Plain language for lawyers ebook

The plain language movement in Australia has been with us for decades. Plain language has been taught in law schools in Australia for almost 20 years. Plain Language for Lawyers can help. Over the 18 years it has been in print and it has established itself in Australia and overseas as a comprehensive, entertaining and enormously useful text.

It includes international references, contains practical advice, and can be read and enjoyed by anyone who is interested in plain language in the law. Now, more than ever, it is time for Plain Language for Lawyers. An expanded version of Chapter 4 — Plain Language Around the World is available in electronic format, for purchase as a stand-alone page work.

Contact us to purchase a digital version of this chapter. What is this book about? What is plain language? Why plain language? Low literacy can be invisible. Low literacy is a problem that knows no age, education, economic boundaries or national origins. If you give your client a legal document to read, does she read slowly and laboriously? Can he summarize what the document says? Has he filled in a form with the wrong information, or made mistakes in spelling or grammar?

Sometimes clients will appear to be uninterested in their case or unwilling to participate in finding solutions even though reading is not involved. They are probably scared that it will eventually lead to reading. They may:. Sometimes people behave in ways that seem to point to a poor attitude but actually indicates a literacy problem.

They may do things like:. Talk about the legal problem, repeat yourself. They have well-developed memories and may use mnemonics — memory tools. They may ask you to repeat something so they can memorize it. You can also help by finding new ways to convey information: Use plain language. People with lower literacy skills can cope only with written information that is simple and clearly laid-out, in language that is familiar and information that is well-organized. Tracking Preferences We use cookie and similar technologies in our web sites.

Menu Sign In Search Search for:. Learn more. Learn More. What is Plain Legal Language? The Benefits of Plain Language Confidence Plain language inspires confidence in both the reader and the writer. Cost-Efficiency Plain language can make your practice more cost-efficient as it has in business and government.

These are a few of the ways you and your clients save: You save valuable time in teaching your articled students, and in editing or revising their drafting efforts. You save valuable time training legal assistants and other support staff. They are better able to understand and process clearer legal documents whether they are proofreading or working through administrative steps on a file.

This gives them more confidence in their work and in the law firm. Such confidence produces more stability and less turnover. You save time and money in computer conversions. With plain language, you can eliminate the many variables in document packages. You can simplify a document assembly by simplifying the documents themselves. Computerized plain-language precedent systems provide greater uniformity of service, confidence in the product and a greater sense of security in your office.

Advance planning Preparing plain language documents is advance planning for new legal requirements such as statutes governing consumer finance documents. Writing as a Communication Process You never merely write. You write to someone. It prefers pompous or pretentious to simple expressions. It makes excessive use of nouns.

The nouns it uses tend to be abstract ones rather than concrete. It has a penchant for compound prepositional phrases.

It makes much use of the passive instead of the active voice. Paul, Plain language legal writing refers to legal writing that is well thought-out, well organized, and understandable to the client without interpretation: the language is clear, the legal concepts are explained and the technical terms are defined.

In , the Legal Writing Institute, an international association of legal writing teachers and other writing experts, adopted this statement of support for plain language legal writing: The way lawyers write has been a source of complaint about lawyers for more than four centuries.

The language used by lawyers should agree with common speech, unless there are reasons for a difference. Legalese is unnecessary and no more precise than plain language. Plain language is an important part of good legal writing. Plain language means language that is clear and readily understandable to the intended readers.

The Writing Process So using plain language is desirable, but how is it done? These seven steps are all you need to take to write effectively: Think about your reader. This may require research but will lead you to audience awareness.

Plan how best to convey your message. This is your organization phase. Prepare your first draft. This is the creation. Review your draft for common communication roadblocks. This is a general edit or revision. Prepare your edited version with care for technical factors.

This is the technical edit. Use readers or other resources to evaluate your draft. Revision and Reorganization Organizing information is the single most important thing you can do to make your writing readable. Plan, Research, and Prepare Thinking is the first step in communicating. Ponder and research Planning includes analyzing. Ask yourself these questions: Subject: What am I trying to say?

Prepare and Plan The act of artful writing requires preparation and a plan. Think about these aspects of the project: Concepts: The conceptual foundation: Who? Focus: A means for generating ideas and refining your thesis Research: Obtaining knowledge of the facts and the law Tasks: The work elements: delegation of aspects of the project, and anticipating developments in production Organization: Organizing the task and producing the document: writers, editors, production staff norms of form and content Identify the Audiences It is important to identify readers and be aware of their characteristics, needs, and expectations.

Is the court your most significant audience? Select the Most Significant Readers Who will be the significant readers of these documents? Could you use one document if you were to include a glossary of terms and concepts? Solicitors analyze their clients in interviews : What does this testator really want? What is really important to this business person in this transaction?

What is not being expressed here? Audience Characteristics You need to know the characteristics of the significant audience for your document. Ask yourself these questions: Is my purpose to persuade, document, inform, or get action?

Plain language for lawyers. The book now covers the significant developments in plain language and the law since Includes two new chapters: one on writing for the. Author: Michele M. Asprey; Publisher: N. Plain Language For Lawyers book. Read 2 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Wydick's Plain English for Lawyers now in its fifth edition has been a favorite of law students, legal writing teachers, lawyers, and judges for over 25 years..

Reviews of previous editions: Asprey outlines the considerable cost savings experienced by companies and governments when they have designed contracts and forms that can be easily and widely understood. She argues that it is not only economically sensible but legally responsible to abandon archaic drafting habits and embrace plain language in drafting. Having convinced the reader that plain language is not only an option in drafting, but the only responsible option, Asprey then proceeds to dissect bad drafting habits and propose solutions.

She demonstrates good drafting practices, details successful implementations … The first part of the book makes a case for the use of plain language in a convincing and easy to read manner. The writer then deals with the fundamentals and structure of drafting. She underlines the importance of knowing your audience when you are writing any document, and writing for the ability, understanding and interest of the reader or audience when preparing a document.

It also explains how to set out a document so that its very design assists the reader in understanding its content. The third edition of the book includes new chapters on email and use of the internet. This book is very easy to read. The author has interspersed her technical knowledge with humour, common sense and wide and relevant research. Asprey has provided the reader with a wonderful example of plain language at its best.