CPP Legal & Medical Document Proofreading 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a legal contract, the phrase 'indemnify and hold harmless' appears as 'indemnify and hold harmlessly.' What type of error is this?
- Punctuation error
- Grammatical/word-form error (Correct answer)
- Spelling error
- Capitalization error
Correct answer: Grammatical/word-form error
'Harmless' is an adjective modifying the subject, not an adverb; 'harmlessly' is the wrong word form for this legal term of art.
Question 2: A medical record reads 'The patient was administered 0.5mgs of morphine.' What is the correct style for this medication dosage unit?
- 0.5mgs
- 0.5 mg (Correct answer)
- 0.5 MG
- .5mg
Correct answer: 0.5 mg
Standard medical style requires a space between the numeral and the unit abbreviation, and 'mg' is not pluralized.
Question 3: A legal brief cites 'Smith v Smith' without italics. How should the case citation appear?
- Smith v Smith
- Smith v. Smith
- Smith v. Smith (italicized) (Correct answer)
- SMITH V. SMITH
Correct answer: Smith v. Smith (italicized)
Case names are italicized (or underlined) and include a period after 'v' in U.S. legal citation style.
Question 4: Which of the following correctly expresses a patient's blood pressure reading in a clinical document?
- 120/80 mmhg
- 120/80 mmHg (Correct answer)
- 120/80 MmHg
- 120/80 MMHG
Correct answer: 120/80 mmHg
The correct abbreviation is 'mmHg' (millimeters of mercury) with a lowercase 'mm' and uppercase 'H' and 'g.'
Question 5: A deposition transcript shows a witness answer beginning mid-sentence with a lowercase letter after an em dash interruption. What should the proofreader do?
- Capitalize the first word after the em dash
- Leave it lowercase as it reflects speech interrupted mid-sentence (Correct answer)
- Insert a period before the em dash
- Delete the em dash and start a new sentence
Correct answer: Leave it lowercase as it reflects speech interrupted mid-sentence
In legal transcripts, an em dash indicates interrupted speech, and the continuation of interrupted speech is not capitalized.
Question 6: The phrase 'heretofore mentioned parties' appears in a contract. A proofreader notes it should be 'hereinbefore mentioned parties.' Which resource best resolves this?
- A general English dictionary
- A legal style guide or legal dictionary (Correct answer)
- An AP Stylebook
- A medical terminology reference
Correct answer: A legal style guide or legal dictionary
Legal terms of art like 'hereinbefore' (referring to something earlier in the same document) are best verified in a legal style guide or legal dictionary.
Question 7: A medical consent form uses 'the patient's right to refuse treatment' in one paragraph and 'the patients right to refuse treatment' in another. What is the proofreader's priority?
- Flag both as acceptable variations
- Mark the missing apostrophe in the second instance (Correct answer)
- Change both to 'patient rights to refuse treatment'
- Ignore possessive punctuation in consent forms
Correct answer: Mark the missing apostrophe in the second instance
The second instance is missing the apostrophe in the possessive 'patient's,' which is a grammatical error that must be flagged.
CPP Legal & Medical Document Proofreading 2
In a legal contract, the phrase 'indemnify and hold harmless' appears as 'indemnify and hold harmlessly.' What type of error is this?