In this lesson, we'll learn the meaning of legalese. We'll examine different legalese terms and
phrases as well as what they look like in the context of a legal document.
The Legal Field
Sometimes, certain professions utilize a type of language that is specific to an industry, a kind of
jargon not everyone will understand. The legal profession is no different.
Let's say you are signing a contract to become a pro basketball player. The contract has a lot of
confusing terms you are unsure of. Before you decide to sign, you hire a lawyer to go over the
contract with you. He tells you that a contract's legalese will sometimes be too difficult for the
typical person to understand. That's why it is important to have a lawyer look over the contract
first.
What Is Legalese?
Legalese consists of specialized terms or phrases used in the legal profession. This type of
specialized language can carry over into legal contracts, such as the basketball contract you were
about to sign. Legalese provides extensive explanation of what's expected from the party offering
the contract and the party signing it. Since this type of language does not provide simple
explanation, individuals who are not in the legal profession may find it difficult to understand.
Hiring a legal professional, like you did with your basketball contract, can help shed light on the
more technical terms.
What Is the Point?
Words and phrases can hold different meanings for different people. Someone who lives in town
might say, ''I'm going to town.'' Everyone who lives in the area knows that you mean going to the
grocery store a mile away. An outsider, however, might be confused by this reference. In the legal
profession, this type of misinterpretation can have negative consequences.
Legalese in legal documents eliminates the possibility for misinterpretation of words or phrases.
In normal speech, an objective may be covered in one sentence to provide simplified
understanding. In the legal profession, that same objective could be described in several paragraphs
because it could hold different meanings for different people, leading to unintended consequences.
Let's think back to your basketball contract. Why does it have legalese in it? The basketball
contract is a binding agreement between you and the team. Because you are expected to act a
certain way and are held to certain standards, your understanding of expectations may be different
than the team's. In order to make sure everyone is on the same page, the contract describes each
objective in full detail to avoid loopholes and misunderstandings.
Contract Examples of Legalese
One example of legalese is the terms and conditions of a contract. In a cell phone contract, some
terms and conditions could be: the amount that is due each month, the customer's obligation to pay
off the phone, military exemptions, or payment plans. This can all become very confusing,
especially if the individual does not understand their obligations upon purchasing the phone.
An individual might wish to unlock their phone but can't because they haven't paid off their bill.
It's covered in the terms and conditions, but the customer may have only skimmed through those
terms and conditions, thinking they're too complicated or don't apply. In this case, the legalese
protects the company, but if the legalese is not explained or the customer does not fully read the
contract, the customer may feel like they were mistreated.
Legalese Terms & Phrases
Here are some common examples of legalese. Accompanying each is a brief definition or
explanation:
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Breach of contract: this means the failure of one party to uphold their side of a contract
Conditions: these are the principal terms of a contract; breach of contract results if a
condition is not met
Exclusion clause: this is the exclusion of one party from liability for certain aspects of the
agreement
Express terms: these are the explicitly stated terms of a contract
Liability: this is the legal obligation to the contract
Offer: this is an agreement made to develop a contract
Proxy: this is a person who acts on behalf of another for a specific purpose
Repudiation: this is a refusal to comply to the agreement or contract
Trademark: this is a legally registered name or symbol representing a product or company
Void: this means that a contract is a contract that can't be completed
Warranties: these are promises made in the contract
Insolvency: this is where one party can't pay what is owed
Indemnity: this is a promise by a third party to pay the amount owed; and finally
Guarantee: this is when one person promises to pay the debt for someone who is not able
to
1. LEGALESE DEFINITION
Legalese is a technical form of writing often used by lawyers and members of the legal community
to discuss legal definitions, terms, laws, by-laws, and contracts. Some synonyms of legalese are
lingo, legal english, gobbledegook, and officialese. It’s widely accepted that legalese is a fairly
difficult form of writing with a very narrow area of application.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped many businesses – small and large – from using it.
Legalese is most often employed by businesses with the intention of ensuring that their policies
are legally sound. Their intentions to protect their business are well placed but, ultimately, only
serve to cause more harm.
