E53- Christopher Rathbone talks Plain Language in Legal English Writing (Interview)

In today’s episode I interview Christopher Rathbone, a Canadian attorney who has been living and working in Tokyo for many years. Chris works with the law firm City-Yuwa Partners in Tokyo and is a Law professor at Temple University Japan Law School where he teaches a range of subjects including Legal Writing Skills with a particular focus on plain language. He also speaks on topics such as the use of plain English and the legal profession. Today our interview will focus on using plain English in legal writing. We talk about:

● What ‘plain English’ is;
● Why Chris is an advocate of plain English;
● Ways to improve your legal writing;
● Useful resources to use as a Legal English teacher or student.

Two books which are helpful for Legal English teachers and students which Chris mentions are: