Plain English - Why Not

I used to believe that lawyers deliberately avoid writing clearly. Legalese protects their privileged position, keeping non-specialist challengers out, and bamboozling their customers into believing they need legal advice to progress the simplest commercial opportunites.

But I’ve changed my mind.

Most practitioners don’t use plain English because they can’t — they are not competent enough to express themselves clearly.

Lawyers ought to be the most expert of all users of the English language, and they are schooled in an English dialect from which they really can't escape. This isn't just how they talk: they speak in the same way.