New tax law revises "notoriously vague" notices to require math and clerical error notices use plain language to identify the type of error and taxpayer chance to challenge. Tax at NatLawReview National Law Review article by Greenberg Traurig LLP lawyers natlawreview.com/article/irs-ma…

Advice on how Australian professionals can comply with new anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing obligations includes: "Develop comprehensive plain-language guides and FAQs to enhance clarity and facilitate efficient compliance." hnlaw.com.au/fact-sheet-aml…

Canadian Coalition for Good Governance updated Executive and Director Compensation Guidebook recommends using "plain language and reader-friendly analysis to explain performance metrics, targets, rationale and outcomes." Mondaq post by Torys LLP lawyers mondaq.com/canada/employe…

Valeria Hernández García and María Luisa Rodríguez Muñoz of Universidad Córdoba published a plain language analysis of Airbnb's terms of service. rua.ua.es/server/api/cor…

New research on the history of & laws requiring plain language in Brazil's government concludes PL makes the state legitimate and aids efficiency, democracy, & citizenship but faces major compliance barriers. researchgate.net/publication/39…

New book on legislative language contains a chapter on Brazilian laws that require the government to use plain language. taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/…

New study measures readability of South Africa VAT Act using readability tests, and then experiments with generative AI to rewrite tax materials. Authored by professors from University of Johannesburg and University of Canterbury journalofaustraliantax.com.au/Articles_Free/…

Lovely dissertation on the role of plain language in the South African legal system. Plain language "cannot be ignored in the significant role of the judiciary in driving inclusivity and equal opportunity before the law." UCT open.uct.ac.za/server/api/cor…

New research on the "lexical complexity" of United States laws. The research provides clever insights into how to measure how understandable statutes are. The research concludes United States federal law are hard to understand. Research by BYU professors utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/ij…

Legalese is hard to define. New research takes us one step closer by identifying common "phraseological units in legal terminology." By Corina Dobrota of Universitatea „Dunărea de Jos” din Galați . e-episteme.org/upload/pdf/cac…

An excerpt from a timely book on Blockchain technology, Smart Contracts, and legal design. By professors at University of Copenhagan, Kyushu University, & University of Vaasa. Published by Springer Nature osuva.uwasa.fi/server/api/cor…

Pakistan & Plain Language: New survey research suggests the Pakistan legal community supports integrating plain language into its laws and judicial opinions. By Dr. Iram Rubab, PhD. of University of Sialkot jalt.com.pk/index.php/jalt…

Interesting article about legal Latin terms that persist in their use. "Latin as Gatekeeping: 100 Common Latin Legal Phrases That Obscure Meaning, Undermine Claims, and Exclude Lay Litigants" by TU Dublin / OT Baile Átha Cliath Dr Cora M Stack researchgate.net/publication/39…

Contracts can be understandable. Merging legal design and plain language, Vidhi Centre For Legal Policy's private instruments drafting manual offers concrete steps to crafting understandable contracts. vidhilegalpolicy.in/research/the-s…

New 2026 statistics on U.S. Plain Language Laws. In one year the U.S. added 163 more plain language laws. This 15% increase brings the total to 1,252 plain language laws. law-store.wolterskluwer.com/s/product/us-p…

New 2026 U.S. plain language laws research: shows 34% of plain language laws cover public documents produced by the government while 66% cover private documents. Over the last several years, more laws have focused on improving the understandability of government documents.

The newest 2026 data on U.S. plain language laws shows a whopping 87% of those laws use a descriptive standard. But more research is needed to determine if this standard is more effective. law-store.wolterskluwer.com/s/product/us-p…

Preprint of a plain language analysis of standard construction contracts. "The findings support the proposition that plain-language drafting should be understood as a substantive element of contract design rather than a cosmetic exercise." researchgate.net/publication/40…

India's new Digital Personal Data Protection Act rules adopt the Vidhi Centre For Legal Policy's SARAL principles: "Simple, Accessible, Rational and Actionable" so that "businesses must now treat privacy as a design principle, not a compliance afterthought." ciol.com/governance/how…

UK Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation wants suspected trade sanctions breach reports to use plain language. "Keep things simple and clear. Use plain English. Tell us what you know. We would rather get a short report than nothing at all. " otsi.blog.gov.uk/2025/12/16/wha…