Brand guidance: Style guide

Why it matters

Consistency in how we present our brand in writing ensures our content is easy to consume. It helps the firm’s marketing and communications output across the website, social media, presentations and pitches deliver our brand in line with house style.

This maximises impact and ensures the focus remains on what we are saying, not how we are saying it. Adherence to this style guide demonstrates our commitment to excellence in how we communicate to our clients and chosen markets.

Acronyms

Acronyms must be defined. Where a particular acronym is used by the organisation itself or is commonly used by others to refer to that organisation, use that acronym and take the same approach to its capitalisation. Otherwise use capitals. Spell out the full name on first mention with the acronym in brackets and then use the acronym for all further references in the copy thereafter. Note: do not put the acronym in inverted commas:

• an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shall be given to the Buyer. An EPC will be valid for 10 years.

• the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is the energy regulator for Great Britain.

Ampersands (&)

Document titles and web page titles use the ampersand (‘&’) instead of ‘and’, so: The Banking & Finance team …’ not The Banking and Finance team. The exception would be in the case of a separative ‘and’ where an ampersand follows, such as: ‘some key differences between Scotland and England & Wales’.

Awards

Add the name of the award in single quotation marks. The award body is not italicised:

• Shoosmiths was crowned ‘UK Law Firm of the Year – Large sized firm’ at the British Legal Awards for its standout strategy, which is already making an impact in all areas, including clients, brand, people and ESG.

Brackets

Use circular brackets in written text. When using, add the punctuation after closing the bracket:

• Shoosmiths has recently signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Bullets

Where a list or a clause is divided into sub-clauses, we use a simple colon (:) not a colon with a dash (:-) to begin the list. A simple list of items does not require punctuation.

Refreshments:

• tea

• coffee

• water

Where the entries in the list are complete sentences in their own right, follow these rules:

• each entry begins with a lower-case letter unless it is a defined term or proper noun

• do not use a semicolon after each bullet

• end with a full stop unless the text continues, in which case use a comma.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 offers a new statutory right of one week’s unpaid carer’s leave per year for eligible employees to provide or arrange care for a dependent who has:

• a physical or mental illness or injury that means they need care for more than three months

• a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010

• care needs because of their old age.

Do not use ‘and/or’ in a clause to separate a list. If you want to stress that one or more conditions can apply, use ‘either or both of’ where there are two conditions or ‘one or more of’ where there are more than two conditions.

Capitalisation: Names

Capitalise names and titles. If the individual’s preference is unknown in the case of a prefix, such as van, use lower case.

• James Smith

• Mr Louis van Gaal

Capitalisation: Job titles, posts, positions

Capitalise when referring to a specific individual holding that title and not when referring generally to all holding that title:

• James Smith is a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Division

• the meeting will be attended by all senior associates in the Real Estate Division

Capitalisation: Divisions and departments

Use capital letters only when referring to the full, official name of a division or department. When speaking about a division or department in general terms, or without its full name, use lower case.

• the Corporate Division will hold its annual away day in January

• division comprises four departments.

Capitalisation: Other

Events and festivals, days of the week and months of the year are capitalised, but seasons are not:

• this year, Easter will be on the second Tuesday in April
• next Friday will be the first day of autumn.

Case law report

Case law reports are written ‘Stringer and Ors v HM Revenue & Customs’

Colons

When using a colon in a heading or sentence, the first word after the colon is always upper case.

• Automated Vehicles Act: Next steps for the sector
• DSARs at work: When is personal data private?

Commas

We welcome the use of the ‘Oxford comma’ but as per grammatical rules, do not use the Oxford comma in lists, so: ‘authors, writers and editors’, not ‘authors, writers, and editors.’

Although the Oxford comma is grammatically valid, we do not use it in lists unless clarity demands it.

Company names

Outside legal documents, when not specifically referring to the legal entity, use the company’s preferred styling of its name, usually the brand name:

• NatWest Group
• ExCeL London

Contractions

Use of contractions can make a communication more informal, so only consider using them for appropriate formats, such as internal stories or social posts, and not where a more formal tone is appropriate (such as tender documents or external communications). For example:

Informal           Formal

Doesn’t             Does not

It’s                    It is, it has

I’ll                     I will, I shall

Currency

Symbols should be used for currency. Where the use of a currency symbol alone may be ambiguous, include the ISO 4217 currency code or an interpretation provision for the symbol:

• the Borrower shall pay an arrangement fee of $20,000
• $, USD and dollars denote the lawful currency of the United States of America

Dates

Use the ‘day, month, year’ format, using a figure for the date. Do not use ‘st’,’th’ ‘nd’ etc. Do not precede any date with the word ‘the’. Months should be written in full:

• 2 February 2026
• unless sufficient agreement has been received by 2 February 2026, the resolution will lapse
• please provide any comments by Friday 2 February

Email addresses

Use lower case for email addresses: forename.surname@shoosmiths.com

Emerging technology

Here is a list of how we write the various emerging technologies we advise on (NB all are written as one word):

• Adtech
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Cleantech
• Edtech
• Fintech
• GenAI
• Insurtech
• Proptech

Exclamation marks

Avoid using exclamation marks, as they can make it look like you’re shouting. If you feel the need to include them, please do so sparingly.

