The good folks at What About Clients? care about good legal writing. By eliminating the legalese and communicating like a human being, a lawyer can produce client-centered writing: something primarily for the client; something the client can readily understand. If you agree, then you’ll enjoy today’s post, in which Dan Hull riffs on an unusually pompous and putrid example of bad contract drafting. I especially like Dan’s closer, in which he says that writing in plain English “would help diminish the image of the self-important ‘ I’m-special ’ lawyer rocking back and forth in his chair and talking to himself like a mental patient.”
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17 February 2008
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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference How to write for the client.:
» Just Say It: The War Against Legal-Speak. from What About Clients?
Lawyer-Speak and Legalese. Of all lawyer-centric institutions, only "Professionalism" and "Work-Life Balance" are more embarrassing or more likely to undermine clients--and at least those two originally had a point. Catching up on Sunday morning, I not... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Client-centered legal writing. from What About Clients?
In "How to write for the client": By eliminating the legalese and communicating like a human being, a lawyer can produce client-centered writing: something primarily for the client; something the client can readily understand.... [Read More]
» "How to Write for the Client" from Stark County Law Library Blog
Posted by Raymond Ward: “The good folks at What About Clients? care about good legal writing. By eliminating the legalese [Read More]
» Redux: Just Say It: The War Against Legal-Speak. from What About Clients?
One of our favorite posts on why legalese is useless, from February 2007: Lawyer-Speak and Legalese. Of all lawyer-centric institutions, only "Professionalism" and "Work-Life Balance" are more embarrassing or more likely to undermine clients--and at le... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Client-centered legal writing. from What About Clients?
In "The Vampires of Legal Writing", he notes that over-reliance on forms "tends to perpetuate bad legal writing." Hear, hear. Listen to our erudite friend in the Big Easy. WAC? thinks "forms" for agreements and discovery requests are more trouble... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Client-centered legal writing. from What About Clients?
In "The Vampires of Legal Writing", he notes that over-reliance on forms "tends to perpetuate bad legal writing." Hear, hear. Listen to our erudite friend in the Big Easy. WAC? thinks "forms" for agreements and discovery requests are more trouble... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Real lawyers don't worship "forms". from What About Clients?
The problem really isn’t with forms themselves. A good set of forms, properly used, can save time and serve as helpful guides. The problems arise with what contract-drafting guru Ken Adams calls “uncritical regurgitation”—the slavish adherence to poor... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Real lawyers don't worship "forms". from What About Clients?
The problem really isn’t with forms themselves. A good set of forms, properly used, can save time and serve as helpful guides. The problems arise with what contract-drafting guru Ken Adams calls “uncritical regurgitation”—the slavish adherence to poor... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Real lawyers don't worship "forms". from What About Clients?
The problem really isn’t with forms themselves. A good set of forms, properly used, can save time and serve as helpful guides. The problems arise with what contract-drafting guru Ken Adams calls “uncritical regurgitation”—the slavish adherence to poor... [Read More]
» Ray Ward: Client-Centered Legal Writing. from What About Paris?
In his classic piece "The Vampires of Legal Writing", he notes that over-reliance on forms "tends to perpetuate bad legal writing." Hear, hear. Listen to our erudite friend in the Big Easy. WAC? thinks "forms" for agreements and discovery requests... [Read More]
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This is such good writing advice, not just for lawyers, though I guess lawyers do face particular challenges in getting past the legal-ese and sounding like human beings.
Joanna
I just loved that last line, must go and check out the post!
Posted by: Joanna Young | 18 February 2008 at 02:55 AM