Businesses who utilize legalese often write long, convoluted sentences, which incorporate littleknown legal terms and, in the worst cases, latin.
Legalese example
Phrases like the following are excellent examples of legalese:
In witness whereof the parties hereunto have set their hands to these presents as a deed on the day
month and year hereinbefore mentioned.
Translated from legalese to english, this simply refers to the “date” line which often follows a
signature. That’s right – two lines of text just to ask for the date.
It’s easy to see why the aforementioned phrase is an excellent example of the type of legalese that
makes customers start to doubt the reliability of a business.
2. What makes legalese so concerning?
1. It has a bad reputation — legalese has earned a nasty reputation for burying important
information in complicated, run-on sentences. This is often referred to as the “fine print” of a
disclaimer or legal policy.
2. It’s exclusive — terms and conditions often employ an excessive use of latin words and phrases
known only to the lawyer who wrote them.
3. It’s bad for customer relations — creating a terms and conditions, disclaimer agreement, or
privacy policy that employs legalese tactics can have exponentially negative effects on a business’s
customer platform. Users want their relationship with a business to be honest, understandable, and
transparent.
4. It’s a legal no-no — many states and countries now have regulations and parameters on legal
writing. Most new regulations state that companies and businesses must use clear and plain
language when drafting legal documents. This prevents any potential lawsuits on the basis of
perceived word manipulation.
3. How using legalese could be bad for your business
1. Legalese could lead to customer abandonment
Legalese creates space between the customer and the company. Clear and plain language allows
customers without legal know-how to feel at ease with your business, rather than feeling taken
advantage of or manipulated. Customers who distrust your company will not be quick to start or
maintain a relationship with your business.
This is why you shouldn’t copy the terms and conditions and other policies of your competitors.
They will likely be riddled with legalese, and will thus be a lost opportunity to gain an edge over
a close competitor.
2. Your business’s terms may not be understood — or followed
Using clear language creates a well-defined set of conditions between the customer and the
company. When making your terms and conditions, for example, the goal is to have users
understand how to appropriately interact with your site, right?
It’s especially beneficial to you to be explicit about the guidelines and expectations that you set
forth for users accessing your site in your terms and conditions. Download a free terms and
conditions template to get started now.
The less difficulty a prospective client has in understanding your business’s policies, the more
likely they will become a client and have fewer complaints in the future. One of the biggest
complaints customers have during disagreements is they were unclear about the policies of a
particular agreement. Transparency and clear language help mitigate these potential problems.
3. Legalese could land you in hot water
As mentioned, rules and regulations are tightening on business’ use of legalese in their policies,
including their terms and legal disclaimer. The eu-based general data protection regulation (gdpr)
will take effect on may 25 and dictates newer, stricter, and far-reaching guidelines for the ways
that businesses interact with consumers’ data and the disclosure of privacy practices.
the regulation mandates businesses use clear and plain language in their privacy policies.
Even though the gdpr is based in the eu, it applies to any and all businesses that target eu citizens
or residents. For a summary of the key concepts and requirements, check out our gdpr
meaning overview.
All of these issues can lead to a bad public image and an illegitimate reputation — both of which
can bring a business to its knees. As seen with the recent facebook scandal over privacy policies,
even the largest of companies are not exempt from public outrage when it comes to unclear
language.
4. Plain english vs legalese
So what should small businesses do instead of using legalese?
1. Be clear
Instituting clear and plain language is the first – and most important – step. Avoid long, drawn out
sentences that include any of the aforementioned tactics.
2. Emphasize where needed
For possibly contentious inclusions, such as a penalty clause in a terms and conditions agreement,
be sure to highlight (bold, italicize, underline, etc.) Key sections to help avoid disagreements in
the future.
3. Be transparent
Liberties taken by your company within a privacy policy – such as the right to use customer data
– should be stated clearly and transparently. Avoid burying key points and making customers
feel as if something is being hidden from them.
None of this detracts from the fact that legal policies need to be legally binding and comprehensive.
However, ensuring that clients are fully aware of the policies in place and completely understand
all disclaimers, policies, and terms on your site benefits your business greatly – whether through
referrals, sales, or by simply having fewer complaints to field.
