Time for our once-a-month writing tip. We waste too much energy on inefficient writing in law. Fix your writing and you’ll save time, effort, and frustration.

Last month, we talked about writing for the way people read. Today, we’re talking legalese, the specialized vocabulary we believe is valuable, but actually annoys or worse, alienates, our clients. It’s the perfect example of a frustrater.

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Merriam-Webster defines legalese like this:

The vast majority of the time, you don’t need it…and trust me, nobody misses legalese when it’s not there. I guarantee no one reads your contract and says, “Hey, she's missing a “save as herein above defined and a few thereinafters.”

Over the next few months, I’m going to talk you through ways you can eliminate legalese in your writing. The result: clear, concise writing that your clients understand and colleagues appreciate.

Today’s focus: redundancy

Lawyers often use 2 or 3 words where one will do. It may be because lawyers used to be paid by the word. What did that lead to? More words of course! (It’s a bit like billing by the hour leading to more hours…but I digress.) Or it may be because early lawyers included both the Anglo-Saxon and Norman French words for clarity post-conquest. Whatever the reason, it stuck.

Bryan Garner, one of the great writers on legal writing, calls these legal doublets and triplets.

• Cease and desist
• Give, devise, and bequeath
• Indemnify and hold harmless
• Last will and testament
• Make and enter into

Wikipedia also has a great list.

Your challenge: for the next four weeks, look for legal doublets and triplets in your writing. Try to replace them with single words instead.

Cease and desist Stop [or cease…or desist…just pick one]

And that’s it for this week. Join us next week for more on building a more profitable and productive law practice. Don’t forget to get my Editing Cheat Sheet. It gives you my three-step approach to editing your own work, so you send nothing but your best writing out into the world.

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Thanks a lot everybody! See you next week.