Travis Emslander
Travis Emslander
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· 1 min read · ↗ news.mit.edu

Why Legalese Is So Confusing

I found this research into why legalese is so confusing and hard to read fascinating.

I had always assumed legalese was required for airtight legal precision. But it turns out that’s not actually the reason—the convoluted syntax is more akin to traditional ritualistic structure, and lawyers themselves overwhelmingly prefer plain English when given the choice.