Manchester lawyers say it like it is
A straight-talking Manchester law firm has scrapped legal jargon in favour of a plain English approach.
“Anyone who has bought a house or sought damages after being injured through negligence will know that legal documents can be complex and wordy – and that doesn’t really help anyone,” said Andrew Kwan, head of litigation at Clear Law Solicitors in Old Trafford.
Clear Law Solicitors has broken the mould and adapted the Law Society’s standard Conditional Fee Agreement (or “no-win no-fee”) document, and is working on translating other legal documents too.
Andrew said: “We found that clients couldn’t understand what the documents they were signing were for, or they misunderstood them, and our staff were spending a lot of time taking them through it. We were happy to do that, but we’ve found that clients are much more comfortable with the process now they understand what is in black and white themselves.
“Just making our client documents a little more modern, more human, and less stiff and bureaucratic has made all the difference”.
Clear Law is accredited by national not-for-profit campaign group, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, which works for legal redress and fairness in the system for injured people.
“Taking legal action, no matter what the reason, can be daunting and the client can already feel quite vulnerable. We want to do anything we can to make the experience easier for them,” added Andrew.
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Notes to editors:
- Clear Law worked on the Conditional Fee Agreement document with John Dwyer at The Word Centre.
- Clear Law Solicitors is based at Paragon House, 48 Seymour Grove, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0LN.
- Visit the Clear Law website here: www.clearlawonline.co.uk.
To speak to Andrew Kwan, please contact Jane Hartwell at the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) on 0115 943 54156 or email jane.hartwell@apil.org.uk.
