The Jargon Index

Why is Legalese so…so thick and hard to understand?

Unfortunately there is no one single answer to this question. The answer is rooted some where in the history of the law, language and civilizations long gone from the earth.

Instead of a long history lecture, we decided to try and have a little fun with what is an essential part of our legal system. With that in mind, Clear-Point Law created the Jargon Index, a system for signifying the density or difficulty of legal terms. Please understand this has no scientific value. We just wanted to have some fun while we built our dictionary. Here’s what we consider before assigning a score to a legal term:

• Does it use foreign terms, such as Latin?
• Do I first need to understand something about the legal process?
• Is it a common term that has an altered meaning in legalese?
• Do I need to know something about a school of philosophical thought?
• Is the term rooted in an ancient cultural belief or value?
• Does the term combine multiple bits of jargon?
• Can the term only be explained by using other legal jargon?

Here’s how the Jargon Index works.

No other website does what Clear-Point Law does. Our singular purpose is to help prepare you to make your first decision the right decision. That’s why our users trust us. We bring together valuable self-educational legal materials, links to numerous resources, and top legal talent from across the United States. All of our materials are prepared by legal professionals, but written in plain English.

Join the others who have put us to the test.

Based on a scale from 0 to 100, the jargon index gives users a measurement of difficulty at a glance. Here’s how we set it up:

• 0% - A term easily understood by most, it has none of the features that distinguish legal jargon – a rare breed.
• 25% - A term having one or two legal jargon features, it is easily understood. You can think of it as jargon-lite.
• 50% - A term with two or three legal jargon features, this usually requires a little work. Hit 50% and you’ve come across real legalese.
• 75% - A term with three or four legal jargon features, this is pretty thick stuff. 75%-terms send the best of us running for the legal dictionary.
• 100% - A term with four or more legal jargon features, these are the terms that many lawyers need to look up. Use this in normal conversation; people will give you looks of bewilderment.