Can "in accordance with" be replaced with something else in this case?

Question

I'm translating a piece of legal writing. The writer of the original text is a lawyer.

X is the client of the lawyer, and X asked the lawyer to give opinions about and certify

the contents of a meeting minutes (I'm not sure if such a thing is done outside where

I'm located; it's likely a country-specific thing). So the lawyer created a legal document.

The piece of legal writing is from the document.

The following is a translation. It's the second sentence of the document, so it's a part of

the opening which is very brief.

"In accordance with X’s request I will express my opinions about and certify the contents of the meeting minutes attached to this document."

Here's my question. Can "In accordance with X's request" be replaced with something else?

Maybe "Acting on a request from X"? "At X's request" seems wrong, but I don't know.

Or, does it not need to be replaced?

I'm trying to come up with a good way to put it but I haven't been able to think of one.

Answer 1

Hi Choco,

Any of the options you listed would work for this sentence. They all mean the same thing. Another way to phrase the sentence would be, "At the request of my client, X,....". That way it's clear who the client is and that the client requested the feedback.

Generally, to ensure a piece of writing is clear and concise, you want to use as few words as possible. In American business and legal writing, people often inflate sentences with extra words because it sounds more "official." But there is no real reason to do this, and in fact replacing 5 or 6 words with one or two that say the same thing is always preferable.

I hope that helps!

Chris

Chris