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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   28012 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 27, 2024

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That is in fact, how laws have to be written - very specifically. I don't doubt that if it wasn't, you'd complain it was too vague - everyday language often is!

I'm not sure the definition of Business Record is very specific or useful since it seems to qualify nearly any piece of data in any equipment or file held by the business.

Based on this definition even messages on Slack or Teams between employees joking about how their manager looks could be argued to qualify as a business record.

I don't think jokes about the managers appearance on Slack would be kept or maintained for the purpose of evidencing the company's condition or activity.

Having said that, yes, many legal definitions are intentionally very broad.

I’m not sure the definition of Business Record is very specific or useful since it seems to qualify nearly any piece of data in any equipment or file held by the business.

That was probably the intent - which in turn makes the definition very useful, to the relevant government authorities.

Yes, that's the idea every document someone working for a business creates is probably a business record.

We're on the Scott subreddit.

It's possible to be clear with plain language. Scott is.

Legalese (and its academic cousin) are more often than not just bad writing. They are optimized for sounding professional, not for clarity. Anyone who interacts with the tax code has experienced this. But this isn't surprising. By necessity, the law is written and executed by people who are simply not that intelligent.

And yet, instructions to an even less intelligent jury should be clear. These were not.

Not disagreeing, just curious. How would you have written that definition to make it easier to understand and also cover all the bases?

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