You were right. It is* brother-in-law's*. The apostrophe-s plural marker is
appended to the end of the noun phrase, even if the noun is not the last
word:

the attorney-at-law's ethics
the Queen of England's horses
Ben and Jerry's new flavor
my son the doctor's fancy-schmancy office
the jerk who lives upstairs's obnoxious music

Dick


On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Ingerman, Prudence (INGERMAN) <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I am delighted to join this group of grammar gurus.
>
>
> I have a brother-in-law.  I have two brothers-in-law.    My elder
> brother-in-law's son is also a doctor.
>
> My sister is an attorney-at-law.   Her three siblings are also
> attorneys-at-law.  The attorney-at-law's office is on the 3rd floor.
>
> Is there a rule about this?   That's the question.  Why is it incorrect to
> say - the attorney's-at -law office.  What is special about that tacked-on
> prepositional phrase?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts.
>
> Prudence Ingerman - IEP Juniata College
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of R. Michael Medley (GLS)
> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:45 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: how confidential is ATEG?
>
> I recently received a post on another listserv where a grammar question
> was being discussed.  Since there is a wide range of language teaching
> issues discussed on that listserv, I posted a message to other members
> that if they really love grammar and would like to participate in some
> excellent dicussion of grammar issues, they might subscribe to the ATEG
> list.  One of them accepted this invitation, subscribed, and got a welcome
> message with the following lines included:
>
> "IMPORTANT: This list is confidential. You should not publicly mention its
> existence."
>
> Have I broken a rule in recommending the ATEG list to others?
>
> R. Michael Medley,Ph.D.
> Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
> [log in to unmask]  (540) 432-4051
>
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