Prior Notice of Hairsplitting Ahead: Is “prior” necessary when you give “notice?” There’s a charming discussion (if not a little bit of pilpul) going on about whether or not it is necessary or even correct to use the expression “prior notice” or if “notice” is sufficient. I first saw this conversation on Wayne Scheiss’ Legal Drafting web site (his June 14th posting) and he links to contributions to the discussion by Adams Drafting and Bryan Garner.