legalese

Why do lawyers write things so hard to understand?

Parce que la procédure n'est pas chose courante.

Hundreds of years ago in England local/custom law was how things went; the king tried to make himself the head of the legal system, but the lawyers said that law was a specialized trade best left to professionals who knew and understood terms of art, blah blah blah. So, now common law is dressed up in jargony clothing.

How else are they going to justify their salaries?

Because precision is important in legal matters.

Many professions write in a specialized jargon specific to their field, and the last guest has hit the nail on the head as to why -- because those terms are very specific ones that pinpoint a meaning exactly, with little room for alternate interpretations that might be confusing.