Plain legal language – some quick wins

When converting legal documents into plain language (or plain legal language) there are some quick wins – some easy changes that you can make that make a big difference.  Converting a legal document into plain language takes time, but these quick wins can be done reasonably quickly and result in significant improvements in readability.

When converting legal documents into plain language, remember there are some very important things to keep in mind.

So, here are some quick wins:

• Convert every “shall” to a “may” or a “must” – “shall” isn’t plain English and has multiple meanings
• “Which” should in may instances be either be “that” or “, which“
• “shall be entitled to” becomes “may“
• “shall be obliged to” becomes “must“
• “be entitled to” gets deleted
• “be responsible for” gets deleted
• “notwithstanding” becomes “despite“
• Delete “in terms hereof“
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  Tags: legal drafting, plain english, Plain Language, plain legal documents