A document is a voice of a sender. Every written word in a legal profession is precious, as it has the power to advocate, inform, instruct and persuade. This is why drafting legal documents needs mastering on the same.

However, the mastering of this art needs time and a lot of practice. But, you can quickly make it happen with the given sets of guiding directions, which are meant to improve the way you draft legal documents:

Tips to Improve Drafting of Legal Documents

• Keep Readers In Mind

What you write should resonate with what the recipients or readers want. For figuring out the exactness, you should get deep with their expectations. The tone & intent of the document should be based on the requirement of the audience.

You cannot add an analytical angel in a legal document that is to be presented in the court. Likewise, a memorandum to the client should not advocate and persuade. Rather, it should throw a light on the issues, report the laws and implications as recommendations about an appropriate course of action to be taken.

Jot Points Prior Writing
Every legal document should be optimally organized. It is a key to its success.

For it, create a layout by jotting all contextual points. Take those points as a guide for the effective legal document writing. Introduce the subject in the beginning. Smartly use transitional phrases, like however, between each paragraph.

Launch each paragraph with a title. Use phrases in it. Split it into various points, if possible, to make it more understandable. Avoid messing two topics in one paragraph.
Do end with a summary and bibliography & appendix (if you have any to refer). This is how you can bring the entire document to life, as it exactly conveys what you want to deliver to readers.

Avoid Formal & Technical Terms
The formal and technical terms is called Legalese in legal writing. These can be typical legal phrases and jargon. The inclusion of words like aforementioned, herein, wherein, and hereto etc. can make your writing offbeat, forced and detached.

So, replace them with more concise, clear and simple words.

Avoid: It was shameful that the police was in the know about the crime beforehand.

Use: It was shameful that the police knew about the crime beforehand.

Keep Writing To The Point
Your every word should be comprehensively brief. Keep your sentences short and concise, contributing to the entire case. Avoid extraneous words.
Complex sentences have a great scope for redundancies. So, try to make them short and simple.

Try this way:
Complex Sentences-Arsenic poisoning was reported at a church by an unknown person. Five people were poisoned with a semiconductor by the offender, which is yet to be detained for taking the case to the next level.

Concise Way- An unknown person committed arsenic poisoning at a church. The offender poisoned five people with a semiconductor. The proceeding is hampered, as the criminal is still free.

Use Powerful Action Words
Action words make an event or accident live. Choose more powerful, dynamic and true to life legal words because they make your writing authentic and lifelike.

Instead of saying “Police was not present there”, say “Police was absent on the spot.”

Active Voice Brings Clarity on Subject
Passive voice creates confusion. It turns out more complicated when there is no mention of the subject of any doing.

On the flip side, active voice makes it crystal clear who the doer or subject is.

So, instead of writing “People were massacred”, say, “XYZ massacred people”.

Be Careful When You Edit
Impeccable writing needs merciless editing. Keep your heart aside when it comes to omitting unnecessary words. Don’t hesitate to rewrite where the documents need more clarity on a specific point. Legal writing needs careful proofreading. You may lose your credibility as a legal professional if your documents are full of grammatical & punctuation errors or spelling mistakes. Even, your client may underrate your work.