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Tag Archives: Plain English

Use Plain English Rather Than Medical Jargon.

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing, Plain Language, Trial Tips and Techniques

≈ Comments Off on Use Plain English Rather Than Medical Jargon.

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David Daly, Dr. Oscar Linares, Gertrude Daly, Michigan Bar Journal, Plain English

Plain English Helps Explain Medical Issues Clearly, A Case Study, by Dr. Oscar Linares, David Daly, and Gertrude Daly, 36 Mich. B J. (Jan. 2017)

http://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article3039.pdf

Professionals, like doctors, often speak using medical jargon. Other doctors understand it, but not necessarily everyone else. This is true for anyone who uses technical language specific to their work. But in a legal matter, communication is critical. A good reason to use plain English, isn’t it? -CCE

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Why We Need Clear Legal Writing in Contracts.

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Contract Law, Legal Writing, Plain Language

≈ Comments Off on Why We Need Clear Legal Writing in Contracts.

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Aird & Berlis, Contracts, Legal Writing, Plain English, Sherry Altshuler

Sesquipedalianism and an Expatiation Upon Its Antithetical Impact on Interpersonal Communications: Big Words and Why They’re Bad, by Sherry Altshuler, Aird & Berlis, LLP (with hat tip to Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Legal Skills Prof Blog)

http://www.airdberlis.com/Templates/Blog/Entry.aspx?Page=71&ID=11120

This post on using plain English does what good legal writing should. Rather than telling you that big or complicated words are a sure way to lose your reader, it shows you with a wonderful example.  I love “show, don’t tell.” It also provides an excellent list of good legal writing tips. This one is worth a bookmark. -CCE

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Plain English and the U.S. Supreme Court.

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Law, Legal Writing, Plain Language, Readability, United States Supreme Court

≈ Comments Off on Plain English and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Plain English, SCOTUS Blog, U.S. Supreme Court

Plain English/Language Made Simple, SCOTUSblog

http://www.scotusblog.com/category/plain-english/

This is our archive of posts in Plain English. You may also be interested in these resources:

Supreme Court Procedure
Glossary of Legal Terms
Biographies of the Justices

Continue reading →

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Supreme Court Writing Analysis – Whose Briefs Win and Why.

22 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Law, Appellate Writing, Brief Writing, Editing, Grammar, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing, Readability, United States Supreme Court

≈ Comments Off on Supreme Court Writing Analysis – Whose Briefs Win and Why.

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Appellate Briefs, Legal Analysis, Legal Writing, Persuasive Legal Writing, Plain English, U.S. Supreme Court

Who Wins in the Supreme Court? An Examination of Attorney and Law Firm Influence, by Alan Feldman, University of Southern California, Political Science, SSRN.com (Date posted: August 18, 2015 ; Last revised: August 21, 2015)

http://tinyurl.com/q48ywgq

This paper is a detailed analysis of what type of legal writing and briefs from 1946 through 2013 have been the most influential  with the United States Supreme Court and the lawyers who write them. Interestingly, lawyers who write short sentences in the active voice and who use fewer words than the majority of brief writers are the most successful. It is a fascinating read, and strongly recommended. -CCE

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Pleading Code In Poetry.

18 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Civil Procedure, Federal Civil Procedure, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Pleadings

≈ Comments Off on Pleading Code In Poetry.

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Edgar Allen Poe, Legalese, Mark Cooney, Michigan Bar Journal, Plain English, Plain English Subcommittee, Pleading Code, Pleadings

The Pleading, by Mark Cooney, Plain Language, 94 Mich. B.J. 3, 42 (March 2015)

Click to access pdf4article2583.pdf

Another article from the Plain English Subcommittee of the Michigan Bar Journal. As always, each article makes a case for using plain English in legal writing. This group has been, and remains, a strong proponent for elegant legal writing without legalese.

