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Now that’s all perfectly clear (thanks to the Ministry of Defence for those contract clauses), let us turn to the subject of plain legal language.

Clarity, ‘a bunch of lawyers who care about plain language in the law’, as coordinator Daphne Perry of Denton Wilde Sapte puts it so clearly, is to hold its next London meeting on 14 May. The topical subject is unfair contract terms legislation: Tamara Goriely of the Law Commission will speak on the commission’s proposals to amend the law.

The outcome could be a big boost for plain language, Clarity says. ‘What if it were to apply to business-to-business transactions, so that an unintelligible commercial contract would be unenforceable?’ This would represent a pretty big cultural shift, if the group’s last meeting was anything to go by. Apparently barriers to plain language include fear and laziness – with textbooks, legislation and judgments setting a poor example. Another complication is that clients may not always want plain language: ‘this is no good – the customers will understand it’.

Anyone interested in learning more is invited to come along to the next coffee shop breakfast meeting – but get there early. ‘We had such a good turnout that Starbucks have asked us to move to a bigger branch,’ says Parry. It’ll be at 32 Fleet Street, near Chancery Lane. Details at www.clarity-international.net.