Paragraph numbering

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Maybe a finance contact bias, but I favour numbering absolutely everything, and using as many numbering levels as are implied/needed to reveal the logical structure of the document.

Numbers in a margin don't impede reading comprehension, so there is no harm in “overusing” numbering in a technical document. There is harm in underusing, however.

For non-technical literature there is maybe less need — but Nietzsche numbered his paragraphs!

Numbering levels— each indented to be nested inside the level above — instantly reveal the exoskeleton of the agreement.

Sub-levels break up the inevitably contorted syntax of commercial drafting, making the semantic content much, much easier to parse and understand.

They also quickly reveal the manifold redundancies, illogicalities and non-sequiturs that stud all complex contracts.

They also point up, glaringly, when a contract has been overlawyered. If the logical structure needs seven or more numbering levels, in all likelihood you've over-engineered it. The answer is not to reduce the number of paragraph levels and therefore bury that detail, but to simplify the logical structure so it doesn't need so many levels in the first place.

See also

• Microsoft Word