Take advantage of our free privacy policy generator to create a policy that covers all the necessary
sections — and leaves out the legalese.
Being transparent with users while also protecting your business through clear and concise
language is one way to ensure happy customers and reduced risks.
Lawyers speak 'legalese' for a reason
It’s easy to understand why people despise “legalese,” those archaic phrases that lawyers use.
Some joke and even genuinely believe that lawyers use legalese to either sound smart or to justify
higher legal fees. While there certainly are lawyers that over-complicate matters, those confusing
legal terms can sometimes be helpful and can even determine the outcome of a complex legal
dispute.
One reason so-called “legalese” still exists is based on how court decisions are made. When
deciding cases, judges frequently look to the way similar cases were decided in the past. They read
the written rulings from the old cases and use them to guide their decisions in the current ones.
This
helps
to
bring
predictability
and
consistency
to
the
law.
It also makes it easier for lawyers to predict the outcome of similar cases they are handling for
clients. A lawyer who is more familiar with comparable cases from the past is better able to advise
the client in the current situation. One unintended byproduct of this constant review of past cases
is
that
antiquated
terms
keep
getting
handed
down.
In addition, the use of specific legal phrases can assist a lawyer in preparing legal documents for
a client. People, and especially lawyers, frequently disagree as to what certain terms in important
legal documents mean. This is because the way a certain word or phrase is interpreted can make
all
the
difference
in
a
case.
So, when preparing legal documents, a good lawyer tries to think of all the ways a certain word or
phrase might be interpreted. With those various interpretations in mind, the lawyer drafts the
document in the way most likely to avoid future misinterpretations. Guarding against future efforts
to re-define or misconstrue the meaning of certain words and phrases against a client’s interest is
crucial.
Unfortunately, this requires the use of more words, usually more than seem necessary, turning a
one-page document into several. “Legalese” is one way a skilled lawyer can make a document
more concise while also protecting the client from future battles over word-meanings. Certain
words and phrases have very specific meanings in the legal context. Some of these are Latin terms
originating from legal matters decided on the other side of the world more than a hundred years
ago.
Using the Latin phrase, which by the way most lawyers don’t even pronounce correctly, can greatly
simplify things. Judges know exactly what these phrases mean and there is less room for
imaginative interpretations from even the most “creative” lawyers. In other words, what many call
“legalese” can be the quickest and most succinct way to convey a specific meaning or idea. Not
using the phrase might require a lengthy recitation, which might be more vulnerable to
misinterpretations. A picture is worth a thousand words -- and the skillful use of certain legal
phrases can make 998 additional words unnecessary. Estate planning is one area where these
phrases come in handy. A surprising number of people do not give much thought to naming
alternate beneficiaries, those who will receive their property upon their death if their primary
beneficiary (usually a spouse or their children) passes away before they do. But, because life is
unpredictable, it is a good idea to have an alternate plan in case certain loved ones predecease
you.
Planning for the various different contingencies that might arise, and instructing what should
happen in each, would require long and complex verbiage. However, certain legal phrases can
make this straightforward and simple. The terms “per stirpes” and “per capita” are the easiest and
most concise way to deal with this particular situation. Per stirpes is Latin for “by the branch” and
per capita means “by the head.” These odd but relatively succinct terms describe how property
will be distributed if the primary beneficiaries die before the testator.
Suppose a woman has three children and wants each to inherit ⅓. However, after she makes her
last will and testament, one of the children predeceases her. If the woman’s will says, “all my
property is to be divided equally among my children, per stirpes,” then the outcome is clear. Per
stirpes requires that her two surviving children each get ⅓. The final ⅓ is divided equally among
the
children
of
her
deceased
child.
If, on the other hand, the woman’s will said, “all of my property is to be divided equally among
my children, per capita,” the result is very different. All of the woman’s property would be divided
equally among her two surviving children. The children of her deceased child would receive
nothing.
Her use of the term, “per stirpes” or “per capita,” makes the woman’s intent perfectly clear. It
leaves little room for arguments over word-interpretation. It is one example of why, even though
it can be terribly frustrating, so-called “legalese” sometimes serves an important purpose.