This selection is a clever take off Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Raven, that cautions the reader against writing pleadings with stuffy, archaic language. Its author, editor in chief of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing and author of Sketches on Legal Style, Mark Cooney, is a legal writing professor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. -CCE

Once upon a docket dreary, as I pondered
after hearings,
Over many a curious case then pending
with the busy court,
While I read, attention sapping, suddenly
there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at
my chambers door.
‘Tis my clerk again,’ I grumbled, ‘tapping
on my chambers door—
Oh, yet another matter more.’

Pausing just a moment further, bracing
for the fresh-faced fervor,
Up I turned my heavy head to bid my
clerk in through the door.
In he stepped with youthful stride,
brand-new filing at his side,
Still another motion coming briskly
through my chambers door—
A docket full and motions more, another
through my chambers door—
Coming through my chambers door. . . .

Continue reading →

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Plain English Jury Instructions Are Like A Breath of Fresh Air After A Long Trial.

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Jury Instructions, Jury Instructions, Jury Persuasion, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Readability, Trial Tips and Techniques

≈ Comments Off on Plain English Jury Instructions Are Like A Breath of Fresh Air After A Long Trial.

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Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Jury instructions, Persuasive Litigator, Plain English, Trial Tips & Techniques

Embrace Plain English Jury Instructions, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator

http://www.persuasivelitigator.com/2015/03/embrace-plain-english-instructions-and-plain-english-persuasion.html

I often play the role of the ‘judge’ during a mock trial. In that capacity, I have the pleasure of reading the legal instructions to the mock jurors just before they deliberate. While I’m droning on about ‘preponderance,’ and ‘proximate cause,’ and making the plaintiff ‘whole,’ I am often met with quizzical looks as the jurors grapple with the language. Some have even made a vain attempt to raise their hands to ask a question. I sometimes wish I could explain, ‘Look, my point is not for you to understand this… it is just to be realistic.’ And, too often, what is realistic is for the instructions to be dense at best and incomprehensible at worst. ’Jury instructions are written by lawyers,’ the American Judicature Society points out, ‘and are often filled with legal language whose meaning is not apparent to those without legal training.’ . . .

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Legislative Drafting And Plain English – They Are Not Mutually Exclusive.

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Punctuation, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Legislative Drafting And Plain English – They Are Not Mutually Exclusive.

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Judge Mark P. Painter, Judging Strictly By Merit, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain English

A Classic Example Of Bad Writing, by Judge Mark P. Painter, Judging Strictly By Merit

http://www.judgepainter.org/legalwriter55

In my last column I gave kudos to the U.S. Supreme Court and its rules committee for rewriting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in plain language. But the fight goes on. Legislative drafting continues to be particularly egregious. . . .

Continue reading →

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We Have Proof! Clients Really Do Prefer Plain Language Over Legalese.

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language

≈ Comments Off on We Have Proof! Clients Really Do Prefer Plain Language Over Legalese.

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Christopher Trudeau, Legal Skills Prof Blog, Legal Writing, Legalese, Louis J. Sirico Jr., Plain English, The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing

Does Plain English Make a Difference to Clients?, by Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Legal Skills Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mgf49tn

According to an empirical study by Christopher Trudeau, the answer is yes. I think his 2012 article deserves greater attention–The Public Speaks: An Empirical Study of Legal Communication, 14 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing 121 (2012) (here).

In a carefully designed study, subjects compared passages written in plain English and similar passages that contained the failures that plain English attempts to eliminate. The study provides a good bit of valuable information. It also results in 10 practical pointers.

First, do not underestimate the importance of oral communication. Over half of all respondents preferred some type of oral communication to written communication.

Second, deliver written documents electronically even when you must send a hard copy.

Third, use clear, understandable written communication.

Fourth, do not assume that all readers will understand commonly used legal terms. Instead, define these terms if you must use them.

Fifth, avoid complicated terms and Latin words. They generally bothered or annoyed nearly seven out of ten clients.

Sixth, prefer the active voice. Respondents preferred it almost 70% of the time — and clients at a higher rate than non-clients.

