Romanettes?

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It’s not every day an attorney gets to teach the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court a new word. But in a recent oral argument concerning statutory construction, an attorney referred to “romanettes,” puzzling Chief Justice John Roberts.

Apparently, in citations such as sec. 909.09(a)(1)(A)(i) and (ii), those little i’s in parentheses are called “romanettes” – short for diminutive Roman numerals.

From what I can gather, this is common knowledge among transactional attorneys who deal with lengthy contracts with many subsections and subparts. But to an old litigator like me, who didn’t do much transactional work, it’s a new term. And apparently, despite all of Chief Justice Robert’s litigation experience, it’s new to him also.

Doesn’t it sound better to say, “Your honor, the only plausible construction is that romanettes one and two are mutually exclusive” than “Your honor, little eye and little eye eye are mutually exclusive”?

Maybe we should have a contest to see who can be the first to use it in a Wisconsin court.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/11/assistant-to-sg-teaches-chief-justice-a-new-word.html