LEGAL DRAFTING
Legal drafting is a method of creating well-structured documents such as petitions, memorandums, contracts, wills, statutes, etc that are legally binding on the parties to such documents. Such documents in a general sense are known as legal drafts.
It is important that the language in which they are written is simple so that the intended audience can read and comprehend it. Also, that there is no room for any interpretation other than literal one by the courts.
The entire point of a legal draft is to be crisp, precise, it shouldn’t have a lot of double negatives, and should convey a point in comprehensible language. The best Drafts are those in which concise and unambiguous language is used; unnecessary abbreviations are avoided, “community jargon” and excessively long sentences are also avoided.
Legal drafting involves two steps
- To understand the context and concept of the document which is being drafted: To draft a legal document, the first step is to fully understand and comprehend the facts and context for which the document is being drafted and the laws that govern such facts and documents so that the document thus prepared does not offend or violate any provision of law. The draftsman should also take notice of the directions given by the parties to such a document, so that the document derives the exact meaning, for which the document had been drafted.
- To put the document in writing: the next After interpreting the laws and understanding the facts in context of the document, the next step is to start drafting the document. This is done by collecting and consolidating the facts and writing them down in a structured, precise and accurate manner. The document thus prepared should bring out the exact meaning upon the legal interpretation of it, that the parties to the document wanted it to convey.
There are certain features of Legal Language which cause various sorts of problems
- Writing long sentences: The sentences written in legalese are often extremely long as each point or part of the document, as a part of a tradition, is made only one sentence long. As long sentences add to the complexity of comprehension this makes the language difficult to read.
- Unnecessarily using extra words: Often, more words than necessary are written in a document which obscures the message.
- Double negatives: In legal language, many times, double negatives are used in sentences and phrases. This does not only make the sentences extremely difficult to read but may also lead to a wrong interpretation of the document if it is not read carefully by the reader.
- Terms of Art: There are certain words and phrases in legal writing which are called Terms of Art. These expressions have specific meanings in legal language and are only used by persons who are a part of the legal industry. Laymen cannot understand the meaning of these Terms of Art as most of them do not have the basic knowledge of the law.
There are many benefits of using Plain Legal Language in legal documents. These are as follows:
- Effective Communication and Increased Compliance: When a draft or a document is written in simple and plain language it makes the document easy to read.
- Saves time and money: Usage of plain legal language in documents increases the readability of such documents and makes them easy to understand. Thus, as with the documents the readers or parties to such documents would relatively have fewer questions about the terms and provisions of such documents thus saving the time of both the reader and the person who has drafted the document.
- Avoid Disputes: As discussed above, a document drafted using easy and plain language is easy to read and results in effective communication. The usage of such language makes the terms of the document extremely clear to all the parties. Because of this, there is no room for confusion and disagreements, which helps in reducing and avoiding disputes arising out of legal documents.
- Helps in increasing reach and awareness of the brand: Consumers always prefer dealings with people and companies who are transparent. Making the terms and conditions of their brands simpler would help increase their transparency thus increasing the reach and awareness of the brand and would also help them get more customers.