The use of legalese - highly specialized terminology in legal documents - can make something straightforward seem incredibly complex and abstruse. Lawyers insert this “jargon” in their legal documents, and some even pepper their advice with Latin phrases or other technical terms, much to the chagrin of their audience. Although it may seem like just another professional pretension (akin to those acronyms bankers love to use), the truth is there are important legal principles embedded in Latin phrases, which is why they have stood the test of time since their origins in ancient Rome’s legal system.