Legal English, Part 1 of 3: legalese vs plain English

Why legal English sounds the way it does

Legal and administrative English (often called legalese) has one overriding goal: to leave no room for a second interpretation. That is why it prefers fixed formulas that courts have already interpreted, long sentences that hold every condition together, and words that disappeared from everyday English centuries ago.

Its most striking habit is repetition. Where ordinary English says "The tenant must pay the rent before he moves in", a contract says "The Tenant shall pay the Rent prior to the Tenant taking possession of the Property". A pronoun such as "he" or "it" could, in theory, point to the wrong party; a repeated noun cannot. Defined terms are capitalized (the Tenant, the Property) and mean exactly what the definitions clause says.

You will also meet doublets, pairs of near-synonyms kept together by tradition: "null and void", "terms and conditions", "any and all", "cease and desist". In plain English one word is enough.

Spanish legal language has the same instincts («el arrendatario», «el inmueble», «la parte arrendadora»), so the logic will feel familiar. The hard part is the formulas themselves, because many of them look like Spanish but are built differently.

Here-, there- and where- words

Words such as hereby, herein and thereof combine an adverb (here, there, where) with a preposition. The "here" words point to the document you are reading; the "there" words point back to something already mentioned.

"Hereby" means by means of this document or statement ("I hereby resign"); "herein" means in this document ("the terms set out herein"); "hereto" means to this document ("the parties hereto", "the schedule attached hereto"); "hereinafter" means from now on in this document ("hereinafter referred to as the Company").

"Thereof" means of it or of them ("the Property and any part thereof"); "therein" means in it ("the building and all the furniture therein"); "whereby" means by which ("an agreement whereby the club pays a fixed fee"). Outside legal writing most of these sound pompous, except "whereby" and the performative "hereby", which you will meet in any official letter.

Spanish uses demonstratives where English uses these compounds: «la presente», «el presente contrato», «en lo sucesivo», «del mismo». The calque *the present contract is a classic Spanish-speaker error; English says "this Agreement" or "this contract".

Prepositional formulas

The core formulas: "pursuant to" = under, as required or allowed by ("pursuant to Section 4"); "in accordance with" = in a way that complies with ("in accordance with the regulations"); "subject to" = depending on, or limited by ("subject to approval"); "notwithstanding" = despite, regardless of; "by virtue of" = because of, by the power of; "prior to" = before; "in respect of" = concerning, for.

This is where Spanish interferes most. «De acuerdo con» and «conforme a» are "in accordance with" or "according to", never *according with or *in accordance to. «En base a» is not *in base to: say "on the basis of" or "based on". «En virtud de» is "by virtue of" (or "under", "pursuant to"), never *in virtue of.

"According to" mainly reports what a source says ("according to the police", "according to the contract"); "in accordance with" describes conduct that complies with a rule ("the waste was disposed of in accordance with the law").

"Subject to" and "notwithstanding" are opposites in effect. "Subject to clause 9, the Supplier may..." means clause 9 wins if the two conflict; "Notwithstanding clause 9, the Supplier may..." means this sentence wins over clause 9.

From legalese to plain English

Since the 1970s the plain language movement has pushed governments and companies to write so that ordinary readers can understand. In the UK the Plain English Campaign has fought legalese since 1979, and in the US the Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to write public documents clearly.

You need both registers. To read contracts and official notices you must recognize the formulas; to write for the public you must be able to translate them back: "prior to" > "before", "pursuant to" > "under", "in the event that" > "if", "notwithstanding" > "despite", "in respect of" > "for" or "about", "forthwith" > "immediately".