In this episode we are talking about two things:

1) MIT study talking about "legalese", the legal jargon

2) Swetlana AI's book "ChatGPT for Legal Briefs" (which is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DM2PCWSF)

We're looking at the etymological origins of various legal terms, tracing their development from Latin and Anglo-French roots. A second source discusses an MIT study suggesting that the complex sentence structures in legal writing, or "legalese," function to convey authority.

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Though both lawyers and the general public find legalese to be complicated and unwieldy, legal documents continue to be written in this convoluted style.

This is likely because the style of legal writing, much like “magic spells,” uses its unique format to convey a sense of authority.

In a 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MIT cognitive scientists found that even people without legal training, when asked to write laws, used the complex, center-embedded clauses characteristic of legalese.

They did not, however, use that style when asked to write stories about the same topics. This research, along with other studies analyzing the grammatical structures of legal documents, suggests that the persistence of legalese is likely due to its ability to convey a sense of authority and legitimacy, rather than the practical need to insert additional clauses into existing sentences.

#AIforlawyers

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What do you think?

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Main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@swetlanaAI

Music channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Swetlana-AI-Music

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