Writing Legal Documents

Legal documents should ideally be drawn up by a lawyer. However, there may be occasions where you find that you need to write a document that will actually be legally binding. This could be when you are establishing some kind of contract, whether in employment, when leasing a vehicle, arranging accommodation or sorting out a construction project, etc.

Care must be exercised to ensure that any legal terms incorporated into a document such as a contract are correctly used. This will ensure that, if the document has to be enforced, then there will be no dispute.

It is also really important to ensure that grammar is used appropriately, otherwise there may be situation in which the other party to a legal agreement could argue that the document cannot be enforced because there are grammatical errors altering the meaning of the document. Solicitors and lawyers seem to specialise in this type of wrangling, which can be time consuming and very expensive, so always err on the side of caution. Never use legal terms or language just to ‘show off’.  Their use should be strictly limited to occasions when they are required.

A full grammar check of any document should be undertaken if it is to be legally binding. English grammar checkers are easily available online and will ensure that any document can withstand being challenged. Again, this can cut down on any disputes arising in the future.

If the document is of vital importance, but you cannot afford to have it drafted by a lawyer, then you could try drafting it yourself and having it checked over by a solicitor, since this will be considerably cheaper.