Professional writers aim to avoid plagiarism, but in legal writing this aim varies somewhat with the document.

For legal documents (eg acts, contracts, agreements), originality is not valued. In many cases, the text that has been used before has proven effective, and a rewrite of the text could create problems that did not exist in the previous version.

As a result, many texts for legal documents are based on ‘boilerplate’ text and templates. Lawyers generally use the standard text and templates available within their organisation or in the public domain, and simply decide where changes are required to suit the client and situation.

For legal analysis and academic writing, the standards for plagiarism are as stringent as they are in other academic fields – the use of both others’ words and ideas must be properly cited. Indeed, legal writing relies on proper attributions not only for ethical reasons but also to give weight to an argument, as the concept of ‘precedent’ is critical in legal analysis. (See Citing other work for more information on the importance and method of citing others’ work.)

The Australian guide to legal citation gives advice about how to cite sources in legal writing, including specific cases (eg how to refer to judges, how to indicate dissenting opinions).