Visting London!

If you are visiting London this summer heres a bunch of useful websites that I found helpful during my attachment with a Law firm in 2008.

• BBC weather updates on the London Weather,
• Official site on London Underground
• Great site showing London Map so you may never get lost,
• Comprehensive site on London

24x7 Global Incident Map

Hello!

Putting this weblink which was forwarded by my friend.

Global Incident Map: There is a lot happening in our world every minute. This 'map' updates every 300 seconds...constantly 24/7. Click on any icon on the map for text update information. It's not just about Terrorism - it's about everything happening every minute some place in the world of terrorism, threats, explosions, airline incidents, etc. It is like "CNN Breaking news". You can click on any city in the world shown on the map which changes every 300 seconds with an up-date. Any subject whether it is flood, trains, war, etc.....

Simple or Leaglese

The word Leaglese means

Leaglese: language containing an excessive amount of legal terminology or of legal jargon.
some examples are: herein, hereto, hereby, heretofore, whereas, whereby, and wherefore ; said and such (as adjectives).

Legal writing includes many words taken from different languages
Which includes terms derived from French (such as estoppel, laches, and voir dire) and Latin (both terms of art such as certiorari, habeas corpus, and prima facie; and non-terms of art such as inter alia, mens rea, and sub judice). These foreign words are not written in italics or other distinctive type as is customary when foreign words appear in other English writing.

Legal writing is a type of technical writing used by legislators, lawyers, judges, and others in law to express legal analysis and legal rights and duties. Its distinguishing features include reliance on and citation to authority, importance of precedent, specialized vocabulary or jargon, and a tendency toward excessively complicated grammar and overformality.

But there is a shift towards Plain Language over Legalese in todays corporate world in contracts, JVs, etc. The popularity of Plain language and the shift towards it cause now a manger in a company doesn’t need to consult a lawyer before making his move cause the language is simple and clear which saves time and not to mentiont lot of money. However lawyers understandly are not a happy bunch, more than the work which is being taken away from them, the fear the Dumbing Down of the legal writing, the fear cause the language is so simple it might not cater to their clients interest, misunderstandings are more likely to occur.

"Plain English emphasises meaning over rules and clarity over elegance"
Rosemarie Park

(Advocate)

I am all for plain language over legalese, but there has to be balance between the two. Cause the Legal writing has gone through number of changes in the last 40 years or so. Plain language may not fit everywhere, but at the same time interpreting every little detail into complex Legalese sentence also will not work. We can certainly do away with the terms mention above (supra) Herein, hereto, herewith, etc

Some replacements

Leaglese ----/---------- Simple
advert to -/-------------- mention
aforementioned -/-------- often best omitted
ambit -/-------------------reach or scope
approximately -/---------- about
a large number of -/------- many
for the reason that -/------ because
frequently -/---------------often
forthwith -/---------------- immediately
fundamental -/------------- basic
prior to -/------------------ before
provision of law -/---------- law
purchase -/------------------buy
was aware -/----------------knew

Diwali Wishes (Festival of Lights)

Heres' wishing everyone a happy and prosperous Diwali.

It the biggest festival celebrated by the Hindus. To know more about it go to this link

Lex Evangelist listed on Blawg

My Blog got listed on the the Blawg which maintaines good directory of Legal Blogs from around the world.