Plain English

 

There has been a campaign in recent years for legal advice to be in plain English and long may it continue.

 

Sometimes the complexities of a legal case or legal argument may be hard for the layperson to understand and in which case it is the role of the solicitor to explain as best they can, but so they do understand.  Some unsophisticated clients just want to know that their case is being handled in a skilled manner and don’t feel the need for a detailed explanation of the situation.

 

Any case law or arguments in legal language should be a discussion between lawyers and should not involve the client, unless they have the requisite understanding, as some sophisticated clients do.

 

Historically the language of law was constructed to ensure that lawyers were seen within society as highly skilled and educated.  The process of becoming a lawyer was intentionally hard to keep the numbers in the industry small, the skill level high and in a really historic way, the province of rich white men!!!  This historic construction of the industry meant that lawyers were well paid and usually well respected in society.  Today we are still reasonably well paid and hopefully reasonably well respected.  We are closely monitored by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and are required to have training every year to ensure that our knowledge is up to date.  It is still hard to become a solicitor and as one there are lots of outcomes we are required to follow to ensure that we at all times act in the best interests of our client.

 

Some lawyers take extra exams to distinguish themselves from other lawyers and better qualified, most lawyers I know take a huge amount of pride in their work and go to great lengths to ensure that the advice that they have been given is of excellent quality, myself included, I’ve passed my Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE) exam and my Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) exam.  In my area of law the only other exam I can take is the Associate of Contention Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS), but as I don’t litigate, it seems fairly pointless.

 

There is a LOT less Latin in the legal language than there used to be, but still some, it must be said, which is a good thing, as I never did Latin at school!!!  The detail of some legal arguments can sometimes still be hard to follow, but that should not put off the solicitor from trying to explain it to their client in a language that their client will understand.  By using plain English we are helping the client to understand that we are on their side, that is what all the regulation of the legal industry is about, the SRA has little or no sympathy for a lawyer or law firm that has not treated the client fairly.

 

So long may it continue, long may we used plain English to demonstrate to the client that we are on their side and hopefully we will be rewarded and respected for the great quality of the work that we do.  I know that’s always what I strive very hard to do.