Federal Judicial Center Showcases Plain Language Notices for Class Action Cases

The Federal Judicial Center — the research and education agency of the federal judicial system — has conducted research and “developed illustrative notices of proposed class action certification and settlement… These notices are designed to illustrate how attorneys and judges might comply with a change to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B). The change, effective December 1, 2003, says that class action notices "must concisely and clearly state in plain, easily understood language" specific information about the nature and terms of a class action and how it might affect potential class members’ rights.”

See the FJC’s website for sample notices, including a long notice, a notice for publication and language for the envelope: www.fjc.gov

Texas mandates Plain English contracts

Texas joins the list of states with laws demanding Plain English.

Any Texas firm lending $500 or less must now either use a model Plain English contract, or have the clarity of its own contract approved by the Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner.

Dallas lawyer Bryan A Garner dismissed charges of “dumbing down” the language, explaining “[w]hen you express an obligation more clearly, you're also expressing it more forcefully.”

From: Plain English Campaign. See: www.plainenglish.co.uk

Voters with Disabilities

Working with Protection and Advocacy, Inc. and members of Secretary of State Kevin Shelley’s Poll Worker Training Task Force, Transcend created a Plain Language version of a brochure to help voters and poll workers understand the rights of voters with disabilities. The brochure is written in 14-point type making it more accessible to low-vision readers.

Click here to see the brochure.

Plain Language Enhances Access to Contracts

Using standard legal contracts, researchers at the University of Victoria, British Columbia demonstrated that comprehension was increased by making 3 Plain Language adaptations:

• remove or replace archaic and redundant terms
• simplify words and sentence structure
• define legal terms or replace them with more familiar language

Researchers used paraphrasing and Q & A tasks to test reader comprehension.

From: Comprehension of legal contracts by non-experts: Effectivness of plain language redrafting. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, 67-85

Transcend provides:

• Plain Language Services
• Field-Testing
• Translations
• Readability and Accessibility Evaluations

For more information, or a free readability evaluation,
please contact us.