Italics in legal writing

Quotation marks set off quoted or spoken language. Here are some usage guidelines:

Periods and commas go inside quotation marks, including single quotation marks.

She said, “Bill said, ‘I don’t think we should see each other anymore.’”

Colons, semicolons and dashes remain outside quotation marks.

Mary described the game as “a real grudge match”: the players were ruthless.

If a question is part of the quotation, the question mark should be placed inside the quotation mark; otherwise, it stays outside.

He asked, “Will you marry me?”

Did you hear her say, “No, I won’t”?

Who said, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”?

I love that song, “How Do I Live Without You?”

Use only one punctuation mark.

If several apply, pick the stronger one. Exclamation marks are stronger than question marks.

Wasn’t it Paul Revere who said, “The British are coming!”

Use quotation marks for direction quotes only – when the language is particularly powerful or needs to be precise.

In contrast, indirect quotations summarize or report what someone said.

She asked when you’d arr

quotation marks should never be used for emphasis in legal writing

can you use quotation marks for emphasis in legal writing