English Usage: Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Vocabulary
What is tested
Usage questions reward precision, not opinion. Review subject-verb agreement with collective nouns and indefinite pronouns ("the court is," "each of the witnesses was," "none were" versus "none was"); pronoun case, especially after prepositions ("between you and me") and in comparisons; who versus whom; restrictive versus nonrestrictive clauses; comma splices and run-ons; the serial comma; and quotation-mark placement with periods and commas.
Hyphenation matters: hyphenate a compound modifier before a noun ("a well-known author") but not after ("the author is well known"). Possessives of names ending in s follow house style (Jones's or Jones'); apostrophes form plurals of letters and numerals (three A's, the 1990's or 1990s per style). Capitalize full titles of courts and officials but not generic references ("the court," "the judge").
Spelling and confusables
Expect judgment (not judgement), acknowledgment, harass, accommodate, occurrence, privilege, and liable/libel, tortious/tortuous, credibility, principal/principle, council/counsel, affect/effect, ensure/insure.
Trap: a question may suggest a reporter should fix a witness's grammar. You may not alter quoted testimony; editorial correction applies to literary and charge material only as your style guide permits.
Rule of thumb: effect is usually a noun, affect usually a verb - "The rule will affect filings" versus "The effect of the rule."
Worked example: "Neither the plaintiff nor the defendants was prepared" - with nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.