Legal content

The sad truth about writing legal content …

…is that most clients are not as interested in the law as we are.

You might think you need to demonstrate your in-depth legal knowledge, otherwise clients won’t trust your expertise.

But your clients are probably not interested in what the law says.

They just need to know what they can do. Or how to solve the problem they’re facing.

Maybe you’ve already had that moment—where the major client sends back your beautiful 30-page advice and tells you they need the summary version. Their Board is never going to read that. They just need to know their options. 

Unfortunately that goes triple for website content, when you literally have seconds to get readers’ attention.

As simple as possible, but no simpler

The myth that plain language means ‘dumbing down’ has pretty well been debunked by now. But I still hear variations on the argument that we can’t use plain language because clients will think we’re patronizing them.

I believe that’s looking at it the wrong way around. Being clear is really about showing respect.

Yes, it’s complex. And yes, clients are smart people. Given enough time and effort they could work out what we mean.

But our readers are also busy. And they have many other priorities.

Einstein may or may not really have said that everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. But it’s still a great principle to keep in mind.

I’m not convinced it’s reasonable to ask clients to decipher technical terminology just so they can work with us.

It’s our job to show them we don’t just understand what the law says. We can explain in plain terms what it means for them.

What do clients really need to know?

When you’re immersed in a subject it’s hard to see it from the outside.

As an expert, you’re used to thinking in terms of concepts and frameworks. That’s the language that comes most naturally to you. But an outsider can just hear jargon—and feel excluded. Or think you’re talking down to them.

That’s where I come in.

I can offer a different perspective. Ask the questions clients might feel embarrassed to raise. Or check how this would apply in practice.

Often clarity is about finding the right structure. You’ve no doubt built up a huge amount of background knowledge that shapes your approach. But that’s probably not the order your clients will need the information.

It’s much better if we start by letting them know why they should care.

How is this relevant and what do they need to do now?

Then give them as much context as they need. And show them how to get more advice if they need that.

Optimise for trust not clicks

Someone once tried to tell me I shouldn’t use headings and make content skimmable. That wouldn’t work to keep the reader on the page as long as possible. So we should make them read right to the end to find the answers they need.

They also wanted to argue it didn’t matter if a headline completely distorted the meaning—as long as it got more clicks.

I strongly disagree.

That’s really not the way to gain trust. Or make any readers think your content is valuable. Definitely  not human readers who have limited time. Even LLM readers and AI search tools are looking for well-structured, clear and easily digestible content.

So let’s do what we can to make it easy for readers to get the information they need quickly.

That means:

• structuring content thoughtfully
• using meaningful headings
• emphasising important information
• explaining how it all fits together.

Where does SEO come into this?

I have studied SEO copywriting and yes, there are a some technical issues to keep in mind.

But my take is that the secret is to write real content that answers real questions and makes it easy for people to find what they need.  Turns out that’s what search engines and AI need to find your content too.

What do you need to explain?

I have written all types of legal information for other professionals. I’ve covered topics including

workplace and employment law workplace health and safety obligations bullying and harassment discrimination insolvency cybersecurity privacy and data protection discretionary trusts

wills and estates environmental law intellectual property commercial leasing healthcare regulation professional conduct prescribing and drug regulation corporate governance

I understand the fine art of making it practical and useful without losing the accuracy.

I’ve worked in government translating bureaucratic legalese into plain language. I’m confident I can help you shape your expert content into something your clients will appreciate and value.

How does collaborating with a writer work?

I’m very used to working with experts who are busy and in-demand. I can be flexible to fit in with your availability and preferred working style.

Have a look at my Work with me page for an example of my content writing process. It can vary a lot though, depending on the client and project.

The main thing to know is my aim is to help you share your expertise, and I’ll do everything I can to make that easy for you.