Legal writing

Lawyers do not write plain English. They use eight words to say what could be said in two. They use arcane phrases to express commonplace ideas. Seeking to be precise, they become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, they become verbose. Their sentences twist on, phrase within clause within clause, glazing the eyes and numbing the minds of their readers. The result is a writing style that has, according to one critic, four outstanding characteristics. It is ＂(1) wordy, (2) unclear, (3) pompous, and (4) dull. ＂

Example One

A normal person would say：＂Have an orange... ”

A legal nerd is trained to say, instead：＂I hereby give, grant and convey to you, for all time coming, all my interest, right, title and interest, both legal and equitable, in this orange, together with all its rind, skin, juice, pulp and pips, and all right and advantage therein with full power to bite, cut, suck or otherwise eat or consume the said orange, with or without its rind, skin, juice, pulp and pips as aforesaid, subject to any amendments subsequently introduced or drawn up to this agreement. ＂

[ Extracted from Philip's R, The Best Lawyer Jokes Ever, Barnes & Nobles 2002 ]  

Example Two

＂Since, under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines pertaining to sexual harassment, an employer is liable for hostile-environment sexual harassment only if it knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take prompt and effective steps to end the harassment, it is possible for employers to be exonerated from liability for hostile-environment sexual harassment when sexual harassment has occurred by individuals within an organization, but the organization took prompt action to prevent further harassment. ＂

[ Extracted from a law-review article ]

That sentence meanders. And its basic point tends to get lost in the welter of words. Cut to its essence, the thought itself seems more coherent：

＂EEOC Guidelines allow courts to exonerate an employer from liability for hostile-environment sexual harassment if the employer acts promptly to prevent further harassment. ＂

Example Three

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re： Settlement of Outstanding Charges of HK$ ??? (Mobile Phone No.            xxxxxxxx, Invoice Date 28-Apr-13)

We act for XXX Telephone Company Limited.

According to our client accounting records, the captioned outstanding charges remain unpaid in your account with our client.

We are instructed that despite demand and request, you have failed and/or refused to settle the captioned outstanding charges. On behalf of our client, we hereby give you final notice that unless you pay to our client the captioned outstanding charges within seven (7) days from the date of this letter, our client will commence legal proceedings or such other recovery actions as it deems appropriate against you to recover the same together with late charge without further notice. In addition, our client will also recover from you costs of the proceedings, all relevant administrative charges incurred and all interests at such prevailing rate as shall be determined by the Tribunal on the outstanding charges.

If you have already settled the outstanding charges, please ignore this letter and accept our apology for the inconvenience that may be caused to you.

Should there be any billing enquiries, please call our client at telephone no. yyyyyyy during office hour from Monday to Saturday between 9：00 am and 6：00 pm.

[ A sample letter from a local law firm ]