Legal Writing – Guest post by Lord Neuberger
It is an honour for me to welcome Lord Neuberger GBS PC HonFRS, President of the UK Supreme Court from 2012 to 2017, to my blog.
Lord Neuberger is widely regarded as one of the most prominent and influential English judges. Before being appointed to the UK Supreme Court, he, inter alia, served as High Court Judge in the Chancery Division, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and Master of the Rolls. He was called to the Bar in 1974, having previously studied chemistry in Oxford.
His post below is full of invaluable insights on the fundamentals of legal communication.
LEGAL WRITING
by Lord Neuberger
Whether you are a practising lawyer, a law-maker, a legal academic, a judge, or a law student, the two basic principles of legal communication are the same:
(i) Keep it as clear and simple as possible;
(ii) Remember who you are writing for or speaking to.
Like so many fundamental rules in life, these two principles are very often overlooked in practice, even by experienced people, although they seem obvious when one is told them.
Clarity is of the essence of legal communication. However sophisticated the ideas behind it and however complex its aims, any law must be understandable. If you are drafting or laying down the law, it must be clear, so that people can appreciate what is required of them. If you are explaining the law to others, the clearer and simpler you make it, the more likely you are to get your message across. Anyway, lack of clarity or simplicity is a pretty good giveaway that you don’t really understand what you are writing or speaking about. This does not mean that you should eschew stylistic elegance, but if it conflicts with clarity, it must yield.
When writing (or speaking) about the law, do not forget that you are communicating with others, rather than addressing yourself. You must remember that you are writing (or speaking) in order to inform, educate or convince other people. You are not writing (or speaking) to yourself. You should therefore think yourself into the mind of your reader or listener. The questions which should constantly be in your mind is: how do I make myself clear to my audience? How do I convince my audience?
