OAB course intends to avoid legalese – 06/14/2023 – Frederico Vasconcelos

The Brazilian Bar Association in São Paulo promotes an online course on the theme “Writing Law: Creative Writing for Advocacy”, aimed at lawyers and interns registered at the OAB, law graduates and professionals from other areas.

The aim is to simplify writing and avoid legalese. According to the promoters of the event, “the participant will learn how to organize information in a logical and cohesive way, as well as reduce the volume of pages”.

The course will be taught by Ivy Farias and Marcio Caparica. Ivy is a lawyer, writer and journalist. She graduated from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie and Faculdade de Comunicação Social Cásper Líbero.

Marcio Caparica is a specialist in Digital Communication, graduated from USP, and Master of Arts from the University of the Arts London (London College of Communication). For five years, he has been communications coordinator for law schools.

“I am radically against legalese. All power emanates from the people, according to the constitution. Legalese is anything but the people,” he says.

Ivy is the author of “Writing Law: A Creative Writing Guide for Legal Careers”. Published in 2020, it brings Simple Language techniques and addresses Inclusive Language for people with disabilities, indigenous peoples and LGBT.

According to the OAB, the proposal is to facilitate the act of writing in all legal spheres, as well as to bring good practices of inclusion and accessibility to the text in any form (sentences, grievances, petitions, opinion articles and social media posts).

Organized by ESA (Escola Superior de Advocacia da OAB-SP), the course aims to teach how to write in accordance with the Simple Language Law and with the “Project Petition 10, Sentence 10”, which proposes to limit petitions and sentences to ten pages. This project was conceived by Ecojus and by NIAJ – Nucleus of Innovation and Judicial Administration of the Superior School of Magistratura.

The six classes offer techniques used in countries such as the United States, Australia and Portugal, which made legal texts fluid and understandable in an accessible way, generating savings and money for the public coffers, as happened in Portugal at the National Bank of Injunctions.

“It’s becoming very common for legal professionals to ask ChatGPT to make a legal text ‘prettier'”, says Ivy. “We believe that fancy AI-generated text is actually counterproductive.”

The course is free, with the issuance of a certificate. It will be held online on the 15th (Thursday), 20th (Tuesday) and 22nd (Thursday) at 7 pm.

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