Examples of Bad Legal Writing from the "Legalese Hall of Shame"

Here's an example of some bad legal writing from the "Legalese Hall of Shame," originally spotted in a lawyer's letter--

I am herewith returning the stipulation to dismiss in the above entitled matter; the same being duly executed by me.

At the Legalese Hall of Shame, you'll also find translations of the twisted English posted there. Here's the quote above, in translation: "I have signed and enclosed the stipulation to dismiss the Byrd case."

The Legalese Hall of Shame is maintained by Adam Freedman, author of The Party of the First Part:The Curious World of Legalese. There's also a sort of companion weblog, titled The Party of the First Part: Adventures in Legalese.

Even if these sites won't make you a better writer (because, obviously, you already know how to write understandable English), they'll certainly entertain you, while nudging you in the direction of becoming an even better writer.

(Concluding note: I originally saw these links in a post titled "First Arrow" at Raymond Ward's the (new) legal writer. Ward's post is a list of his favorite writing sites. All of Ward's recommendations are worth exploring.)

Comments

[Bill Tilley]

Very funny, thanks for the diversion.

[D]

How about:

Hey, Mother F&^%er, here's your stipulation for dismissal, you big crybaby pu^sy! Well, to be frank, STIPULATION MY A$$! I only agreed to it because YOUR IGNORANT CRYBABY ass would go whining to the judge again, and that leftist a$$hole should have never ascended to the bench to start with, much less stayed there for damned near three decades now! I wish I could take you AND that GD little prissy a$$ "judge" in camera for five minutes ... just five F&^KING minutes...JUST FIVE FU&%ING MINUTES!!

Fu&^ing Louisiana "jurisprudence"! Boy, you are some kind of lucky The Kingfish or Uncle Earl wasn't still running this show or you can bet your sweet a$$ that you'd be taking a real long walk down a real short pier ... nailed to that GDed excuse for a jurist. You FU^*ING F@G!

Cheers, mother f&^%er,

Bubba, Esq.

P.S.: Oh, by the way, YOU ARE A DICK! And incidentally, [drumroll] ... Yep! Your are correct in your estimation! That IS in fact what you smell! I signed this letter in, AND I sealed the envelope with, my own $hit, you fu#@ing moron! Now, if you don't mind, please herewith, henceforth, and hereafter now until eternity PLEASE GO F$*KEST THYSELF!