Using jargon can alienate outsiders, including judges. But is there ever a good reason to use it?

Parties frequently use terms incorrectly, and that leads to miscommunication.

The bottom line is that “coequal” means “equal.”

Advocates frequently confuse “implicit” and “explicit” in writing and particularly in oral argument.

You may be called on to write an obituary on behalf of your firm. Consider what the decedent would want people to know.

To avoid putting the proverbial keyboard in your mouth, do not use words or phrases until you are 100 percent certain of the meaning.

No, we don't mean your words go into the garbage. A tipsy vocabulary may enrich your communications. In the right case, soused language can be spot-on.

Stay away from shortcut, cutesy or slang expressions about hot-button issues such as racism, sexual harassment or the Holocaust.

Words with the suffix “–nym” pop up regularly. Some are common, but many of the 46 words with this suffix are not. “Nym” derives from the Greek word for “name” or “word.” Don’t include obscure –nym words just to show off; that just confuses ...

Now lawyers use every term they can think of because some court somewhere once said the language in the contract didn’t cover the dispute. Sometimes that’s a good reason, but often it is not. Rather than a considered approach, most lawyers start ...