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| Dmitry Shniger |
The good news: lawyers will soon have a checklist for plain language writing. The bad news (for those resistant to change): plain writing is becoming a necessity. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a global standard on plain language legal writing, expected to be approved by the end of July. Those who ignore these guidelines may soon find themselves uncompetitive.
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Part 1 sets out four core principles of plain communication: information must be relevant, findable, understandable and usable. These principles focus on the reader: Who are they? What are they looking for in the document? Can they find it easily? Will they understand the message clearly? In short, the writer must edit down unnecessary details and complexity and arrange the remaining content in a visually appealing format that is easy to navigate.
The draft of Part 2 provides specific guidelines on how to apply these core principles. Below is a summary of what plain legal writing should look like under the official standard.
Composition of paragraphs and sentences
- Write in point-first form: begin with the main idea and place supplementary information at the end.
- Place references to legislation, authorities and other sources at the end of the sentence, in footnotes, or otherwise — do not lead with them. Many lawyers default to starting with “According to…,” but this is not point-first writing. Try the standard’s approach, and you may be surprised by the results.
- Follow the pattern: one sentence, one idea; one paragraph, one idea (a broader one). Writing Tips Plus, the Language Portal of Canada guide, recommends 15-20 words per sentence and no more than six sentences per paragraph.
Layering
- Layer information to meet different readers’ needs. Put the focus on a simple, actionable gist of the most essential information.
- Follow with explanations, details and technical language for those who need more depth.
- Use visual tools like columns, panels, side notes, colour-coding, icons, footnotes, or simply divide content into clear sections.
Headings
- Use descriptive, skimmable headings. This is the simplest way to help readers understand the document at a glance.
- Write statement or question-style headings.
- Keep headings simple. Do not use legal terms. Minimize punctuation.
- Follow the rule: one topic, one heading.
- Frequent headings are not a problem. However, do not overshoot with hierarchy. Limit it to three or four levels.
- Use numbering for easy cross-referencing. Prefer a combination of numbers and letters to several levels of numbers (“1.4.3.2”). Arabic numerals are better than Roman ones (for referencing).
Content
- Introduce each section. Clearly state the purpose and guide the reader through it.
- Do not use Latin, doublets and triplets like “null and void,” and other legalese. The ISO standard does not list banned words and phrases, but legal writing guides do — refer to them. For example, “pursuant to” and “notwithstanding,” common in many lawyers’ writing, are flagged as legalese in Legistics, Canada’s legislative drafting guide. If these are unsuitable even for statutes, should they appear in client memos?
- Define unclear legal terms and concepts. Keep definitions short and provide them at first use when possible. A glossary is your second option — you do not want your reader to flip pages back and forth.
- Add context and examples to make the text more precise.
- Summarize or repeat from the source instead of simply referencing it.
- Minimize abbreviations. Use short forms only when repeating long names.
- Always write in the active voice. Following the “subject - verb - object” structure helps.
Design
- Make the physical act of reading easier. Start by adding white space — you do not want your text to be as dense as bar exam preparation materials.
- Use information design to highlight important information. The standard gives no specific techniques, but Writing Tips Plus advises:
- If you are used to underlining or capitalizing text for emphasis, please stop it.
- Use bold and highlighting sparingly.
- Never combine several methods like bolding and highlighting — stick to just one. You do not want your text to scream at the reader.
- You may use italics with restraint.
- Instead of the typefaces listed above, try using more elegant techniques to stress the point, such as headings, short sentences, bullet lists, indentations, icons, callouts and so on.
Use visuals, such as:
- Flowcharts
- Timelines
- Tables
- Checklists
As the standard nears release, it is clear that clients — and the public, in general — expect lawyers to be competent in design. The draft standard even references legal design, a discipline that applies design thinking to legal practice. It has grown since the early 2010s and is now well established in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Legal designers are typically lawyers trained in communication, information, product, service or systems design.
The draft recommends involving legal designers in creating legal materials. While hiring them may not be realistic for many, lawyers can still engage with these tools by reading. A growing body of literature on legal design shows how lawyers have made legal ideas clearer and more accessible.
Use publicly available resources, such as Writing Tips Plus, Legistics, CLEO plain language guide, and resources of major plain language advocacy institutions: Clarity International, Plain Language Association International (PLAIN), Center for Plain Language and International Plain Language Federation.
As a related development, the Standards Council of Canada is working on a national plain language standard. It builds on ISO principles but adds insights on empathizing with the audience, designing forms and using gender-neutral language.
Dmitry Shniger is a dual-licensed lawyer admitted to practice in Ontario and Russia. He holds an LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Ph.D. in civil law from a Russian university. His past roles include general counsel at electricity and construction companies, senior associate at a top-tier full-service law firm, and professor at two leading Russian law schools. He restarted his legal career in insurance defence in Ontario.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, LexisNexis Canada, Law360 Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
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