It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Many lawyers have broken with the traditional legal writing style, and some even advertise themselves as “plain English lawyers” because of the competitive advantage it offers.

Before we look at how you can turn long-winded, jargon-filled writing into something more clear and concise, let’s explore why it’s worth the bother.

Why use plain English in legal writing?

It’s accessible

Business owners, members of the public, and other stakeholders should be able to understand legal communication that affects them.

What’s more, your clients are more likely to use your services in the future if they don’t feel alienated the first time.

It helps you achieve your purpose

Whatever the aim of a piece of legal communication, you can’t achieve it unless your reader understands you.

It’s persuasive

You’re more likely to influence people’s thoughts and actions when you use language that sounds like it came from a human rather than a legal dictionary.

It’s efficient

Plain English takes you less time to write and less time to explain to your clients than a traditional legal writing style. It lets you work quickly and (if you choose to) charge affordable rates that attract more clients.

It’s precise

Plain language forces you to think about every word you use. This makes it easy to spot mistakes and flaws in your thinking, whereas they can go unnoticed in impenetrable blocks of text.

Being clear also helps you avoid costly misinterpretations of your writing.

It’s valued by industry authorities

Regulatory bodies in the EU, US and Canada all require legal acts to be written in simple language, making the UK the odd one out.

According to Peter Kelly, former President of the High Court in Ireland, “failure to use plain language can result in expensive litigation with uncertain results.” He elaborates, “Too many contracts are written in obscure and convoluted language. In many instances that is because of an overreliance upon precedents.”

When language isn’t clear, courts take a purposive approach and consider what’s reasonable rather than interpreting documents literally. Plain English therefore doesn’t make contracts less precise or effective in court, but less contentious.

Now you know why plain English works in legal documents, here are some of the most effective ways to achieve it in your writing. We’ll cover planning and structure, sentences, and words and phrases.

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Organising your writing

No matter how well you choose your words and form your sentences, your documents won’t be easy to understand unless you organise them clearly. Follow these tips on planning and structuring your writing.

Plan before you start writing

List each point you’ll make, considering whom you’re writing to and what you want to achieve. If a point doesn’t serve both, remove it. This means every part of your writing will support your objectives rather than sharing excess information.

Don’t repeat points unnecessarily

Scrutinise your list for redundant information. If you’ve made a point once, don’t make it again unless there’s a good reason.

Keep paragraphs short

Stick to one main point per paragraph so your reader can take in each one before they move on to the next.

If in contracts you use a large paragraph that covers everything, try splitting it into shorter paragraphs to make the document easier to understand.

Where you have a series of conditions, exceptions, or other pieces of comparable information, separating it into a list makes each one easier to digest. Here’s an extract from a will:

The Trustees powers shall include power to borrow on the security of all or any part of the trust fund for any purpose, power to permit any beneficiary to occupy or enjoy all or any part of the trust fund on such terms as they think fit, power to pay out of income or capital any expenses relating to the trust fund or assets comprised within it or its administration they in their absolute discretion think fit and power to exchange property for other property on such terms as the Trustees consider appropriate.

Here it is rewritten as a list:

The Trustees will have the power to do any or all of the following:

1) Borrow on the security of all or any part of the trust fund for any purpose
2) Permit any beneficiary to occupy or enjoy all or any part of the trust fund on such terms as they think fit
3) Pay out of income or capital any expenses relating to the trust fund or assets comprised within it or its administration that they in their absolute discretion think fit
4) Exchange property for other property on such terms as the Trustees consider appropriate

Crafting your sentences

Each sentence should be easy to absorb so that readers can glide from one to the next. Here’s how to do it.

Use short sentences

Traditionally, contract paragraphs have been written as single (often unpunctuated) sentences. This means the reader has to work out where one sentence clause ends and another begins, unpicking the meaning as they go along.

You can prevent this by splitting sentences when they become so complex that they require extra time and brainpower to decipher. For example, explain a long condition or exception in its own sentence rather than inserting it into another one.

The following example crams many clauses and messages into a single sentence:

I give the residue of my estate both real and personal of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situated to my Trustees to hold on trust either to sell or if they think fit without being liable for any loss to retain all or any part of it and to pay my debts testamentary expenses and inheritance tax payable on or by reason of my death in respect of my estate and invest or apply what is left for the benefit of Adrian Molesley of 14 Beckett Road.

We could rewrite it like this:

I give the residue of my estate, both real and personal of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situated, to my Trustees to hold on trust. They may either sell or retain all or any part of it without being liable for any loss. My Trustees will pay my debts, testamentary expenses, and inheritance tax payable on or by reason of my death in respect of my estate, and invest or apply what is left for the benefit of Adrian Mosley of 14 Beckett Road.

Without punctuation, “to pay my debts…” could be seen as being restricted to the option of retaining the estate, rather than as an overall requirement of the agreement.

Long sentences can also jumble the logical order of a series of messages. By breaking the messages up, you’re more likely to order them methodically so that people get the most relevant information first.

Punctuate

Unpunctuated writing is confusing. You might think you’re avoiding the risk of punctuation being altered or misinterpreted. But by not using punctuation, you magnify these risks. Someone can more easily punctuate an unpunctuated text than an already punctuated one, while a lack of punctuation can create multiple interpretations of a sentence’s meaning.

Full stops make it clear where one sentence ends and the next begins, so never substitute this punctuation mark with a comma (or nothing at all).

Commas are just as important, especially for distinguishing between clauses. Let’s say a company’s management team states that “We have spoken to all employees who will receive a wage increase next month.” Does it mean they’ve spoken to all of those selected for a wage increase, or that all employees will receive one? If it’s the latter, the lack of a comma before “who” could be woefully misleading.

