Sadly, Australia is awash with bad legal copywriting. The problem is not that the lawyers writing the copy don’t know what they’re talking about – because no one understands the law better than a lawyer. Rather, the problem is that lawyers tend to write in a dense, jargon-heavy way. That would be fine if they were writing for other lawyers, but they’re not; they’re writing for members of the public.
Ironically, professional writers from a copywriting agency almost always produce higher-quality legal articles than qualified lawyers. That’s because although they don’t have a law degree, they’re experts in researching information, understanding the key points, and expressing them in a clear, concise, easy-to-read way. And being non-lawyers, they know how to write for other non-lawyers.
“A word after a word after a word is power,” Margaret Atwood once said.
The right ideas, expressed in the right way, are powerful. For a law firm, that might mean:
The aim of a piece of written communications is to convey information. So, by definition, a piece of writing can only be good if the reader can understand it and absorb the information.
That’s why the most important thing you can do to improve your copywriting is to pretend you’re writing for a child. Use plain English, short sentences and direct arguments. To quote Jack Kerouac: “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
You also need to be selective in the information you include and the way you present it. A lot of law firm writing contains information that is either irrelevant or of marginal importance; this should be removed, so as not to distract from the content that is relevant and important. Also, the information needs to be presented coherently, so each sentence and paragraph logically flow on from the last. That way, you’ll make it easy for readers to proceed from beginning to end.
The reason so much legal content is impenetrable is because there’s nothing easier than churning out hard-to-read writing. Conversely, easy-to-read writing is hard to create, because it requires a lot of mental effort. Hence Blaise Pascal’s famous quote: “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a short one.”
Hunter & Scribe’s Sydney legal writers know how to do good legal copywriting – which is why this blog is so readable. Contact us if you’d like us to do the same high-quality writing for your law firm.
Your website needs to answer every conceivable question your clients might have, for two reasons. First, when a potential client types a question into Google, it means Google might direct them to your website in response. Second, when potential clients find your website has content that directly addresses their concern, it will prove you understand them and have dealt with that issue many times before. That’s why website content for law firms, in the form of dedicated webpages and FAQ sections, plays such an important role in your marketing.
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