Subjects:

Drafting and Legal Writing

Contents:

Introduction

1 What influences the legal drafter

2 How legal documents are interpreted

3 The move towards modern English in legal drafting

4 Some benefits of drafting in plain English

5 What to avoid when drafting modern documents

6 How to draft modern documents

7 Using the modern style

This clearly structured and well-referenced book shows how and why traditional legal language has developed some of the peculiar characteristics that sometimes make legal documents inaccessible to the end users. It examines recent reforms in the UK, Australia and North America, and provides a critical examination of case law and the rules of interpretation. Practical elements are also covered.

Detailed case studies illustrate how obtuse words and phrases can be reworked or removed. Particularly useful is the step-by-step guide to drafting in the modern style, using examples drawn from four types of legal documents: leases, company constitutions, wills and conveyances. Readers of this book will receive clear instructions on how to make their writing clearer and their legal documents more useful to clients and colleagues.