VERBAL AND WRITTEN

COMMUNICATION
SKILLS

INTRODUCTION

Language is the primary tool in

both academic and real-life
spheres of the legal field.

INTRODUCTION

The ability to communicate

information about the law to
clients, fellow students, lawyers
and judges is a central
component of the day to day
work of lawyers and law
students.

INTRODUCTION

Hence, it is imperative that all

soon-to-be lawyers possess
outstanding written and verbal
communication skills.

ASPECTS :

LEGAL WRITING

Legal writing is the kind of

writing used by lawyers, law
professors, judges, and other
workers in the field of law to
express legal rights, obligation
and opinions.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is the art and

process of creating and sharing
ideas. Effective communication
depends on the richness of those
ideas.

COMMUNICATION

It involves the flow of

knowledge, information and
opinion from one person to
another. Communication enables
man to understand and be
understood in order to reach his
goals.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

The term communication process

refers to the exchange of
information or message between
two or more people. And
effective communication is
achieved when the senders
message is fully understood by
the receiver.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Source

The source is also referred to as

the sender. As the source of
information or message, the
sender must be clear about the
message he wishes to convey
and the reason of the
communication.

Message

The message is the information

that the sender desires to
communicate.

Encoding

Encoding is the process of

properly configuring the
message to be ready for sharing
with the receiver or audience.

Channel

The channel refers to the

technique or methods employed
to convey the message.

Decoding

Decoding refers to how the

message is received by the
receiver.

Receiver

The receiver is the desired

recipient of the message.

Feedback

Feedback allows the source to

verify whether his message and
desired outcome has effectively
reached the receiver by
observing the audience and even
receiving clarifying questions
from the receiver.

Context

The context is the situation or

scenario where communication
takes place.

KINDS OF
COMMUNICATION

I. Written
Communication
The advent of information
technology and recent
developments in communication
technology such as the World
Wide Web has greatly
transformed how
communication is conducted
between individuals.

I. Written
Communication
Electronic mails and text
messages are among the most
used mode of written
communication.

a. Simplicity
Simplicity in writing means to
write plainly and simply. The
rules on economy of expression
must be observed.

b. Use Short Sentences

As can be observed from

pleadings and decisions of the
courts, lawyers generally write
in lengthy sentences.

c. Avoid Wordy Expressions

Simpler construction is
preferred than using too many
words to express and idea.
Example:
Wordy: The cars were brought for
the purpose of starting a taxi
business.
Concise: The cars were brought to
start a taxi business.

d. Avoid elaborating the

obvious
Example:
Wordy: A baby girl was born to
Spouses Reyes.
Concise: A girl was born to
Spouses Reyes.

e. Get to the point

Unnecessary introduction and
preliminaries must be avoided.
Example :
Wordy: We are very proud and
happy to announce that our
office won the basketball
championship this year.
Concise: Our office won this years
basketball championship.

f. Eliminate certain phrases

Wordy sentences may be made
shorter by removing certain
phrases or words.
Example :
Wordy: There were eight members
of the faculty who attended the
meeting.
Concise: Eight members of the
faculty attended the meeting.

II. Verbal communication

Verbal or oral communication is

also known as speaking. It is an
important kind of communication
in the legal profession.

Pat Croces 5 Cs of
Communication
Clear
Consistent
Concise
Credible
Courteous

IMPORTANCE OF
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS

a. Clarity

Communication skills in both

verbal and written
communication ensures that the
writer or speaker is able to
express exactly and
unambiguously what he wants to
be reflected on his work.

b. Credibility

Developing effective
communication skills redounds
to credibility.

c. Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the objective

analysis and evaluation of an
issue in order to form a wellinformed judgment.

d. Persuasion

Persuasion is a process where

people are guided towards the
adoption of an idea or course of
action.

e. Productivity and Career Advancement

In the world of employment,

communication skills are
considered by employers as
important for employees to
enable them to communicate and
listen accurately, show
credibility, and ability to
organize ideas in orderly
manner.

Communication skills are

therefore fundamental to career
success and productivity. There
is a direct influence of
communication skills to career
advancement. The latter will be
more probable as the
communication skill of an
individual increases.

THANK YO
U !!!!!