Legal

In 1936, Fred Rodell, a professor of law at Yale University, argued that there 'are two things wrong with almost all legal writing. One is its style. The other is its content. That, I think, about covers the ground.'

Legal documents usually set out our rights and responsibilities. If we cannot understand the documents, we cannot exercise our rights and we cannot take responsibility.

It is possible to use plain English in legal documents. It does not mean sacrificing accuracy for clarity. The excuse that legal writing has to be complex to avoid misinterpretations does not stand up.

We want your examples of legal documents that are not clearly written. You can e-mail us at law@plainenglish.co.uk

You can search for news stories about law or examples of legal gobbledygook using the search tool on the left, or by visiting the Past newsletters section or the Golden Bulls archive.

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