Modern Legal Drafting: A Guide to Using Clearer Language

Modern Legal Drafting provides a comprehensive, authoritative guide to drafting legal documents in effective, plain English. Peter Butt, a leading expert in the field, has fully revised and updated the text for this new edition. It combines a practical focus with the legal principles that underpin the use of plain language in law. This dual practical and academic approach distinguishes it from other books in the field. It includes expanded material on the techniques for achieving a style that is both clear and legally sound. It also includes new material on the challenges and merits of drafting in plain language, and provides many before-and-after examples to help both practising lawyers and students develop their skills. It takes an international approach, drawing upon case law and statutes from England, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

1. Introduction; 2. What influences the legal drafter; 3. How legal documents are interpreted; 4. Some benefits of drafting in plain English; 5. How to draft modern documents, part 1: structure and form; 6. How to draft modern documents, part 2: particular issues for legal drafters; 7. How to draft modern documents, part 3: words and phrases; 8. Using the modern style.