying that other phrases starting with "the light of .." means that a "the" is missing in "In light of ...".

Have you considered numbering your points to make them easy to refer to, as in, "I don't like 10 much"?

 

[bertietheblue]

Have you considered numbering your points to make them easy to refer to, as in, "I don't like 10 much"?

Thanks. When the much longer list comes out, it will be in a completely different format - probably tabulated. But that's 2-3 months down the line. Right now, I'm just bullet pointing my notes.

 

[philadelphia]

Regarding 'in light of' or 'in the light of', I do not see anything wrong either