The firm

Use the firm, not Firm. Use firm internally instead of Shoosmiths.

Full stops

We use single spacing after a full stop. Like this.

Government

Government is always lower case ‘government’, unless when starting a sentence. However, ‘UK Government’ is always upper case.

Headlines

Use sentence case for headlines and titles (with no full stop at the end).

Hashtags

Capitalising the first letter of each word in a hashtag, also known as Camel Case (or Pascal Case), is crucial for digital accessibility and readability. Never use ampersands or special characters in hashtags. Use Camel Case for accessibility:

• #ForWhatMatters
• #DataCentres
• #EnergyAndInfrastructure

Hyphens, en-dashes & em-dashes

Use each dash type correctly to ensure clarity and consistency in our writing:

• Hyphen (-)
  Use to join words that form a compound adjective or noun:
  • client-facing materials
  • long-term strategy
  • decision-making process
• En-dash (–)
  Use to indicate a range or connection between values or concepts:
  • 2023–2025
  • Monday–Friday
  • the Shoosmiths–LSE partnership
• Em-dash (—)
  Use to add emphasis, insert a break in thought, or expand on a point. Avoid overuse.
  • The team—despite the tight deadline—delivered ahead of schedule
  • There’s one thing we won’t compromise on—quality.

NB: Avoid using double hyphens (--) in place of em-dashes. Use proper spacing and punctuation for each dash type.

Language

We use British English. Please ensure you double-check documents are not in American English, as this is often the default in Microsoft packages, including when using Copilot.

Numbers

Numbers one to nine should be written in words. Use figures for all other numbers

• write out one to nine: five business days’ notice

• use figures for 10+: 24 hours

Commas should be used for large numbers:

• 1,000
• 1,000,000

Where there is no risk of ambiguity, you may abbreviate the word e.g. ‘m’ for million, ‘bn’ for billion, ‘km’ for kilometres.

• 10 million or 10m

Use words for ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’ and so on up to ‘tenth’. Use figures with ‘st’, ‘nd’, ‘rd’ or ‘th’ for all others.

• on the first day of Christmas…
• on the 12th day of Christmas…

People

Any list of Shoosmiths employees should be presented in A to Z format, based on surnames.

Percentages

Symbols and figures should be used for percentages:

• interest shall accrue at a rate which is 2% above the Base Rate

Phone numbers

Use the following spacing in phone numbers. Include the country code:

• +44 (0)3700 863 000

• +44 (0)1234 567 890

• +44 (0)7779 123 456

  Punctuation

  It’s ‘e.g.’ not ‘eg’ and ‘i.e.’ not ‘ie’. Also consider using ‘for example or ‘such as’.

  Quotation marks

  Do not use double quotation marks except for reporting speech. Use single quotation marks for everything else including quotations within quotations. Quotation marks are not required where the quote is displayed out of line with the rest of the text. Quotes are presented as tidily as possible, so for example:

• the spokesman said: “A colon followed by single quote marks, with the full stop inside of the end quote.”

• the guide clearly says, “use double quotation marks.”

• the article on the case says: Whilst the decisions deal only with preliminary issues and do not address quantum directly, the figures being claimed are substantial, with Stonegate seeking approximately £1.1bn

Sentence

It is fine to start a sentence with ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘because’, ‘so’ or ‘however.’

Shoosmiths

When we talk about Shoosmiths we use the firm with a lowercase f. Shoosmiths is singular – a firm, ‘Shoosmiths is’, not ‘Shoosmiths are’. Use of Shoosmiths’ apostrophe: ‘Shoosmiths’ corporate team said…’, unless where prefixed by ‘the’, as then ‘the Shoosmiths xx’ becomes an adjective. Example: ‘on the Shoosmiths website’. This should also be used in headlines for press releases where appropriate.

Spacing

We use single spacing after a full stop.

Spelling

We use British English spelling.

Team

Team is singular – ‘the team is’, not ‘the team are’ except when writing about sports teams where ‘are’ is more generally accepted.

Websites & webpages

When referring to a website or webpage, the text preceding ‘www’ should be omitted unless it is something other than ‘http://’ or ‘https://’. The final ‘/’ at the end of any address should be omitted. If the reference includes a link, include all elements of the URL in the link itself (and test it to ensure it works):

• www.shoosmiths.com/insights
• https://www.shoosmiths.com/insights/

When referring to a webpage, only capitalise the first word (and any proper noun) or use the URL (particularly when it will appear in hard copy):

• more information is available on the Shoosmiths webpage: ‘Social mobility at Shoosmiths.’
• for more information see www.shoosmiths.com/insights