In the profession of the 21st century, it’s time to get rid of legalese & just say what you mean, writes Jonathan Morgan
Why do lawyers seem to be stuck in a rut of writing lengthy letters, using ten words when they could get their message across with three? Lawyers often send correspondence back and forth using long-winded and passive language—even when writing to customers, they tend to overcomplicate issues with lengthy phrases and words dredged up from a Dickens-style legal dictionary.
Has practising the law become about getting results for customers, or point-scoring with the use of archaic vocabulary? Surely we could be focusing most of our time on the core legal tasks if we were to correspond with clients using a friendly, conversational tone to get to the point quickly.
Stuck in the linguistical past
Lawyers have always had a love for phrases and expressions normally found only in 18th-century period dramas, and have always been susceptible to the charms of corporate speak—even as it goes out of fashion. ‘I attach herewith’ is a personal favourite of mine. Where else would it be
