Plain Legal English Writing Course

One of the most important issues of learning how to write plain legal English is to favour the active voice. In this video, I explain why.

Learn how to write plain legal English by thinking about sentence length.

By learning the basic rules about sentence length, you will improve your legal writing skills by communicating clear, easily understandable, and effective sentences. 

You can massively improve your plain legal English writing by identifying glue words and working words. Some words don't communicate a message and just make your sentences longer, so by identifying and removing these glue words you can make your writing clearer and more effective by getting rid of them!

Learn how to improve your plain English writing by thinking about your use of the 'be + noun' nominalization. Nominalizations weaken your writing - you can write a much stronger and more concise message if you use strong verbs instead. To find out how, please watch the video.

The 'be+noun' nominalization is only one type of nominalization. In this video, I discuss some other ways you can form nominalizations - do you use any of these in your legal English writing?

Learn how to improve your plain English writing by thinking about the way you use prepositional phrases. Chains of prepositional phrases cause the reader to work hard to understand your message. Through careful redrafting and editing, you can eliminate this potential problem.

Learn how to improve your plain English writing by thinking about the way you use legalese. Using legalese makes your message much more complicated and less clear. The modern legal writing trend is to move away from these archaic confusing words and use simpler, easier, more client-friendly alternatives instead. Watch the video to find out why and how.

Learn how to improve your plain English writing by thinking about the way you use the passive. The passive, just like nominalizations, make your message abstract and in some cases causes confusion. There are three rules you have to learn to use the passive correctly. Watch the video to find out what they are.

Learn how to improve your plain English writing by thinking about the way you use 'shall'. 'Shall' is one of the three words that you should never use in your legal writing. 'Shall' can be understood as meaning four different things! To find out what they are and why you should avoid using 'shall', please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by avoiding double and multiple negatives, and by not using unnecessary negatives. Using negatives causes the reader to do a lot of work to work out what the text is saying. By using double and multiple negatives you confuse readers as they have to work out what your message actually means. To find out why, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by avoiding the use of ‘provided that’. Provided that has not been legally defined and could mean three different things. What provided that does mean is entirely dependent on the context. Given the level of real and potential ambiguity this causes, you should not use provided that in your writing. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by avoiding the use of ‘and/or’. In some languages, it is possible to say ‘and/or’; however, in English, this heavily criticised term is completely open to interpretation. Because ‘and/or’ is inherently ambiguous, you shouldn’t include it in your writing. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by using tabulation correctly. Presenting information in a clear, obvious way is important to communicating very important points or issues. By following some rules, you’ll learn how to tabulate and communicate your message in a clear way. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by using linkers in your writing. Linkers allow you to guide the reader through your writing. You can also use linkers to make your writing lively and interesting to read. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by using emphasis correctly in your writing. To make sure you’re communicating your message powerfully and effectively you have to use the appropriate emphatic form. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by identifying substitution errors in your writing. There are three substitution errors that you have to look out for in your writing which are caused by a lack of knowledge, lazy writing or lack of self-editing. Substitution errors lead to the reader being confused and, as a result, potentially misled. To find out more, please watch the video.

Learn how to improve your writing in plain English by identifying modifier misuse in your writing. There are three ways modifiers are misused and each misuse causes a reader significant problem as they have to guess what your message actually is. To find out more, please watch the video.