Legalese, -noun; Slang for the sometimes arcane, convoluted and specialized jargon of lawyers and legal scholars; the specialized vocabulary of the legal profession that is difficult for laymen to read and understand, the implication being that it is deliberately complex so as to exclude the legally untrained and justify high legal fees.
Legalese is an English term first used in 1914 to describe legal writing that is difficult for non-lawyers to understand. The implication is that the difficulty of the language is a deliberate marketing strategy. By cloaking legal writing in a complex mixture of Latin, Old English and pomposity, legal professionals can exclude those without a legal background. The exclusive nature of legal language then allows legal professionals to justify high fees for services.
At least that’s how the theory goes.
Legalese is still in use in law schools. It’s still in use among many lawyers and judges in their daily work. The use of legalese does facilitate communication among lawyers because they know the language. But, it frustrates non-lawyers who try to read and understand legal documents. It also makes the law so overly complicated that the average individual is completely without knowledge or basic awareness of his rights under the law.
NoLegalese Publishing Company wants to
help you understand the law in ordinary language. To that end, we publish legal self-help titles that explain the complex world of the law in plain English. Each of our current titles are available via our blog sites related to that specific area of law. You can see our current titles and their related blogs in the “Areas of Law” section in the right-hand column of this page. If you don’t find a publication in your specific area of need at this time, be sure to check back often. We’re putting new titles online as quickly as possible.
There are two primary reasons you need to understand the law in plain English.
1. With a good understanding of the law you can resolve many of the legal issues in your life by yourself, without an attorney.
This is absolutely possible. The publications available on this site and the information provided on our related blog sites give you the basic information you need to understand your legal issues. Doing it yourself will save you a great deal of money on legal fees.
2. In those instances where you have to hire an attorney, you’ll be better prepared to work with and assist that attorney in your legal representation.
When you do retain an attorney, you want t
o make sure you understand what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. By taking advantage of the publications from NoLegalese Publishing Company and information on it’s related blog sites, you’ll have a better understanding of the law as it applies to your situation. That knowledge will be a tremendous help to you as you work with an attorney on your case.
Thank you.
Harvey L. Cox, J.D.
NoLegalese Publishing