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A Shift Towards Clarity

As Harvard says so well, and I quote “What do you call a dense, overly lengthy contract that is loaded
with legal jargon and virtually impossible for a nonlawyer to understand? The status quo. For the most
part, the contracts used in business are long, poorly structured, and full of unnecessary and
incomprehensible language.” The complete article can be found here. The Case for Plain-Language
Contracts
The movement towards plain language in legal documents is gaining momentum across the globe, with
countries like Australia, the UK, Sweden, and Canada leading the charge. These nations recognize the
value of clear, explicit, and detailed legal documents in minimizing ambiguity and fostering a mutual
understanding between contracting parties.

The case for plain language extends beyond individual agreements to encompass the broader legal
landscape. As legal professionals and organizations adopt this approach, the overall quality of legal
documents improves, making them more accessible and understandable to a wider audience. This shift
not only benefits the immediate parties to a contract but also contributes to a more transparent and
efficient legal system.

As written in the article mentioned from Harvard Business, “Plain-language contracting is not a novel idea.
It’s a movement that started many years ago and, perhaps surprisingly, made initial headway in the U.S.
government. In 1972, President Nixon ordered that “layman’s terms” be used in the Federal Register. Six
years later, President Carter issued an executive order stipulating that government regulations should “be
as simple and clear as possible.” The Clinton administration went slightly further in 1998, by expressly
obligating federal agencies to use plain English. That same year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission published A Plain English Handbook for people drafting security disclosure documents. It’s

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