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39 Alta. L. Rev. 695 (2001-2002)
Legal Writing: Some Tools

handle is hein.journals/alblr39 and id is 705 raw text is: LEGAL WRITING: SOME TOOLS 695 LEGAL WRITING: SOME TOOLS THE RIGHT HONOURABLE BEVERLEY MCLACHLIN° I am both honoured and delighted to speak here this evening. First because this address brings me back to my home province of Alberta, and second because it gives me the opportunity to recognize the Alberta Law Review and those who have contributed to its success. Like its companion publications across Canada, the Review is a vital source of analysis of the complex issues facing our legal system. The Review enhances the quality of justice in this country by contributing to a reasoned analysis of these issues. And beyond its legal analysis, the Review gives scholars the chance to write and publish and offers students the opportunity to hone their research, analytical, and writing skills. Tonight I would like to talk to you about the last of these skills - the skill of legal writing. I begin with a preliminary question: Does legal writing still matter in the electronic age? The answer, it seems to me, is an unequivocal yes. The law students here tonight have grown up in the information and communication age. In your lifetimes, computers have become part of the fabric of the workplace. Fax machines hastened the flow of information around the globe, only to be superseded by the even more powerful technologies of the Internet. Cell phones ring almost everywhere and at any time. These advances in technology and communications have brought us many benefits, speed being the most evident. But we cannot rely on communications technology to ensure the quality of communication. In fact, speed often has the opposite effect. Amidst all these technological advances, clear, concise, and organized legal writing remains the foundation of good advocacy. Technology cannot ensure that the language is clear, concisely phrased or logically organized, although it can sometimes be harnessed to help. Effective legal writing remains essential, whether we are writing to clients, preparing articles for law reviews or organizing factums for appeal courts. Emerson once said that it is a luxury to be understood. For lawyers, it goes beyond that. Being understood is a necessity. So yes, good legal writing does matter. Lawyers, legal scholars, and judges work through words. Words are our tools. We should use them effectively. It does not serve the courts, the public or the profession to persist with language that only lawyers can understand. This answer leads us to a second question: Do lawyers and judges use words well? Here my answer must be more equivocal. Sadly, our reputation is far from shining. Too often our critics accuse us of wallowing in arcane language. They say - to use a phrase worthy of lawyers - that we cherish obfuscation. They refer to convoluted language as the secret handshake of the profession, going on to point out that the legal profession is not supposed to be a secret society. P.C., Chief Justice of Canada. This article is a version of Justice McLachlin's speech at the annual Alberta Law Review Banquet, held at the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton, Alberta, 28 February 200 1.

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