INTRODUCTION.

According to Prof.(Sir) W. Salmond (1862-1924), law is defined as the “The body of principles recognized and applied by the state in the administration of justice”.

The language of the law is English Language, therefore a sound law practice requires good English Language usage. A lawyer must be proficient in English Language because it is the language he uses to interact with clients, writes legal briefs and documents, presents his arguments in courts.

In the words of the second female United States Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg “If you can say it in plain English you should”, RBG says. “Going through ‘innumerable drafts’, the goal is to write an opinion where no sentence should need to be read twice ”. She goes on “I think that law should be a literary profession and the best legal practitioners regard law as an art as well as a craft ”.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEGAL WRITING.

It should be noted that the foremost quality of a good legal writing is clarity. As Justice Benjamin Cardozo put it “There can be little doubt that in matters of literary style the sovereign virtue for the judge is clearness”. Most contemporary commentators on legal writing exalt clarity above all else. In their book Making Your Case, Brian Garner and Justice Antonin Scalia claim that“One feature of good writing style triumphs all others. Literary elegance, erudition, sophistication of expression— these and all other qualities must be sacrificed if they detract from clarity ”.The hallmark of a good legal writing is clarity. A good legal writing must be readable and comprehensible by a layman who has no knowledge of the law, therefore legal Marxisms and jargons are to be avoided for the purpose of clarity.

The second fundamental quality of a good legal writing is conciseness. Conciseness is often confused with brevity, but concise writing is not merely brief or brusque, rather it is efficient. Concise writing convey the writer’s points succinctly ,without superfluous words, and with an appropriate level of detail.

In the case of Jordan v Duff & Phelps, Inc–815 F.2d 429(7 th Cir.1987) Judge Posner dissent:

“To exemplify colloquially the difference between the two prongs of conciseness , efficiency means not using ten words to say what can just as well be said in six words, while employing the

appropriate level of detail means not telling someone about the history of watch-making when they ask what time it is”.

Similarly, in the historic case of Mylward v Weldon(1596) Tothill 102,21 ER [1965] EWHC Ch1:

It was stated that in 1595,the son of a litigant(the report does not say whether the miscreant was a barrister) produced a pleading (a replication, ie reply) of “six score sheets of paper” which the Lord keeper deemed could have been “well contrived” in six sheets. The lord keeper (Egerton) ordered that the miscreant be imprisoned in the fleet until he paid a fine of £10 to her Majesty and 20 nobles to the defendant. His lordship also ordered that on next Saturday, the warden of the fleet should bring Richard Mylward into Westminster Hall at 10 a.m and then cut a hole in the midst of the pleading and place it over the pleader’s head so that it would hang over his shoulders with the written side outwards.

I don’t think any lawyer will pray for something similar to this to befall him or her. Therefore a good legal writing must be concise and direct to the point.

Aside conciseness and clarity, a good legal writing must engage its reader.

The well known British Jurist, Lord Denning MR, describes the importance of engaging the reader as follows:

“No matter how sound your reasoning is, if it is presented in a dull and turgid setting, your hearers– or your readers– will turn aside. They will not stop to listen. They will flick over the pages. But if it is presented in a lively and attractive setting, they will sit up and take notice. They will listen as if spellbound. They will read you with engrossment”.

CONCLUSION.

Law is the language of democracy and a good legal writing democratizes the law. A good legal writing must be clear, concise and engaging. It must be well drafted that a SSCE holder will be able to read and comprehend its message. Clarity of thoughts and expressions must reflect in a good legal writing. Legalese and verbosity are what mar a good legal writing, therefore the legal draftsman must desist from them.

REFERENCES.

Carmon Irin, Notorious RBG:The life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg(Day Streets Books, 1st ed, 2015)

Jordan v Duff& Phelps, Inc–815 F. 2d 429(7 th Cir. 1987)

Malemi Ese, The Nigerian Legal Method(princeton Publishing Company, 2nd ed, 2016,Ikeja,Lagos)

Mylward v Weldon(1596) Tothill 102,21 ER 136 [1965] EWHC Ch1

Osbeck Mark K., ‘What is Good Legal Writing and Why Does it Matter?’(University of Michigan Law School, September23,2011)https://papers.ssrn.comsol3>PDF accessed 10 June 2020.

Brief Profile.

Olawale Abdulbasit Olabayo holds a National Diploma certificate in Mass Communication from The Polytechnic, Ibadan.He currently studies law at Usmanu Danfodiyo University,Sokoto.He can be reached on 08133697193 or [email protected].