Part 21 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series

By Terry Seligmann

What’s a collective noun?Words like “team,” “crowd,” “committee” and more

particularly in law, “court” and “jury.”

What pronoun goes with a collective noun?If the action is collective, use “it,” not “they.”

Examples: The committee made its views clear in its report.The court issued its decision yesterday.

Even though a court is made up of individual judges, it only acts as a group.The judges asked questions that revealed their individual

views.The court made its leanings obvious during argument.

CorporationsA corporation or company is a single entity, not a

collective noun, even if it has a plural proper name – “Lehman Brothers,” “General Motors.”

So it takes a singular pronoun:General Motors found that it could not produce cars that

sell.The company moved its offices to Dubuque.

and verb:The corporation was implicated in the fraud.The corporate officers were implicated in the fraud.

What verb goes with a collective noun?If the action is collective, treat the subject as singular and

use a singular verb:Example: The jury deliberates on a verdict.Example: The Committee is issuing its report on

Wednesday.The Court always acts collectively

Example: The Court hears oral argument today.

Want more?The source for this material, and a place to find more on

pronoun references and singular and plural verbs:Bryan Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style §§

10.10, 10.23-10.25.