Drop the ‘Dear Sirs’ for International Women’s Day!
By Emma Nash of Rayden Solicitors
Whenever I get a letter addressed to ‘Dear Sirs’ my heart sinks. How have we come so far in establishing women in the workforce just to send out such a blatant and personal reminder that this was not always the case.
It is not just an outdated and almost always incorrect way to start correspondence but it creates other problems.
It shows that the writer has not given much thought as to who their intended recipient is. Such inattention could run through the rest of the letter and lead to inappropriate content and language.
It also creates a barrier for the writer to hide behind. It is easier to write a more aggressive letter when it is not actually going to or from a specific person. This can be a particular problem in family law where aggressive solicitor correspondence can increase parental conflict. We know that parental conflict causes harm to children as evidenced by DWP research into Reducing Parental Conflict Reducing Parental Conflict: the impact on children - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Such aggressive correspondence should have no place in cases where professionals should be working together to help resolve matters for their clients and their families.
The Language Matters report, commissioned by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew MacFarlane recommends 5 core principles for language change to shift the mindset from the language of conflict to that of wellbeing, safety and child welfare. These are:
Plain English – avoid legal jargon and use words which can be easily understood ;
Personal – use family names rather than legal labels;
Proportionate – use language which is proportionate to the family issues being considered;
Problem-Solving – use constructive problem-solving language rather than battle language; and
Positive Futures – the emphasis is not on past recriminations but on building positive futures.
More details on these principles can be found in the Language Matters report available her eLanguage Matters - Family Solutions Group
So if you do one thing this International Women’s Day, resolve to acknowledge the presence of women in the workforce around the world by ditching the use of ‘Dear Sirs’, giving some thought as to who you are writing to and consider the 5 Ps and keep it personal. Happy International Women’s Day!
