The classic advice-giving conundrum: you’re giving advice to a client/patient/customer who just wants the headlines and isn’t interested in the detail. But you have an obligation to give them full advice – perhaps a legal requirement or a professional obligation means that you have to be able to prove that you gave full advice. This …
Tag Archive: design
Permanent link to this article: http://wordsmadeclear.com/2012/02/29/if-your-client-doesnt-understand-your-advice/
Jan 13
Structuring a contract
I’ve been a lawyer for more than ten years, and contracts have been the bread and butter of much of my working life. I’ve written many, but as a specialist litigator I’ve argued and fought over even more. Seeing contracts fall apart because the parties can’t understand them or use them effectively is one of …
Permanent link to this article: http://wordsmadeclear.com/2012/01/13/structuring-a-contract/
Dec 19
A plain English credit card agreement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (a body which deals with consumer financial markets in the United States) has published a draft plain English credit card agreement. It is designed to fit comfortably on two pages: one page of terms, and one page of definitions. The layout is very easy on the eye, and it certainly …
Permanent link to this article: http://wordsmadeclear.com/2011/12/19/a-plain-english-credit-card-agreement/
Dec 01
Designing forms – whetting your appetite
Forms, questionnaires, surveys – almost every organisation produces these at one time or another, from the tax office to the PTA at your local school. Most of us groan at the thought of filling them out, so how do you design a form that: is easy for the user to fill out; and gets you …
Permanent link to this article: http://wordsmadeclear.com/2011/12/01/designing-forms-whetting-your-appetite/