Overview of Legal Drafting
Legal drafting is creating a written document that serves as a legal instrument or document. Legal drafts can take many forms, including contracts, wills, trusts, deeds, and other legal instruments.
Legal drafting involves using precise language to clearly and accurately convey the terms and conditions of a legal agreement or document. It requires a thorough understanding of the legal principles and concepts involved and an ability to clearly and concisely express those principles in writing.
Lawyers or other legal professionals typically review legal drafts to ensure they are legally sound and comply with relevant laws and regulations. In some cases, legal drafts may also be reviewed and negotiated by the parties involved in the legal agreement or document.
Legal drafting is an essential skill for lawyers and other legal professionals, as it is often an integral part of the legal process. It is also a key element of legal practice and is essential for ensuring that legal agreements and documents are clear, accurate, and enforceable.
Laws Related to Legal Drafting
- The Companies Act, 1956 and 2013
- The Constitution Of India
- The Indian Stamp Act, 1899
- The Registration Act, 1908
- The Indian Contract Act, 1872
The Principles of Drafting
- Legal Accuracy: Drafting should be legally accurate, taking into account the relevant laws, rules, and regulations.
- Formatting: Drafting should be properly formatted, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make the document easy to read and understand.
- Consistency: Drafting should be consistent in language, terminology, and formatting throughout the document.
- Readability: Drafting should be easy to read and understand, using short sentences and paragraphs and avoiding complex language.
- Legal Compliance: The document should comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including privacy and confidentiality provisions.
Checklist Rules for Legal Drafting
Legal drafting in India refers to preparing legal documents such as contracts, agreements, and pleadings for use in legal proceedings. It involves researching the relevant laws and regulations, determining the legal rights and obligations of the parties involved, and drafting the document clearly and concisely.
- Legal Provisions: The first item on the checklist is to ensure that the legal representative who drafts the document must include all legal requirements in the same. Additionally, the rules of legal drafting must be followed with emphasis on case-law.
- The Right Terminology: To convey the right information clearly and concisely, the legal expert or draftsman must use the right terminology.
- Self-Explanatory: The document should be drafted in a way that is self-explanatory to any person who is educated and competent enough to understand the subject matter.
- No Negative Terms or Language: It is important to not include any negative terms or language in the legal document.
- The Proper Order of Paragraphs: The Legal Notice Draft must be prepared in logical order, divided into paragraphs that are properly marked ( with numbers, letters, etc), that is self-explanatory, concise and clear, with the right terminology.
- Schedules, Enclosures or Annexures: If required, the legal drafting should include schedules, enclosures or annexures, which can be referred to when communicating a legal point. It is not required for the schedule to be included in the main part of the content but simply for reference to provide more clarity on the draft.
- Reader-friendly: It is important to draft the legal documents in a way that is easily understood, for which it should meet all the conditions and requirements of legal drafting.
Do’s and Don’ts of Legal Drafting
Legal drafting, in its essence, is the combination of incorporating legal advice and fact into the format of a language. As the name implies, what stands out here is the legal advice provided by a legal expert or a lawyer.
Legal drafting in India is generally carried out by qualified lawyers or legal professionals who have received training in the field. To practice as a lawyer in India, an individual must have a law degree and be registered with the Bar Council of India. There are a few do and don’ts for legal drafting. They are as follows.
DO’S
- For improving the quality of the draft, a group of words should be reduced to one.
- One simple word for a group should be formulated.
- Shorter sentences should be written
- Add periods
- Express the whole idea in few words
- Prefer active over passive
- Make verbs work
- Choose the correct word
- Know the motive behind writing
- Write from the reader’s point of view
- Outline (mental or written)
DONT’S
- Avoid moving around about constructions
- Avoid unnecessary repetitions
- Avoid using words containing similar sounds
- Avoid cumulative negative statements
- Avoid typing mistakes
FAQs on Legal Drafting
Here are some of the specific tasks that a lawyer may perform in legal drafting:
Why Vakilsearch?
We have a pool of highly qualified legal writers who drafts legal notices for many firms and businesses across the country. Vakilsearch’s in-house lawyers and legal experts will contact you during the entire process. Once the requirements have been clearly discussed, we will draft your legal notice in no time. The pricing of Vakilsearch’s services is very less compared to other legal firms in India. If you have any questions regarding the drafting process of legal notice, our customer support team will be happy to assist you.
Recent Updates
94% Says Research and Skill to be the Top Skills of a Lawyer
26th July: BML Munjal University School (BMU) conducted a survey on the skills and knowledge of law professionals. 94% respondents said the top skill that a lawyer needs is research and skill. The survey was done in collaboration with a legal search and consulting firm.
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