Research
Even Federal Judges Prefer Plain Language
In the federal world, one of the most common justifications for not using plain language is rooted in fear that plainly written documents won’t pass policy or legal review because they don’t sound “official” enough.
Finally, research proves that even judges and lawyers — people who are as “official” as you can get — prefer documents written in plain language.
A recent study of 295 federal and state judges (.PDF) across the U.S. showed that the majority preferred the plain writing version of a dull trial motion document to one using traditional legal writing.
This is wonderful ammunition for anyone trying to get a plain language document through legal or policy clearance. Documents don’t have to be written in legalese – even judges say so.
- “A New Comprehensive Study Confirms That Judges Find Plain English More Persuasive Than Legalese” by Sean Flammer. Michigan Bar Journal, September 2011 (PDF)
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