Grammar Gripe: “As Follows” vs. “As Follow”

I was reading a legal brief once, and came across a sentence reading something to the effect of:

The reasons the motion should be granted are as follow:  . . . .

As I read the words, first in my head and then actually out loud, I could not get over how strange the words “as follow” sounded.  And yet, thinking through the structure of the sentence, it was grammatically correct: “follow” refers to the noun “reasons,” thus the subject and verb were in agreement. Try rearranging the sentence a bit:

1. The reasons as follow below demonstrate why the motion should be granted:  . . . .
2. The reasons as follows below demonstrate why the motion should be granted:  . . . .
3. The reasons the motion should be granted are the ones as follow:  . . . .
4. The reasons the motion should be granted are the ones as follows:  . . . .

It’s a bit easier to see why the first and third iteration above are correct, while the second and fourth demonstrate an obvious subject-verb disagreement.

Yet, the authorities appear to agree that, at least in the initial sentence, technical precision gives way to the aversion of linguistic grotesqueness.  Thus, it is never appropriate to use “as follow.”

On the other hand, this stuff is all just made up.  The only actual rule here is, if it sounds stupid, it’s not English.

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