Seventh, avoid multi-word prepositions like pursuant to and prior to and with regard to. They are among the worst aspects of legalese.

Eighth, remember that the more confusing the sentences become, the more likely that a reader will prefer plain language.

Ninth — and this needs to be proclaimed repeatedly, ceaselessly— the vast majority of clients and non-clients prefer plain language. For the choice-of-language questions, readers chose the plain-language version 80% of the time.

Finally, use plain language no matter what the reader’s educational level. Contrary to my original theory, as the level increased, so did the respondent’s preference for plain language.

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No Question About It – Bad Legal Writing Squanders Your Money.

01 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Economics, Law Office Management, Legal Writing, Legalese, Management, Plain Language, Readability, Time Management

≈ Comments Off on No Question About It – Bad Legal Writing Squanders Your Money.

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Bad Legal Writing, Findlaw, Law Firm Economics, Matthew Salzwedel, Plain English, The Lawyerist Blog

Face It — Bad Legal Writing Wastes Money, by Matthew Salzwedel, The Lawyerist Blog

https://lawyerist.com/60599/face-it-bad-legal-writing-wastes-money/

A recent article on FindLaw.com called Five Ways Attorneys Waste Money claimed that attorneys can cut clients’ costs by avoiding needless motions, staffing cases leanly, focusing on the important issues, avoiding petty spats with the opposition, and being smart about when to settle.

But the article ignored the most important way attorneys can save money for their firms and clients: by learning how to write in plain English.

Most attorneys don’t believe that writing style matters. They might concede that writing in plain English can be aesthetically pleasing to the reader; but they also say that it’s not worth the time to learn how to do it because there’s no evidence that writing in plain English saves time or money.

But these attorneys ignore what legal-writing experts have taught — and what the empirical evidence has shown — for more than 50 years: that plain English saves time and money by increasing the ability of readers to understand and retain what they have read. . . .

Continue reading →

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You’ve Written The Brief. Now What About The Conclusion?

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Brief Writing, Editing, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Plain Language

≈ Comments Off on You’ve Written The Brief. Now What About The Conclusion?

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Brief Writing, Bryan Garner, Conclusion, Legal Writing, Plain English, Rebecca Phalen

No more copying and pasting. Draft a strong conclusion. by Rebecca Phalen Blog

http://www.rebeccaphalen.com/draft-strong-conclusion/

You finally finished drafting the argument section of your brief; you are mentally spent. So for the conclusion you copy and paste: ‘For the foregoing reasons, Defendant asks this Court to grant its motion.’ Yes, it feels a little anticlimactic and abrupt, but at least the brief is done. Perhaps you think that judges aren’t paying attention by the end anyway.

But the next time you are tempted to end your brief this way, consider that Bryan Garner, in Legal Writing in Plain English, called this type of conclusion ‘a formulaic cop-out that says nothing.’ Yikes.

Writing a strong conclusion that actually says something can be hard work. But here are some tips to get you started on ending strongly: . . . .

Continue reading →

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Rewrite Legalese – This Is How You Do It.

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Rewrite Legalese – This Is How You Do It.

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Joseph Kimble, Legal Skills Prof Blog, Legalese, Louis J. Sirico Jr., Plain English, Plain English Movement, William P. Statsky

Examples: Translating Legalese into Plain English, by Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Legal Skills Prof, Legal Skills Prof Blog (with hat tip to William P. Statsky!)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2015/01/examples-translating-legalese-into-plain-english.html

Having problems rewriting legalese into understandable plain English? Use these excellent examples from Joseph Kimble, one of the legal writing giants, posted by another great legal writing expert, Louis J. Sirico, Jr. – CCE

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Apologizing For Bad Customer Service? Choose Your Words Carefully.

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Legal Writing, Plain Language, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Apologizing For Bad Customer Service? Choose Your Words Carefully.