Don’t leave it up to your reader to decide where punctuation should be.

Move definitions out of the way

Instead of including long definitions in the body of a text, use a separate definitions section above. Once you’ve defined terms using concise, clear language, the text itself can get to the point rather than going off on constant tangents.

Let’s return to the will a final time:

I appoint Mary Adams and Michael Wilson to be the Executors and Trustees of this my Will hereinafter together called my Trustees which expression shall mean the Trustees for the time being of this my Will whether original additional or substituted or where the context requires my Personal Representatives for the time being.

Aside from the verbosity and lack of punctuation, the definition of “Trustees” makes this sentence laborious. The whole definition could be rephrased and moved to a different section, making the sentence far shorter.

Keep subjects and verbs close together

To help your readers process information quickly, use a word order that mirrors natural speech. Here’s an example from a non-disclosure agreement:

The recipient, following the termination of this Agreement, and within ten business days following the date of receipt of a written request from the Disclosor, will destroy or return (at the Disclosor’s option) all copies and records of the Confidential Information to the Disclosor.

There’s a large gap between the subject, “The recipient”, and the verb, “will destroy or return”, within which the reader could lose focus. To keep these close together, the drafter could rearrange the sentence like this:

If this Agreement is terminated, the recipient will destroy or return (at the Disclosor’s option) all copies and records of the Confidential Information to the Disclosor within ten business days of receiving a written request.

A few changes to the wording also make the sentence less cumbersome.

Use the active voice

In the active voice, the subject performs the action in a sentence (“The defendant stole the watch”). The passive voice switches this around so that the new subject has the action done to them (“The watch was stolen by the defendant”). There are a few problems with the passive voice:

1) It makes sentences longer while adding no new information.
2) It lets you remove the original subject so it isn’t clear who’s performing the action (“The watch was stolen”).
3) It’s more likely to be misinterpreted as it’s a less natural, straightforward word order.
4) Because it’s less natural, it makes it harder for the reader to relate to you and so reduces your influence.

Take a look at this example:

Any loans, advances or payment of expenses by the Agent hereunder shall not be recoupable by the Agent hereunder until the Artist has earned revenue in the entertainment industry.

The passive voice makes this simple message long-winded. An alternative is:

The Agent will not recoup loans, advances, or expenses until the Artist has earned revenue in the entertainment industry.

While it’s fine to use the passive voice occasionally, be aware of when it makes your writing less effective.

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Choosing your words

Oil your sentences with straightforward words and phrases.

Avoid or explain legalese

If you need to use legal jargon, consider whether your reader will know what you mean; if they won’t, include a glossary so they can make sense of your writing.

Don’t be too formal

A certain amount of formality sounds professional. But consider how formal your reader really wants you to be; most will value clear and engaging language over propriety.

Avoid formal or archaic phrases when common synonyms are available. For example, choose “begin” over “commence” and “now” instead of “at the present time”.

Here’s part of a contract:

The Artist hereby represents and warrants that to the best of his/her knowledge the Artist is free to enter into this Agreement, and has not heretofore made and will not hereafter enter into or accept any engagement, commitment or agreement with any person, firm or corporation which will, can or may interfere with the full and faithful performance by the Artist of the covenants, terms and conditions of this Agreement.

The paragraph is littered with archaic words like “hereby”, “heretofore” and “hereafter”, which do little apart from make it sound more formal. Strip your writing of words like this to make it both easier to read and more relatable.

Get rid of unnecessary words and phrases

In the extract above, “enter into” is a redundant phrase because to enter is to go into something. In legal writing, redundancy is rife in lists. See how many redundant words you can spot here:

The Tenant will indemnify and save the Landlord harmless from all liabilities, fines, suits, claims, demands and actions of any kind or nature for which the Landlord will or may become liable or suffer by reason of any breach, violation or non-performance by the Tenant or by any person for whom the Tenant is responsible, of any covenant, term, or provisions hereof or by reason of any act, neglect or default on the part of the Tenant or other person for whom the Tenant is responsible.

To indemnify and save harmless are arguably synonymous, and the writer might have found a more succinct way to summarise “liabilities, fines, suits, claims, demands and actions of any kind or nature” while still being thorough. The writer then goes on to set out all of the closely related alternatives he can think of for the rest of the sentence.

Supposedly comprehensive lists cause problems when an unforeseen situation arises, so it’s better to find a concise and accurate description than to try and cover every eventuality. You could even explain complex terms in your definitions section rather than offering endless examples within the body of the text.

Avoid other unnecessary words and phrases in your writing as well. For example, don’t use a whole phrase if a single word means the same thing. “Because” is a neater option than “for the reason that”. Use as few words as you need to get your point across.

Don’t over-nominalise

Nominalisation means turning verbs like “implicate” into nouns like “implication”. When you do it needlessly, it makes sentences longer and less clear.

Instead of writing “The contractor made alterations to the building”, you could write “The contractor altered the building”. This allows you to use a meaningful verb (“altered”) instead of a vague verb plus an abstract noun (“made alterations”). You can also get rid of the “to”.

As with the passive voice, nominalisation lets you remove the person performing an action. Compare “Careful consideration of this letter is advised” with “Please carefully consider this letter”. While the first example could be advising anyone, the second directly asks the reader to do something. Don’t remove someone from a sentence when this information could be useful to the reader, especially when that someone is the reader.

Nominalisation is often necessary (as in “employment contract” rather than “contract used to employ people”), so don’t avoid it altogether. But choose a verb over its noun form when it makes your writing clearer and more concise.

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Checking your work

When you’ve finished your draft, read it from your reader’s perspective. Remember that while you already know the intention behind your writing, your audience can’t read your mind. If it isn’t obvious to someone with your recipient’s knowledge and experience, go back and make it simpler.