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Five Rules for Clear Legal Writing

Learn how to visualize your own correspondence from the perspective of your readers.

Created byRyan Standil
IntermediateUpdated Jun 23, 2025

What You'll Learn

  • check_circleLearn techniques for putting yourself in the reader's perspective to enhance clarity and communication.
  • check_circleDevelop the ability to describe complex legal concepts using simple and accessible language.
  • check_circleMaster the decision-making process for repeating terms versus using synonyms to improve consistency and readability.
  • check_circleGain practical skills for drafting emails and documents that are easy to understand, even for non-legal audiences.

About This Course

Elevate your legal communication from good to great with "Five Rules for Clear Legal Writing". This essential course tackles the pervasive issue of ambiguity in legal documents, providing actionable strategies to ensure your writing always has a single, unambiguous interpretation. Master the "golden rule" of clear communication as you learn to identify and rectify common pitfalls.

  • Clumsy Modifiers: Discover how word placement can obscure meaning and learn to write from your reader's perspective.
  • Ambiguous Pronouns: Eliminate confusion by ensuring every pronoun and reference has a clear, singular antecedent.
  • Strategic Repetition: Understand when consistency trumps variety, ensuring your terms are always precise and not mistakenly differentiated.
  • Word Choice & Jargon: Simplify complex language without sacrificing formality, and effectively integrate legal jargon with plain language explanations.
  • Mastering "And": Unpack the most problematic word, learning to avoid redundancy and prevent dangling information to achieve ultimate clarity.

By applying these five practical rules, you will gain a powerful five-step checklist for drafting emails and documents that are unequivocally clear, persuasive, and free from the "curse of knowledge."

Course Content

1 activity • 1 videos • duration: 1h 10m

  • videocamFive Rules for Clear Legal Writing
    Duration 70:18
  • quizKnowledge Check

Your Instructor

Ryan Standil

menu_book14 courses
star857 reviews

Ryan Standil leads seminars about effective written communication. He is a regular speaker at accounting firms, law firms, corporations, and governmental agencies. Ryan attended Western University, in Canada, where he graduated from the Ivey Business School and the Faculty of Law. After graduating, Ryan worked at a law firm in Toronto, focusing on corporate and commercial matters. Today Ryan owns and operates a seminar company, called Write To Excite. Ryan’s mission is to help professionals grow their income by improving their writing. Ryan is a frequent contributor to the leading newspaper in Canada, The Globe and Mail. Unsurprisingly, his columns can be described as “writing about writing.” To read one of Ryan’s columns, please visit https://www.writetoexcite.com/globeandmail.

Credit Information

What Students Are Saying

4.6 out of 5
Student's Choice
38 reviews
  • LG
    Liza G.
    starstarstarstarstar

    yes, enjoyed the course, some good reminders in there

  • SA
    Stephanie A.
    starstarstarstarstar

    Very good presentation with good tips to be mindful of

  • MB
    Michael B.
    starstarstarstarstar

    good refresher

Frequently Asked Questions

We are a registered provider with 300+ associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. We operate across 27 global markets including Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Every course page clearly displays its specific accreditations. Upon completion, you receive a professional certificate that can be validated online. Our certificates include all necessary accreditation details, credit hours, and completion dates, and are formatted specifically to meet the submission requirements of most global regulatory bodies.

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