Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at Lee@LeeSchroeder.com or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
Historically, meaningless words were added to legal documents to puff them up. It is now a cliché that attorneys prepare very long documents, even with all of the extra fluff removed. These days, legal documents are lengthy because short and simple contracts can leave clients unprotected and work against their interests.
Attorneys are sometimes teased because of the length of the documents the attorneys prepare.
The perception that legal documents include many unnecessary words is based on some historical truths. Centuries ago, most people could not read or write; they were illiterate. However, most of those illiterate people could count.
Read more about the value of long documents in Lee’s article in the Lima News, “Legal-Ease: Long documents a tradition that protects clients”
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Long documents a tradition that protects clients” by Lee R. Schroeder, December 31, 2016