JUNE SIMMS: Christopher Balmford is an expert in clear legal writing and the managing director of Words and Beyond in Australia. He says the issues involved in making English easy to understand are the same as for other languages throughout the world.
CHRISTOPHER BALMFORD: “There’s not a language where the people like their sentences to be really long. There’s not a language where people like writers to use words that they don’t understand. These things are intuitive, cross-cultural.”
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: One problem is that some common words may not mean the same thing to the general public as they do to a lawyer. Mr. Balmford says a big part of writing clearly is considering who you are writing for.
CHRISTOPHER BALMFORD: “We need to make sure we use words that put the right pictures in people’s minds. And too often traditional legal drafting uses words that won’t put the right pictures in people’s minds that create these miscues.”
JUNE SIMMS: Take the word "instruments." For most people, the word brings to mind pianos, guitars and drums. But not for lawyers.
CHRISTOPHER BALMFORD: “If you say it to lawyers, they think about mortgages, and deeds and debenchers because those documents are what’s known as legal instruments.”
The process of adopting plain language practices is not always easy for an organization, or an individual.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25