On Sun, 17 Sep 2000, Rogers Cadenhead wrote:
> No -- *generating* legalese is what lawyers are for. If they wrote things
> in clear English that everyone could understand, we wouldn't need as
> many lawyers or judges.
Once upon a time there was no legalese. It was a long time ago. It was a
glorious time of plain English documents, only English hadn't been
invented yet. Everyone could read a contract and understood what it said,
because there were no terms of art in it.
But because language is a tricky thing, people started arguing about what
this word meant in that context, and decisions were handed down about the
language. These terms became legalese, and from then on, normal people
started using them to write more clearly.
Over time, more and more words were added to the legal dictionary, and
Black did profit. And it was so thick, and the words so terrifying, that
the farmers and cobblers and dressmakers and bakers of the world no longer
could understand all of them. Only the scholars knew the legal terms in
their manifest, and these became the lawyers.
Is the system a corruption of justice? Who knows. Does it actually
protect the best interests of the common citizen? Who knows. Is any of
this relevant? Not really.
Want to protect your legal interests? Either study the law yourself, or
get a lawyer. If you don't, and you get screwed, it was your own damned
fault. And I mean "generic you" by "you" -- there's Plain English for
you.
Adam "IANALBIMO" Dray
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