Legalese is a technical writing style used by lawyers and legal scholars, which can be difficult for laymen to understand due to its assumption of legal knowledge. It includes careful word usage, professional terms, reliance on sourcing and precedent, and high formality. Consumer advocacy organizations advocate for plain text translations to ensure understanding.
Legalese is the writing style used by lawyers and legal scholars when communicating legal matters in documents ranging from contracts to academic articles. It is an example of technical writing, a type of writing used by people in a specific profession to communicate with other members of the profession. Like other technical writings, legalese can be difficult for laymen to understand because it assumes some level of knowledge of legal concepts and the legal system. This is criticized by some people in the case of communications that members of the public will need to interact with, such as sales contracts.
Several features can be seen in legalese. The first is the very careful use of words. In law, words have very specific and clearly defined meanings, and lawyers are careful when drafting legal documents to say exactly what they mean, even if the meaning is only apparent to other lawyers. Some of the word usage may seem unusual to people unfamiliar with the law, as ordinary words can have different meanings in a legal context. For example, a seemingly redundant sentence really isn’t, when considering the sentence’s legal meanings.
Legalese also includes a number of professional terms, including Latin terms, although there has been a move in some areas of the legal community to replace the Latin with plain language for clarity. Legal documents also rely heavily on sourcing and subpoenaing, showing a legal basis for all statements made. Precedent, the established and accepted component of legal practice, is an important part of law, and legal documents that break with precedent have yet to include substantial arguments for breaking with tradition.
This form of writing also tends to be highly formal. The formality is partly the result of the meticulous choices of words and phrasing used, and partly a convention of the legal profession. Other technical writing also leans toward formality, as people tend to be taken less seriously when writing informally or conversationally. Members of the legal profession sometimes break with tradition; several Supreme Court justices, for example, have written opinions incorporating rhyming couplets and other whimsical inclusions.
In some regions, consumer advocacy organizations have advocated replacing legalese with plaintext in documents read by members of the public. This is in response to concerns about people signing contracts and other legal documents without fully understanding their meaning. Legalese-to-plain-text translation is recommended in some contexts, allowing lawyers to draft a legally enforceable contract by including a clear explanation that laymen can understand so they know what they are agreeing to by signing the contract.
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