An MIT study on “legalese” suggests this convoluted language acts to convey a sense of authority in legal documents. The researchers also found that even non-lawyers use legalese when asked to write laws.
  • dan1101@lemmy.worldEnglish
    42·
    1 month ago

    Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle, because a person with clear evidence they did not do what they are accused of should not need a lawyer to be allowed to present that evidence in court to defend themselves.

    • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      1 month ago

      There’s still a LOT of stuff that goes on in the background. If you’re talking about basic traffic court, you never need a lawyer for that.

      You generally do for criminal court, and there is nothing simple about criminal cases, even if you think they are on the surface. In fact, that’s kind of the point. You think you know more than you do, and you end up screwing up the process and causing more problems.