The purpose of writing is to communicate...

I mentioned in a recent post that word limits were required in undergraduate law essays to develop the skills of succinctness and focus. As a tutor in law I often find that some students, attempting their first law essay, tend to go over the top in the language they use. They suffer from the misconception that lawyers should write with an old-fashioned, complex style. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The purpose of writing is to communicate. Not only is "legalese" off-putting, it hinders communication. I recently accompanied someone as a friend when they had to see a solicitor (following the death of their husband). After we left, she said to me - "I didn't understand a word of what he was saying". During the meeting I had to explain to her what it meant. ('translate' would be an appropriate term.) The solicitor even said "you put it so much better than I do". It should not be like that. Clients see their solicitor (and pay them considerable sums of money) for their expertise. It is the lawyers job to explain to their legally unqualified client - what it means. That doesn't mean treating them like idiots - but putting into understandable English the relevant points.

Word Limits

As an "Associate Lecturer" at the Open University, much time is spent between March and September marking 'eTMAs' (Electronically submitted 'Tutor Marked Assignments') for the Law Degree courses that I teach on. The OU, like all universities offering Qualifying Law Degrees, has challenging word limits. This is neither arbitrary nor an unnecessary extra burden on students.

It is intended that law students be encouraged to develop the skill of succinctness (apparently there are those who believe that lawyers have a tendency to say in ten words what could be said in three!!!!). The clients of lawyers deserve communication from those they have sought advice from, which is focused; understandable; and to the point!

So how can someone develop the skill of succinctness?

Part of the process of writing an essay involves revising, perhaps a number of times, what has been written. I believe that in journalistic circles the process is called “sub-editing” or “subbing”– For example

this sentence -

“He was not paying due care and attention when driving and this resulted in an accident.” (16 words)

Could be rewritten as - “His failure to pay due care and attention resulted in an accident” (12 words)

And then further revised to “His insufficient care and attention caused the accident” (8 words)

The more someone does this, the more succinct their writing style becomes – and focused upon what is essential and what isn’t really needed – which is the real purpose of having word limits!