Books on Plain Legal Language

For resources on plain language in general contexts,
see Plain Language Bibliography

Plain Language Legal Writing
Cheryl Stephens
ASAP Legal Publishing.
Vancouver, BC, Canada.
604-685-2727 or 800-605-2727
(revised 1998)

Plain Language for Lawyers
Michele M. Asprey
The Federation Press, Sydney, Australia, 3rd edition, 2003
Phone: +61-2 9552.2200
info@federationpress.com.au
U.S. Agents: Gaunt Inc., Phone: +1 941-778-5211
info@gaunt.com
www.gaunt.com
330 pages, including index and "Plain Language Vocabulary"

Plain Language Pleadings
Carol Ann Wilson
Prentice Hall, 1996
Phone 800-947-7700
ISBN 0-13-199639-8

Legislation Manual: Structure and Style, Report 35
also cited as NZLC R35, or Parliamentary Paper E 31Y
Law Commission
Wellington, New Zealand (May 1996)
P.O. Box 2590, Wellington, NZ 6001
Email com@lacom.govt.nz
Phone 4.473.3453
ISSN 0113-2344

Law Words: 30 essays on legal words & phrases
Editors: Mark Duckworth and Arthur Spyrou
Centre for Plain Legal Language (1995), Sydney Australia
contact Peter Butt, Faculty of Law, peterb@law.usyd.edu.au

Writing Contracts in Plain English
Carl Felsenfeld and Alan Siegel
West Publishing co., St. Paul, Minn. (1981)

How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers
Rudolf Flesch
Harper and Rowe, New York (1979)

Plain English for Lawyers
Richard C. Wydick
Carolina Academic Press
P.O. Box 8795, Durham, N. Carolina 27707, (1994)

Gender Free Legal Writing: Managing the Personal Pronouns
Arthur L. Close, Q.C.
British Columbia Law Institute, 1998
Available online

How to Write Regulations and Other Legal Documents in Clear English
Janice C. Redish, Ph.D.
American Institutes for Research, Document Design Center
3333 K Street, NW, Washington, DC USA 20007 (1991)

Plain English and the Law
Drafting Manual
Report No. 9
Law Reform Commission of Victoria
FD Atkinson Government Printer, Melbourne (1987)

Lost Words:
The Economical, Ethical and Professional Effects of Bad Legal Writing
ABA Annual Meeting August 5, 1993
Occasional Papers 7, American Bar Association
750 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL USA 60611

Plain English and the Law
(1987; repr. 1990)
and
Access to the Law: The Structure and Format of Legislation
(1990)
Law Reform Commission of Victoria (now defunct)

General Treatments of Legal Writing

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The Elements of Legal Style
Bryan A. Garner,
New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
This is the legal companion to Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. This book follows-up Garner's 1987 book A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, itself a companion to Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.

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Legal Drafting in Plain Language
Robert Dick
Carswell Press, Toronto, Canada (1995)
One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road,
Scarborough, Ontario CA M1T 3V4

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Legal Drafting in a Nutshell
Thomas R. Haggard
West Publishing Co.,
St. Paul, Minn. (1996)

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Legal Writing: Getting it Right and Getting it Written
Mary Bernard Ray & Jill J. Ramsfield
West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn. 1987
A useful desk reference organized alphabetically for easy access to topics.

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Better Writing for Lawyers
Timothy Perrin
The Law Society of Upper Canada,
Toronto, Canada 1990
An exploration of methods to overcome common writing problems by adopting a creative and process approach.

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Clear & Effective Legal Writing
Veda R. Charrow & Myra K. Erhardt
Little, Brown and Company
Waltham, MA 1995
A textbook and manual for first year law that presents the Document Design Center's model for the writing process, guidelines for clear writing, specific advice and assignments.