Why don't solicitors use plain English?

That's easy! It's because they don't want to anyone else, outside of their professional circle, to know what they mean. It's called 'legal mafia' and it rules the world.

I had the opposite problem with a so called professional solicitor who did the conveyancing on one of my properties. She used to send me e-mails starting with 'hi'. I am quite informal but having never even met this woman I felt this was totally inappropriate. I could possibly have forgiven the 'hi' if the emails and even her letters had not been full of spelling and grammatical errors. This from someone who charged out her time at over £100 an hour!

Ask who are the real Crooks :

LOL ! Very funny indeed !

You're quite right. I spent over 20 years in practice as a "plain language" solicitor before retiring. If you want some material to help persuade your solicitors to mend their ways look at www.adler.demon.co.uk. And if you contact me on adler@adler.demon.co.uk I can send you a specimen trust memo.

Hereinafter the parties to the first cause agree pursuant to their claim

40% to party Aa, 25% to party Bb and 35% Solicitors Bloggins and Bustards.

Chill out folks. It's not that big a deal realy, I was merely pointing out something that was obvious and a little bit of a nuisance. Solicitors have a job to do, I'm sure they don't rip you off any more than say, estate agents, banks, double glazing salesmen etc. etc.

Hmmm.... fair point!

I'm not making excuses !!

Just merely pointing out the facts ... that during a court case with a jury, the Judge should explain to the jury exactly what the case is about etc. etc., and if any juror was bewildered by legal jargon, he only had to ask for an explanation! To my knowledge, Judges don't make a charge for this !

Nikki, don't use tradition as an excuse to rip people off. People are probably too scared to ask for an explanation of the terms used cos' it would cost another arm or leg for the letter.

It seems obvious to me that they use these terms to confuse you and make you think they are earning the huge fees that they charge for actually doing very little.

If it's any comfort I am a legal secretary and get bewildered sometimes! The Law in this country is still very old fashioned in its terminology and ways of doing things. It is part of the tradition of our country. But no solicitor should ever refuse or be unwilling to explain to their Clients what the legal jargon means.

A Judge normally explains very carefully to a jury the exact meaning of a particular case, what happened, what is expected of them etc. etc. Although I have never worked in criminal law, presumably a juror can always ask for clarification on a point of law or on something he does not understand, either directly in person or through the nominated spokesperson?

Solicitors use the language because it usually goes to another solicitor. Its like a secret code and they don't want regular people picking up on it. Its part of doing their job. I was a victim of a violent crime some ten years ago and that very language got the criminal who did it half the sentence they deserved. I was told it was 'lawyer jargon' but the words they used made a big difference in how the jury saw the case. Had layman's terms been used, according to another lawyer, the jury might have better understood the severity of the crime. I think they were muddled under legal mumbojumbo and even to me it was confusing. I wonder if there is somewhere you can go to have things 'translated' from legal English to everyday English... It might not have helped me, but it might help others dealing with divorce, property, or other more common legal situations.