Education

Why Legal Drafting Well Is Essential For A Legal Career

Why legal drafting well is essential for a legal career

Things mentioned in the Article;

  • Introduction

  • What is legal drafting

  • Importance of legal drafting

  • Elements of legal drafting

  • Clear

  • Remove uncertainty

  • Be Clear

  • Clarity

  • Keep Chronology in mind

  • Explain important points

  • Legal language

  • Conclusion

Introduction:

A career in law is not a cakewalk; it requires a number of skills, personality traits and other factors for a legal professional to be successful. In the midst of all skills, knowledge and experience, the most important thing a legal professional must possess is excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. As it is the ability to convey a message to another person, and in the legal profession communication is also known as legal communication. One of the most effective tools of legal communication is legal drafting. Drafting a legal document properly is one of the most necessary skills that every lawyer must possess. 

What is Legal Drafting:

“A method of creating well-structured legal documents such as petitions, memorandums, contracts, wills, etc, that are legally binding one party to such documents is known as Legal drafting”. Learning how to do legal drafting flawlessly is something that every lawyer must know. Every written document in the legal profession is important, it is a way to represent facts and thoughts in a systematic manner. It is a skill that a law aspirant should master before handly so that they can save the future hassles and avoid making mistakes which can cause impact on their reputation and career. Many online law certification courses provide a platform that organises workshops and webinars for teaching this skill to learners.  

Importance of legal drafting:

A legal document i.e, whether it is a contract, petition, written statement, or affidavit, serves two purposes first is informing and second is engaging. A law aspirant must draft the legal document in a precise way and it should deliver the facts to the readers. The creation of legal documents is an integral part of legal practice. The skill of drafting well is equivalent to the skill of think and communicating well. In the legal profession, a document hold very important value as even a study of 10,000 words is known as a brief. 

A legal professional swears by the maxim “Verba volant, Scripta manent”, which means spoken words fly away and written words remain. Mastering the skill of legal drafting and writing takes time, numerous legal learning which offer online legal certification courses offer live classes teaching tips and tricks for legal writing and drafting and this is taught by top legal professionals, they teach all learners with their own experience and knowledge. 

Understanding the importance of legal drafting is very important for every law aspirant and budding lawyer as it is one of the most intellectually demanding of all lawyer's skills. It requires extensive knowledge of the law, the ability to deal with abstract concepts, critical thinking, and organizational skills. Through legal drafting, words are used to advocate, inform, persuade and instruct. Legal documents that are error-free and flawless, win the half case for a lawyer. This shows the significance of Legal drafting in an individual's legal career.

Elements of Legal Writing:

Here are several elements that should be considered while  drafting legal documents every time, if a legal draft contains all these elements then it can help the reader understand the writer's point of view easily and also this will make them look more professional and dedicated towards their work;

Clear: 

Be clear as to what the document says, it should be delivered in a way that makes it clear what it means and what it does not. Before starting writing the draft make sure to be versed with the provisions mentioned or are used in the Legal draft. 

Remove uncertainty:

To write an efficient draft, remove all unnecessary statements which might be vague and refers to a different concept, as it can create confusion for the reader.

Be Precise:

The draft should convey the complete details and message for which it is intended, the matter should be precise and concise. The reader should be able to understand and get inspired by it.

Clarity:

One of the most important factors of any legal document is that it should have clarity and transparency, in order to achieve its objective. Also, it should be written in an organized manner and every sentence should be related to the topic of the draft.

Keep chronology in mind:

While drafting a legal document, with regard to another document or research paper make sure that it is organised in chronological order, to avoid any confusion to the reader

Explain important points:

In legal drafts, there should be a separate section or chapter which contains the definition and explanation of all important terms and technical concepts that are mentioned in the draft, this chapter should be present at the beginning of the draft so that reader can take help and understand them. 

Legal Language:

Words are an important tool in the field of law, that’s why legal professional uses certain professional language in their communication as well as in their writing. The language used by legal professionals while legal drafting or legal writing is Legal language. The Legal language is a standardised language which is distinct from ordinary language, as the law is a technical subject it has several terminologies and specific languages that are all collectively known as legal language. So legal language is used by lawyers, attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals. In India, legal language involves the usage of English, Hindi as well as other regional languages in necessary situations. And for understanding, this language is also a skill that every legal professional must acquire.

Conclusion: 

At last, for making a successful career in any field of law one must grasp the art of legal drafting, as it is the most basic as well as an essential element in any law-related work, whether it's about drafting a contract, a petition in court or to sue someone in the court, all of this requires excellent legal writing. The best online law certification courses offer lectures on legal drafting, teaching how different legal issues require different legal writing and drafting. With a proper and well-structured legal draft, the legal professional is able to deliver their side of arguments properly in front of others and courts also. So for a successful legal career, a law aspirant must learn how legal drafting is done.