INTRODUCTION
Legal drafting is one of the essential skills that a law student should polish in his or her time at a related law school. Legal texts full of industry jargon and sophisticated sentencing is enough to place off even the foremost astute English aficionados, including the typical client. The key to drafting legal documents that are lenient to read and interpret is the use of direct language, simple sentences, and therefore layman's terms.
DRAFTING LEGAL DOCUMENTS
Technical documentation is integral to any strong, and these legal documents are, essentially, the backbone of the business and where important case details are often found. Without accurate documentation of a lawsuit or the other legal issue, it's going to also haven't happened. But this does not mean legal documents should be indecipherable to those reading them. For all law firms, no matter their niche, it is vital to make readable legal documents for the advantage of their clients. Here's the way to write a legal instrument in 10 simple steps:
1. Planning the document
- This is where you'll lay the inspiration for the document you will be drafting. You will need to determine a couple of document essentials. This includes:
- Who you're writing for (your target audience)
- Defining the aim of the document during a lawsuit or legal issue
- Including all necessary facts, statements, and knowledge
- Confirming the precise style guide and terminology
- Identifying other members who will increase the document and their responsibilities
- Organizing your document resources to make sure they're on-hand for all technical details
- Once you have it all set up, you will need to take a seat down and plan your time. Create a difficult yet realistic timeline for writing, reviewing, revising, and editing.
2. Write with Clear Language
- Always keep your syntax short and concise in legal writing.
- At the start of your document, you will need to define all technical terminology that's used consistently throughout your writing to avoid confusion.
- Try to avoid the use of long, complex words when simple choices will do. Write sentences efficiently and keep things to the purpose.
3. The Correct Use of Grammar
- The right use of grammar and spelling is imperative for all professional documentation. But grammar is particularly important for ambiguity in legal writing.
- You'll need to be fastidious about the utilization of your grammar and punctuation so as to avoid confusion in your legal text. If not, this may only distract your reader and deduct from the true meaning of what you're writing.
4. Accuracy
- This is a no brainer with regards to legal instrument drafting, but accuracy may be a vital part of the work.
- Ensure that all document content is true and detailed and vetoed by an industry professional or expert where necessary. Only a small inaccuracy can create a world of doubt regarding the validity of the document.
5. Information access
- Legal documents are long and time consuming for both compilation and scheme. Make it easy on your readers by defining the important sections of the document to be straightforward
- Use tags, reference points, and colour-coded markers within the document where all relevant information is often found with paging through wads of paper.
6. Necessary Information inclusion
- This may sound obvious -- it is a legal instrument, after all. But it is vital to decipher between what's necessary and what isn't.
- A legal instrument must supply all the technical information required. But unnecessary footnotes, anecdotes and elaborate interpretations are distracting. A legal instrument must supply all the technical information required. But unnecessary footnotes, anecdotes and elaborate interpretations are distracting.
7. Use a lively Voice
- Using the active in your writing is important for eliminating confusion. It outlines who must perform what during a sentence.
- Passive voice only makes sentences longer, creating more opportunity for ambiguity within your legal text. Passive verbs usually end with ''en'' or ''ed.''
- An example of employing a passive voice: ''The lawyer wrote the legal instrument.''
- Instead, these sentences are often simplified by using a lively voice: ''The lawyer wrote the legal instrument.''
8. Imperatives must be considered
- This is especially pertinent in legal texts because imperatives are wont to define a legal obligation. In other words, an important outline is legal instruction.
- Common imperatives utilized in legal documents include the words: shall, must, will, and will. Using the proper imperatives in your sentences helps to define your meaning.
9. Direct Language
- This is almost like the utilization of being active in your writing and helps to define instruction within a legal instrument.
- Regulations, procedures, instructions, and lists of duties must all be written in direct language to avoid confusion or creating the illusion of ''optional''.
- An example of direct language is: ''Sign all copies and return as instructed.'' Ultimately, this sort of writing leads to procedures that are easier to know and perform.
10. Consistent Descriptions
- Finally, always keep your content description consistent with each section of your legal instrument.
- This means that you simply should avoid using too many variations of works to denote an equivalent thing. Once more, this might create confusion.
- Using a synonym, instead of repeating an equivalent word isn't recommended in legal writing. Just stick with consistent wording, and you will avoid ambiguity.
CONCLUSION
Drafting a good legal document is about keeping the simplicity combined with proper language and abetment of an issue. Creating a good legal document accurate enough to work with is about practising enough and learning from your mistakes.
