Abstract: Cutting shears having a pair of handles pivotally connected as levers to a lower pivot and pivotally connected in a compound linkage arrangement to a pair of intersecting cutting blades at an upper pivot. A hand grip on each of the handles includes an outwardly projecting upper hand grip tab and the distance from the upper pivot to a hand contacting surface of each upper hand grip tab is substantially in the range from 2½? to 3¼? and preferably substantially 2¾?. The distance from the locus of intersections of the blades as they pivot through a cutting motion to the plane of the most distal tips of the handles is substantially within range from 6¾? to 7¼? and preferably 7?. The hand grips are substantially identically, arcuately, outwardly, oppositely contoured and longitudinally symmetrical.