Legal Language and Legal Writing (EG111B)
Objectives: The student shall be able to understand the nuance of Legal Language and Legal writing.
The study of the course is aimed to cultivate students to articulate language effectively. A flawless
comprehension of legal terminologies, the structure of writing, and other legal matters is provided to
the students. The course will create a space for the students through intense writing activities that builds
on their acquired skills. Throughout the course, the students will refine their knowledge of writing
mechanics and improve their ability to write clearly, precisely, consistently, and persuasively.
Learning Outcome: The student shall be able to understand the nuance of Legal Language and Legal
writing. The study of the course is aimed to cultivate students to articulate language effectively. The
course will create a space for the students through intense writing activities that build on their acquired
skills. Throughout the course, the students will refine their knowledge of writing mechanics and
improve their ability to write clearly, precisely, consistently, and persuasively.
Unit 1: Legal Language - Definition of Legal Language - Scope and Demands -The importance of
Context - Using “Plain English” - Nature of Plain English - How Legal Language is different from
other type of writing/ speech?
Unit 2: Legal Terminologies - Legal Maxims- Origin of Maxims -Meaning of Maxims - Usage of
maxims in sentences - Legal Phrases - Commonly used Vocabulary
Unit 3: Fundamental Principles of Legal Writing - Concisions – Clarity – Cogency- Simplicity of
writing - Legal Terms and Use of equivalent other terms - Translating legal terms in regional
language- Increased efficiency and understanding - Errors free
Unit 4: Drafting - Problems of Drafting - Wordiness and redundancy - Overuse of ‘shall’ - Obscure
language - Unusual word order - Legalese and jargon.
Unit 5: Effective Writing - Modern, standard English - Document structure - Tables, plans and
formulas -Notes and examples -Syntactic ambiguity -Inclusive language -Problems with ‘and’, ‘or’ -
Drafting in the present tense
Unit 6: Types of Writing- Pleading – Plaint - Written Statement –Affidavit - Agreement of / Sale -
Legal Notice.
Unit 7: Importance of Punctuation -How Punctuation Developed - Lawyers' Distrust of Punctuation
- Commas - Semicolons - Colons – Dashes - Parentheses – Apostrophes - Hyphens - Periods,
Question Marks, and Exclamation Points - Quotations
Unit 8: To write responsibly - Identifying actual problem - Locating relevant provision of Law -
Referring case commentaries of renowned authors - Analysis and application of Cases - Avoiding
Multiple Negatives - Avoiding Cosmic Detachment - Use Strong Nouns and Verbs - Avoiding Sexist
Language
Text and Reference Books:
1. Richard C. Wydick, Plain English for Lawyers.
2. Alfred Phillips, Lawyers’ Language.
3. Peter Butt & Richard Castle, Modern Legal Drafting.
4. Bertrand Russell, An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth.
5. R L Trask, The Penguin Guide to Punctuation.
6. Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
7. Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage.
8. S.K. Mishra, Legal Language and Legal Writing.
9. J.S. Singh, Legal Language, Writing and General English.
