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 time. But the tide is turning, and lawyers who want to stay afloat have to start putting [...]
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 and their lawyers to improve consumers’ access to information? We’ve worked with many different companies – from [...]
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 job, but we love it because it gives us the opportunity to correct those things that are [...]
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 a privacy notice* that explains what personal information the business collects and what it does with that [...]
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. After all, the form describes the product and price – the essential terms in a contract of [...]
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 takes the company to court, the company would be protected from risk by their plain language contract. [...]
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 materialise, could sink it. In comes the lawyer... Attorneys have a tendency to exclude liability for everything [...]
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 one of the most important decisions post-NCA and CPA for several reasons, not least of which is [...]
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 is providing goods or services to a consumer for purposes wholly or mainly unrelated to his or [...]
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 language is not written in plain language. Perhaps it is just because attorneys are not used to [...]