The question mark is underused in legal documents. Court briefs and research memoranda often require the legal writer to introduce an issue. Many times, you can make your issue simpler and pithier by presenting it in the form of a question. It’s easy surgery—

Before: This motion asks the court to consider whether the statute of limitations is tolled by the fact that the defendant signed a waiver.

After: Does the defendant’s signed waiver toll the statute of limitations?

The exclamation point is overused in legal documents. Give yourself a budget of one exclamation point for any document longer than three pages. If you must use it, use it wisely. (Though if you routinely type more than one exclamation point in a row, you may need to visit Exclaimers Anonymous.)