Legal Usage: A Modern Style Guide

Style guides for legal writing are rare — this book fills that gap. It explores all aspects of legal usage. The purpose is to encourage a modern legal style that is clear, concise, elegant, reader-friendly and legally effective.

The book is organised alphabetically by word, phrase and subject matter, with extensive cross-referencing to related topics. The author cites hundreds of usage examples from leading judges in common law jurisdictions. He offers simple plain-language alternatives for numerous technical terms and foreign-language phrases, with supporting examples from judgments and legal texts.

This innovative and authoritative guide is an essential reference for lawyers, legislative drafters, decision-makers, students, in-house counsel, and anyone charged with preparing effective legal material.

Topics include:

• organising material logically
• adding impact to sentences
• writing in ways that are gender-neutral and idiomatic
• minimising ambiguity
• using provisos and recitals
• breaking complex material into digestible chunks
• paragraphing effectively
• punctuating properly
• managing definitions
• handling principles of interpretation
• eliminating prolixity
• creating effective headings
• using (or avoiding) terms of art and Latin phrases
• avoiding ‘fussy’ drafting
• creating effective layout and design
• using graphs, diagrams, notes and examples
• avoiding noun-strings and passives
• testing documents for readability
• understanding readability formulas
• using humour in legal writing.