The Last Word

Conspicuously Perspicuous

The Last Word Editor: Mark R. Parthemer, Glenmede, 222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite 1160, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.

This is my first The Last Word column, and I shall open with this peek behind the curtain. For more than a decade, we have benefitted from the tireless work of Marie Antoinette Moore, a highly respected real estate attorney based in New Orleans, who has consistently provided The Last Word columns for our education and professional growth.

I had intended to share a few of Marie’s accomplishments. She is, after all, a member of both the Louisiana and Alabama Bar Associations. She is a double ‘Bama graduate (RTR!), where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and an associate editor of the Alabama Law Review. She is a Fellow in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and has rightfully earned numerous professional awards and recognitions. However, when I mentioned that I might tout her accomplishments, Marie adamantly “suggested” — and I can assure you her suggestion was quite clear — that I not do so. Quoting Monty Python, she proclaimed herself “not dead yet,” nor, she continued, is she retiring. Thus, she concludes that honoring her work in this space is untimely. So, I won’t. Thus, having shared this backdrop, I consider myself in compliance with her request.

To mark this transition of column editors, we turn to the eminently quotable Winston Churchill, who said, “This is not the end; it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

The Last Word column typically focuses on word usage, grammar, and clear expression in writing. I will continue this theme and, as a frequent public speaker, include observations relevant to oral presentations as well. Though I do not claim to have Marie’s erudition, as a frequent contributor to, and reader of, Probate & Property magazine, I have become a passionate believer in the value this magazine provides to ABA RPTE members — and thereby to those to whom we are in service, our clients.

This brings us to the theme of this column: conspicuous perspicuity. Now, let’s not conflate perspicuous with perspicacious. The former entails clarity and lucidity, especially in expression; the latter entails acute, penetrating discernment. Both attributes are desirable for those who read this magazine (and, of course, many others), but in this issue, the focus is on clarity.

Clarity of expression can be captured in one word: perspicuity. It is better understood, however, when fully expressed as the unnamed quality of clearly written prose that includes a carefully defined purpose, logical organization, well-constructed sentences, and precise word choice. Perspicuity is relevant in every form of legal persuasion, including in court, contractual, and estate planning documents and in communications with clients and their teams of advisors. There is not, alas, a checklist for perspicuity. It may be best known as an analog to the famous observation by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who in his concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964), a case dealing with hard-core pornography, wrote, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.” Id. at 197. To paraphrase, clarity of expression also perhaps cannot be easily defined (at least, by me), but we all know it when we see (or read or hear) it.

A cornerstone of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Section of the ABA is to be a community, embracing relevant practitioners in their efforts to develop personally and professionally. It provides a network, collegiality, education, and resources that enable practitioners to become better, more effective client service professionals. Our Section is a nurturing ground as lawyers become counselors at law and evolve from those who simply know the law, to reliable advisors who can strategically apply the law as they guide clients based on each client’s particular set of circumstances.

When so advising clients, clarity of expression is critical. We need to be able to communicate with both professionals and laypersons. As my elementary school English teacher would say, “To understand others and be understood by all, know the big words but use the small.” Doing so embodies the conspicuous aspect of communication—it must be apparent and manifest. To accomplish a noticeable form of clarity, we must endeavor to be well-informed and intentional in placing our understanding in words, expressions, and examples that are readily understandable by our intended audiences.

Such efforts inherently include wordchoice precision—again, a conscious act. Its importance was captured by Mark Twain, who once said, “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Growing up as an estate tax planning lawyer, I once was told by a mentor that we are folks who give answers that clients cannot understand to questions they didn’t know they had. Our profession is replete with conversations chock full of what may sound gibberish to some clients, but we perform better service when expending the effort to communicate clearly and carefully. How we do so is by being conspicuously perspicuous.

Published in Probate & Property, Volume 37, No 1 © 2023 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.