• How to write contracts that actually work

    For a long time, users of legal services have been getting the short end of the stick, from incomprehensible contracts and confusing court procedures to the way law firms bill for their...

  • Drafting policies that are read

    Are your lawyers still not writing in plain language?

    Nearly a decade into having some of the best plain language legislation in the world, why are we not seeing more comprehensible contracts? Why aren't we seeing more of an effort from companies...

  • Dinosaur in a shirt

    What we’re up to: Plain Language Policies

    Over the last few months we’ve increasingly been working on redrafting all different types of policies for various different clients. From HR policies to information governance policies. It may seem like a tedious...

  • Guide dog

    Plain language privacy notices: Win your customers' trust

    Using plain language when you talk about privacy and personal information is key if you want to win your customers' trust. We have written about the POPIA requirement that a business must have...

  • Lost cat poster

    Better forms build better relationships and better data

    Good form design can change everything! Many consumer contracts reach consumers as part of an application form. While most attorneys will not consider the form as part of the contract, it often is....

  • Clarity and risk mitigation

    Can plain language mitigate risk?

    We’re often asked whether a plain language contract will hold up in court. Whether we’re absolutely certain that, if a consumer is so dissatisfied with a product or service that he or she...

  • Exclusions of liability: Don't make it worse than it has to be!

    Oh, the scourge of the fine print! How we wish we could get rid of it. But sometimes (not all that often), there are very real risks facing a business which, should they...

  • The importance of punctuation…

  • Standard Bank v Dlamini: A plain language coup in the Durban High Court

    The Durban High Court recently used plain language to provide an out to a consumer who concluded an agreement with Standard Bank. Whether one agrees with the judgment or not, this case is...

  • Explaining the grey listed terms in the Consumer Protection Act (regulation 44)

    Regulation 44 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 contains a list of terms which are presumed to be unfair. A supplier is allowed to insert these terms. However, where the supplier...

  • In search of plain language

    Few of the provisions of the CPA have been more perplexing to attorneys than section 22, which deals with the plain language standard. Perhaps this is because, ironically, the section which explains what plain...