legal drafting

Ejusdem Generis

Ejusdem generis is latin for “of the same kind.” When a law lists lists classes of persons or things, this concept is used to clarify such a list.

For example, if a law refers to automobiles, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, and other motor-powered vehicles, a court might use ejusdem generis to hold that such vehicles would not include airplanes, because the list included only land-based transportation.

Expressio unius

expressio unius est exclusio alterius n

[New Latin, the explicit mention of one (thing) is the exclusion of another]
: a principle in statutory construction: when one or more things of a class are expressly mentioned others of the same class are excluded