Rewriting a Legal Document: A False Solution?

In my line of work, I’m regularly called upon to review legal or HR documents that have become difficult to use on a day-to-day basis. The issues are usually the same: documents that are too long, too technical, misunderstood, or simply ignored by staff. The most common response is to have them rewritten. 

This approach is understandable. When a document poses a problem, it’s natural to try to address its content. However, in most cases, rewriting alone does not resolve the underlying issues. 

When Rewriting a Legal Document Addresses the Symptom Rather Than the Cause 

A document never exists in a vacuum. It is part of an ecosystem that includes existing processes, shared responsibilities, regulatory constraints, and informal practices developed over time by teams. 

When you rewrite a document without taking this ecosystem into account, you run the risk of producing a text that is legally sound but still just as difficult to use.  

Misunderstandings persist, questions keep coming up, and the teams continue to rely on their own interpretations. 

The lack of alignment among stakeholders 

One of the main challenges we’ve observed involves ensuring alignment among the teams involved.  

Legal, HR, operations, communications: each has its own priorities, obligations, and concerns. When a document is rewritten without a structured forum for discussion, it often becomes the result of a series of compromises rather than a truly functional tool. 

In these contexts, simplification is seen as a risk. Details are added as a safeguard, without always considering the impact on the document’s readability and usability. 

Unnamed gray areas 

Legal and administrative documents are often used to provide a framework for complex situations. However, rather than explicitly acknowledging the gray areas where human judgment is necessary, there is sometimes an attempt to spell out every possible scenario in writing. 

This approach makes documents more cumbersome without actually helping teams make better decisions. On the ground, the situation remains unclear. It is now buried under layers of abstract language. 

The absence of end users in the process 

Another key factor is the absence of end users during the design or review of documents. The people who must apply the rules on a daily basis (managers, HR advisors, employees) are rarely involved in the early stages. 

They don't see the document until it's finalized, by which time it's too late to adjust its structure, logic, or reference points. As a result, actual usage quickly diverges from the original intent. 

Before rewriting a legal document

Before starting any rewrite, there are certain questions the team should ask:  

• When is this document used?  

• What decisions should he support?  

• Where do the current misunderstandings lie?  

• What falls within a clear framework, and what requires contextual judgment? 

Taking this time up front—as in a design workshop—helps turn the rewriting process into a coherent step, grounded in the teams’ reality, rather than an isolated attempt at correction. 

Simplifying a document isn't just about streamlining its content.  

The first step is to clarify its function, its purpose, and its role within the organization. 

In conclusion: Plan some time off together 😊 

In practice, what we’ve found is that rewriting is most effective when it is preceded by a collective pause—a moment when stakeholders can clarify the real sources of friction, identify gray areas, and agree on the document’s intended purpose, beyond mere compliance. 

That is precisely what the workshops we facilitate at En Clair enable. By bringing together legal, HR, and operational teams—and, when relevant, end users—for a short period of time, we create a structured space to understand the problem before addressing it.  

Through exercises in clarification, mapping, and prototyping, teams leave with a shared vision and a solid foundation for simplifying their documents and processes in a sustainable way. 

Rewriting is then no longer a gamble. It becomes the logical outcome of a collective effort firmly rooted in the reality of the organization. 

Discover our design workshops practical and customized to simplify as a team your legal and administrative documents and processes!