“I do not know any of these expressions… I have never heard that word…before, never. Not before this very minute” – Justice Kirby in Joslyn v Berryman S122/2002 [2002] HCATrans 573.
Justice Kirby’s quips in the High Court of Australia capture a growing tension within modern legal practice: the widening gap between traditional legal language and the rapidly evolving vernacular of contemporary society. Law has always been a discipline of words, demanding precision, clarity, and persuasion. Yet as the profession becomes increasingly multi‑generational, those words are no longer shared on equal terms. From the formal, text-heavy idioms preferred by Baby Boomers and Generation X to the digitally influenced, shorthand expressions of Millennials and Gen Z – where phrases like “no cap” or “ghosting” carry nuanced meaning – legal practice has become a site of linguistic convergence and, at times, collision. In this environment, communication for lawyers is no longer simply about mastering “legalese”, but about navigating a layered, generational dialect where misunderstanding can quietly erode professional relationships, client confidence, and even the administration of justice itself.
The challenge, however, is matched by opportunity. Generational diversity need not fracture the profession; rather, it can enrich it. When senior practitioners contribute depth of experience and rhetorical discipline, and younger lawyers bring adaptability, technological fluency, and evolving forms of expression, the law is better positioned to reflect the society it serves. The task for modern practitioners is not to abandon tradition nor to uncritically embrace linguistic trends, but to cultivate cross‑generational fluency – to understand, translate, adapt, and communicate with intentional clarity. By prioritising plain language, fostering mutual awareness, and engaging in intergenerational mentoring and learning, the profession can transform divergence into dialogue. In doing so, lawyers ensure that the language of the law remains not only authoritative and formalised, but also accessible, responsive, and ultimately, understood.
In their article “Speaking Each Other’s Language,” Georgia Coen and Shelby Bennett – presented to audiences at the Australian Lawyers Alliance Queensland and the Queensland Law Society Symposium – offer a timely and insightful examination of communication in an increasingly multi‑generational legal profession. Georgia and Shelby argue that legal practice, and the language through which it speaks and is spoken about, should remain not only rigorous and precise, but also it should also respond to the evolving and multi-generational society it serves and is lived through.
Read the full article here
See the full presentation here
