Plain Language for Lawyers
Refresh your legal writing skills with tools to help you write clear, client-focused advices and transactional documents.
A 3.5-hour workshop, worth 3.5 CPD points, that gives you four practical tools you can use on the next document on your desk.
Technically correct isn't the same as understood
Legal writing has to be precise – that is not up for debate. But a client who cannot follow your advice, or a transactional document that takes three reads to understand, has not been served well, however legally accurate it is.
This workshop gives you four practical tools to close that gap, without losing an ounce of legal precision. You work on real legal texts, not generic business writing examples.
Four tools you will take back to your desk
Core message
Focus your content and trim unnecessary detail from client-facing material.
Structure
Review how you present and prioritise information in transactional documents.
Tone
Adapt your writing to engage readers with legal and non-legal backgrounds.
Readability
Adjust words and phrasing to boost reading ease while retaining legal precision.
What you will be able to do
- Write client-facing documents that get to the point faster, without losing legal accuracy.
- Structure transactional documents so the most important information is not buried.
- Adjust tone for mixed audiences – legal and non-legal readers in the same document.
- Edit for readability without compromising precision, even under time pressure.
Who it is for
- Lawyers who want to write client-focused documents
- Senior staff who review other lawyers’ work
- Other professionals who work with legal documents
Upcoming public workshops
15 September 2026
9:00 am – 12:30 pm AEST, live on Microsoft Teams
A$787 per person
- 3.5-hour workshop, 3.5 CPD points
- Specialist trainer, small group
- Comprehensive reference materials
- Limited spots
22 October 2026
1:30 pm – 5:00 pm AEDT, live on Microsoft Teams
A$787 per person
- 3.5-hour workshop, 3.5 CPD points
- Specialist trainer, small group
- Comprehensive reference materials
- Limited spots
Prefer to run it in-house?
We also run Plain Language for Lawyers for corporate and in-house legal teams – face-to-face at your preferred venue, or online for remote teams. In-house sessions are customised using your own documents, templates and style guide, so people practise on the writing they actually produce.
Why Plain English Foundation?
For more than 23 years we have helped legal, government and corporate teams write clearly – through training, editing and evidence-based standards. Our trainers are specialists who work with real legal documents, so every tool you learn is tested against the writing your practice actually produces.
Ready to sharpen your legal writing?
Talk to us about:
- Plain Language for Lawyers public workshops
- In-house legal writing training for your team
- Editing and plain language reviews of your key documents
