The Use of Plain-Language Principles in Texas Litigation Formbooks

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I. OVERVIEW

The tools of the litigation attorney's craft are documents. A trial begins with pleadings, evolves through motions, is limited by discovery, is decided upon the basis of a jury charge, and

is ultimately defined by a court order. The common thread is writing. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as the procedural rules of most states, provide that the lawsuit begins with a "short and plain statement" of the facts.1 Other evidentiary and procedural rules guard against "confusion."2 Yet a survey of most legal documents reveals archaic language, run-on sentences, and outdated writing concepts. This so-called "traditional" legal writing is under attack. The plain-language movement is trying to reform legal writing. New attorneys find themselves at the center of a dispute among doctrinal and legal-writing academics, law-school-writing-program directors, experienced litigators, and judges over what is appropriate legal writing. The new attorney ostensibly finds the answer in a formbook. The authors of the formbooks appear to be authoritative. For example, William Dorsaneo's Litigation Guide3 may be the bestselling legal supplement in Texas. Practicing attorneys rely on the Litigation Guide and other formbooks to craft documents-but are these formbooks well written? This Note investigates whether formbooks embrace the plain-language movement; if they do not, the Note argues that the plain-language movement is destined to fail.