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Advanced Legal Writing & Editing, Apology, Customer Service, Plain English, Roy Jacobsen, Southwest Airlines, Writing Clear and Simple Blog

Need To Apologize? Try Plain English, by Roy Jacobsen,  Writing, Clear and Simple Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pweoxkv

There are good ways and bad ways to address a customer service fiasco. Courtesy of Southwest Airlines, here’s one of the bad ways:

‘We are working directly with the family after sincerely apologizing and issuing a full refund for their less-than-positive travel experience,’ Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said Sunday night. ‘We certainly will take away any potential learnings from this experience in our constant evaluation of how to provide the best possible customer service, which is second only to the safety of every passenger.’

Setting aside the situation that led this (the short version: Chris and Heather Dainiak, parents of a terminally ill boy, were told their son could not fly sitting in his protective chair, even though he had used it on another Southwest flight just days earlier), I have to ask: what makes people talk this way? . . . .

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“Must Have” Plain Language Tips and Tools.

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Legal Writing, Plain Language, References

≈ Comments Off on “Must Have” Plain Language Tips and Tools.

Tags

Dictionary, Grammar, Plain English, Plain Language, Punctuation, Style guide

Tips and Tools, PlainLanguage.gov

http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/index.cfm

Take a good look. Links to Quick Reference Tips, Word Suggestions, Dictionaries, Thesauruses, Style Guides, and Grammar Sites. -CCE

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Deleting Legalese and Using Clear Language in Legal Writing.

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Court Orders, Legal Writing, Legalese

≈ Comments Off on Deleting Legalese and Using Clear Language in Legal Writing.

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Carol Bast, Court Order, Florida Bar Association, Judge Steven D. Merryday, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain English, Plain Language, State Bar of Michigan

Lawyers Should Use Plain Language, by Carol M. Bast (published in October 1995 Florida Bar Journal)

http://www.michbar.org/generalinfo/plainenglish/PDFs/85_oct.pdf

I have often heard the excuses for using legalese. Clients expect it. It sounds better and well, just, more “legal.” Would it surprise you to know that there is no statute, case law, court rule, or other legal authority that requires legalese? There simply isn’t.

I also have heard the excuse that legalese impresses the court. It sounds more official. Did your brief win because it sounds more pompous or because your argument was more clearly explained and understood by the court? To illustrate that point, please read this Court Order posted by Lowering the Bar Blog:

http://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2012/11/Merryday-Order.pdf

If you need further proof of dropping legalese in legal writing, see this compilation of outstanding articles by members of the Plain English Subcommittee of the State Bar of Michigan. It is a valuable motherload of articles of clear writing, and well worth studying by anyone who aspires to write well. -CCE

http://www.michbar.org/generalinfo/plainenglish/

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A Compilation of Writing Guides, Tips, and Blogs

01 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Legal Writing, Quotations

≈ Comments Off on A Compilation of Writing Guides, Tips, and Blogs

Tags

Bartelby.com, Grammar Girl, H.W. Fowler, Mignon Fogarty, Plain English, Strunk & White, Writing Blogs, Writing Tips

Quick and Dirty Tips, by Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl Blogspot
http://perma.cc/0AztTwAToiB
(There is much, much more at this website. Worth a browse . . . .)

English Usage, Style & Composition, Bartleby.com
http://perma.cc/0EUx9Jd3HK5
(Includes Strunk & White’s “Elements of Style,” H.W. Fowler, “The King’s English,” and more.)

Guide to Grammar and Style, Jack Lynch, Rutgers University in Newark
http://perma.cc/0SUMVx7Dwa

How to Write in Plain English, The Plain English Campaign
http://perma.cc/0JsVUpet3yK

Online Style Guides and Writing Skills, Mantex
http://perma.cc/0JYEshLRf6z

Writer’s Web, University of Richmond Writer’s Center
http://perma.cc/0SEh8zUwC1G

OWL – The Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://perma.cc/0Bk14D5amXN

Writing Guides,Writing @ CSU, Colorado State University Writing Center
http://perma.cc/0rK1LyLYBhW

Handouts, The Writing Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://perma.cc/0JgKARJVbKF

Daily Writing Tips Blog
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/

 

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