1. Crimes against the English language

Poor drafting is a crime against the English language. 

A defendant once argued that no charge had been made against him because the wording included such poor grammar. He used an English teacher as a witness. The presiding judge noted that the documentation was "grammatically unintelligible"!

2. When things go really wrong

An Australian case, Alstom Ltd v Yokogawa Australia Pty Ltd & Anor (no. 7), is a heavy reminder of the importance of correct and unambiguous legal drafting and words.

In his judgment, Justice Bleby stated that even "if the parties had spent a tiny fraction of the costs of this litigation on competent legal advice in the drafting of this contract, this case might never have arisen".

 3. Warning signs 

• If a pronoun could refer to more than one person, repeat the name of the person rather than use a pronoun in this instance
• Use the present tense to avoid reader confusion
• Use a parallel sentence structure, particularly when writing lists
• Use gender neutral terminology, e.g. "firefighter" rather than "fireman"
• Aim for short sentences containing one idea and short paragraphs containing only interlinked ideas. 

Read how proofreading failures are creating risks for firms and their clients, and denying extra revenue.