The Winfield Rock Report Overcoming the Legal and Contractual Barriers of BIM reported that BIM aficionados expressed ‘sympathy for lawyers having to wade through endless jargon’. Te he he! For once the boot is on the other foot. I spend my life helping professionals overcome jargon: writing jargon-free contracts, training
Early in 2018 on twitter, plain language expert Dominique Joseph (@clearerworld), Tim Cummins (@tcummins from the IACCM), Ken Adams (@KonciseD) watched closely by Stefania Passera (@StewieKee), asked who was doing a good job of making contracts more user-friendly? Initially, we got side-tracked because Dom had framed her question to ask
Beyond considering the role of contract visualization, Stefania Passera’s doctoral dissertation Beyond the wall of contract text (2017) she also looks at the functions of contract. Her conclusions are critical for contract creators like me who believe that the purpose of a contract is not merely to safeguard rights and
I love the Mr Men books by Roger Hargreaves. Not so much for their stories (bad turns to good) but for the simplicity of the illustrations. As Roger Hargreaves’ wikipedia entry says the books were simple and humorous stories, with brightly coloured, boldly drawn illustrations … part of popular culture
The organisation Clarity is brimming with lovely lawyers and legal consultants fascinated by how we can simplify legal documents and overcome the barriers to changing traditional drafting. After a recent meeting, Cathy Wilcox introduced me to the Pathclearer project, and its developer – Steve Weatherley then Head of Legal at
The rule for simplicity is neatly espoused by Joseph Pulitzer: Put it to them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light As a lawyer and maths graduate,
Clear communication means that users can understand what they have to do, when they have to do it, and change their behaviour accordingly. What should you do? If you want to remove the padding in your communication or in your contracts then you should: work out who your reader, audience
Simplicity means is best described using this definition of plain language A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information. Source: International Plain Language Federation So
I love the idea that we could create contracts that ordinary people will read, understand and use. Verity White’s Secret of Productive Contracts is another step in the right direction. Verity’s focus is on paperless contracts to speed up the contracting process. I was both delighted and a little bemused
Contracts win prizes, although not in this case… It is common ground that the Deed of Variation in this case would win no drafting prizes for precision or clarity. It included errors … which are acknowledged by both sides, and it also struggled to convey the essential agreement reached between