English words combined with others in long-winded sentences, or varied or with permutations, with the initial design of legal or drafting precision but which otherwise add unnecessary complexity and inadvertently resulting in confusion (which, in classic legalese, we'd call "overparticularity").
UNB law professor A. La Forest takes full credit for this one but which, as a "curtesy", I will hyperlink:
"If the wife had a life estate and a reversion in fee following a contingent remainder, there was an estate by the curtesy in the reversion if the remainder did not take effect, because the life estate and reversion were united in her, but there was no curtesy in the reversion if the remainder took effect."
Or this 266-word sentence text from section 17 of British Columbia's Law & Equity Act:
"Where an action is brought on a bond for payment of the money secured by a mortgage or performance of its covenants or where an action of ejectment is brought by a mortgagee or his or her heirs, personal representatives or assigns for the recovery of the possession of mortgaged land, and no suit is pending concerning the foreclosing or redeeming of the mortgaged land, if the person who has the right to redeem the mortgaged land appears and becomes a defendant in the action and at any time, pending the action, pays to the mortgagee or, in the case of the mortgagee's refusal, brings into court where the action is pending all the principal money and interest due on the mortgage, and all costs spent in any proceeding on the mortgage, the money for principal, interest and costs to be calculated by the court, the money so paid to the mortgagee or brought into court is in full satisfaction and discharge of the mortgage, and the court must and may discharge the mortgagor or defendant from the mortgage accordingly and must and may, by the rules of the court, compel the mortgagee, at the expense of the mortgagor, to assign, surrender or reconvey the mortgaged land and the estate and interest that the mortgagee has in it, and deliver up all deeds, evidences and writings in the mortgagee's custody relating to the title of the mortgaged land to the mortgagor who has paid or brought the money into the court, the mortgagor's heirs, personal representatives or to the person the mortgagor appoints for that purpose."
Another venue for outstanding legalese is the English language version of Quebec's Civil Code, a must-read for all legalese fans.
Some words are "just plain wrong" and should not be used. These include aforementioned, heretofore, thenceforth, therewith, and wilst.
Legalese can also occur by the use of a archaic jargon instead of a simple or "plain language" term.
| Legalese |
Plain Language |
| commence |
start; begin |
| endeavour |
try |
| subsequent to |
after |
| and/or |
or |
| in case |
if |
| which |
that |
| whereas |
since (or) as |
| forthwith |
immediately |
| attains the age of |
become X years old |