[Grammar] Using commas after quotations or parentheses?

[SPL Tech]

Does a comma go inside or outside of a quote or parentheses cluster?

I am going to school those so-called "lawyers," especially the ones who wear pocket squares, even if it kills me!

OR

I am going to school those so-called "lawyers", especially the ones who wear pocket squares, even if it kills me!

AND

I hate going to school just to learn a bunch of crap I am going to forget (in a year), so why bother?

OR

I hate going to school just to learn a bunch of crap I am going to forget (in a year,) so why bother?

 

[SoothingDave]

Inside the quotes, in American English.

 

[emsr2d2]

Outside the quotes in BrE.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Does a comma go inside or outside of a quote or parentheses cluster?

I am going to school those so-called "lawyers," especially the ones who wear pocket squares, even if it kills me!

OR

I am going to school those so-called "lawyers", especially the ones who wear pocket squares, even if it kills me!

AND

I hate going to school just to learn a bunch of crap I am going to forget (in a year), so why bother?

OR

I hate going to school just to learn a bunch of crap I am going to forget (in a year,) so why bother?

Even though I use AmE, I only place punctuation marks inside quotation marks if it a real quotation. I place them outside the quotation marks if the quotation marks are use to identify language under discussion, words being emphasized, or, as in your example, scare quotes. By the way, many believe scare quotes to be superfluous following "so-called" because those words accomplish the same task.

As a point of history, the reason AmE insisted on punctuation inside quotation marks had more to do with the mechanics of early printing than grammar logic. With old time printing presses, the metal used for commas and periods (full stops) were the most fragile. Placing them inside the the heavier quotation mark piece protected them from breaking.

So I lean to the more logical BrE method.

 

[SoothingDave]

I would place the comma outside of parentheses.