At Akorda, we lead a “No Legalese” movement that is committed to getting rid of legal language and freeing the business community from the burden of the “legalese tax” on every contract. Moreover, many judges are from previous generations where legal language was simply the normal way for lawyers to communicate – we`ll see if that changes in the future. Legal language is also often found in lawyers` arguments in the courtroom. This is often because they need to be as precise as possible when arguing. When it comes to jury trials, some lawyers may use legal language to leave parts of their opponents` reasoning open to interpretation, improving their chances of winning the case. OK, now we`re getting a little closer – at least the negativity in this definition is obvious. My only problem here is the claim that it is “legal terminology” or “legalese.” As you will see, we can very easily get into legal language without using legal terms at all. Of course, we have to be a little careful in our judgment here, because there are technically Latin words like “affidavit” and “caveat emptor” that have really become words that have an English meaning. As these words become more common in the legal system, they are likely to be less “legalese” and more simply “legal English”.
Your website should reflect your unique brand. To do this, you use simple and accessible voice content that speaks directly to your potential customer. Even if you`re using your website for strict reputation validation, my advice is to show off your expertise without unnecessary legal language. The trend of teaching law students to avoid legal language and use plain language has reached the point where not so long ago that it is now referred to as a “trend” or “simple language movement.” As one law professor put it, “the traditional style of legal writing is known for its unnecessarily complex words, legalese, and convoluted sentences that can obscure meaning and create ambiguity.” The movement began in the 1970s, and in 1983 Clarity International was founded to promote the concept internationally. The research in this study supports the latter interpretation: it`s not the concepts or the jargon, it`s the writing style. If legal drafting were truly more precise, it would be no less effective in conveying understandable and understandable meaning. To take an illustration, the authors share the example that in physics, words like “quark” or “electron” have no “synonyms for higher frequency” – there are no other words for them, so these terms simply need to be learned by anyone who wants to understand physics. On the other hand, the law uses many more common and understandable words: “retrospective” is much clearer and more common than “ex post fact”. Legal language is used by companies in the hope that it will make their policies more legally sound.
However, since few users are familiar with legal language, too much of it in your legal policies will likely hurt your business. In addition to being a bad thing, there are a few simple tips you can use to avoid accidentally slipping into legal language: Some people argue that legal language is not necessary at all. While legal language may be useful for accuracy in some scenarios, it is also possible that better use of typical English language is sufficient. Instead of using a crutch, lawyers could communicate more effectively by better organizing their thoughts. Here are some key phrases from Latin legal language that seem to creep in when lawyers decide to write things down (in no particular order): Don`t copy your competitors` terms and conditions or other policies, as they can be interspersed with legal language. There is actually a much better future where contracts are negotiated and executed quickly because they simply and clearly state what they mean. When the parties to an agreement are able to negotiate, agree and document their relationship quickly and confidently. Where sales can be made much faster and business development is significantly improved. And where legal teams can focus on higher-value work instead of looking at endless iterations of overly complicated and wordy contracts. Do you think this is an impossible dream? Think again: it`s already happening. First, legal language is lazy writing. As I mentioned earlier, legal language is what our brains learned by default, not something we actually used.
It is indeed easier to simply knock on the door in pure legalese than to write a judiciously constructed text. Even new lawyers are starting to avoid legal language. This applies not only to the documents they create, but also to the writing and conversation with each other and with customers. Join us and our colleagues as we build a coalition of like-minded and determined people to lead this fight and change the status quo. It is time for us to introduce this new world of simple and easy English contracts. If you are a company looking for a better way to do things, you can always contact us. Akorda is fully committed to this vision and the more people support this cause, the faster we can get to a world where legal language is a thing of the past. My favorite definition of legal language is probably the Cambridge Dictionary: in most cases, however, lawyers resort to legal language for the wrong reasons. Some lawyers rely on it to justify their exorbitant legal fees or because they think it will impress their clients.
Others use it to conceal the fact that they don`t know what they`re talking about and to divert attention from the inconsistency of their arguments. And still others turn to it simply because it`s easier to cut and paste from an old template than to do the hard work of rewriting. There is no criterion for legal review called “would the client read this or throw it in the trash.” As a result, we think we are fine, write the same way, and voila – we have just developed the habit of writing in legal language. None of these motivations is laudable. In fact, archaic writing can harm the interests of the client. Polls have shown that judges find lawyers who write in legal language less convincing than those who write in plain English. Judges may be older than most practitioners, but they weren`t born in the 1800s (and their employees are younger than you or me). First, maybe you`d like to share with me the best/worst example of legal language you`ve ever seen in the comments? We can find legal language everywhere, but most of the time we will see it appear: the most common place where you can find legal language is in a contract. Indeed, contract lawyers, when drafting a contract, may find it necessary to use terminology for lack of a better word. It is a lawyer`s job to choose their words wisely to ensure they are fully understood. A mispronounced word could cause chaos when it comes to court cases.
Therefore, legal language can be crucial in many situations. In short, there is always another way to use language that does not involve the use of legal language. Since a large part of the population is not familiar with the foreign language, it may be better to eliminate its use to allow for more direct understanding. If you read older contracts and documents, letters, and converse with people, you will encounter legal language in many forms. Legal language is a complex writing style that is not easy to understand. Contracts do not need to be drafted this way. Some lawyers will tell you that the legal concepts required in some contracts cannot be written in non-legal language. Stupidity! (And other not-so-polite swearing.) I`ve debunked some of these myths here and started a discussion about how you can measure readability.
Overall, legal language is useful in many scenarios. It allows lawyers to speak as effectively as possible and allows them to communicate their views to each other and to the judge in a way that is easily understandable in the legal society. Contract templates are another example of a place where you can often find legal language. Since these templates are often created by lawyers for use by the general public, it makes sense that they would have the same language that lawyers typically use.