Time to ditch legal jargon says regulator

People are dissuaded from using legal services by three key barriers: inaccessible language and communications; lack of trust; and failure to cater for the needs of vulnerable consumers.
That’s according to a new report published by the Legal Services Board, the legal profession super-regulator for England & Wales. It says that the profession should learn from other sectors in overcoming the issues, as they are not specific to lawyers.
On language, the LSB references an Australian paper by Tahlia Gordon and Steve Mark, released in April 2015 which noted: “The legal profession speaks a fundamentally different language to the general public. Although many jurisdictions have implemented measures to bridge the language gap through ‘plain language’ initiatives, many people continue to feel overwhelmed by the concept of approaching a lawyer for help.”  
The report highlights the efforts of financial and medical professions in the use of plain English (with multiple translations) to enable consumers to better understand processes.
 
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