Lawyers have been told to stop using “Dear Sirs” in correspondence because it is now seen as “inappropriate” in a diverse society.

New guidance to solicitors from the Law Society said that the use of “Dear Sirs” – a standard greeting in legal correspondence for hundreds of years – dates back to a time when the legal profession was predominantly male.

It said it was no longer “accurate, representative or appropriate” as it excluded thousands of women and other gender identities including non-binary people working in law.

The Law Society guidance suggested that there was a variety of gender-neutral ways of addressing lawyers in another firm such as “Dear team”, “To whom it may concern”, “Good morning” or “Good afternoon”.

“If you know the person’s name,” advised the Law Society, “always use it. If not, keep it simple and neutral rather than overly formal.”

English and Welsh judges as well as some local councils, educational institutions and commercial organisations have made similar moves to discourage the use of “sir” and “madam” on the basis that alternatives promote gender neutrality and reduce colonial-era formality.

The Law Society changes follow campaigns within the legal profession such as that by Megan Gray who in 2016 persuaded Freshfields to stop using Dear Sirs. It was the first Magic Circle firm to do so and was followed by Clifford Chance and US law firm Quinn Emanuel.

Ms Gray was working on a transaction when she changed the wording on a document to be gender neutral only for it to be returned by the law firm on the other side with the salutation changed to “Dear Sirs”.

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The client “couldn’t understand, especially considering the women involved in this transaction, how that would be acceptable”, she said.

In its guidance, the Law Society said: “The historical use of ‘Dear Sirs’ as a standard greeting in legal correspondence originates from a time when the profession was predominantly male. This gendered greeting perpetuates the assumption that the recipients of correspondence are, by default, men.

“This is no longer accurate, representative or appropriate in today’s diverse society, where we want to account for and represent the broad scope of recipients including women and individuals with other gender identities including non-binary.”

Joshua Rozenberg, the veteran legal commentator, recalled that at the start of his legal career a letter beginning Dear Sirs meant anyone could reply and had the “added advantage that you could be as aggressive and sarcastic as you liked without insulting the person dealing with the matter”.

The guidance acknowledged there was a place for a corporate approach in language, noting: “‘Dear Sirs’ is often paired with ‘Yours faithfully’ where you may not know the recipient’s name or are corresponding with a collective.”

But that was no excuse for bad habits, said the Law Society. “There are a range of gender-neutral greetings you could use to replace ‘Dear Sirs’ while still maintaining the respectful closing of ‘Yours faithfully’,” it added.

The full list of alternatives are Dear team, Dear [organisation], Dear colleagues, Dear [managing partner] or other role, Dear counsel, Dear [department name], Greetings, Good morning or Good afternoon or Dear all.

Mr Rozenberg observed in his blog: “I’m not persuaded that ‘To whom it may concern’ is particularly informal. Still, it’s better than the apocryphal dog-breeding typist who absent-mindedly began a letter ‘Dear Curs’.”

Source: The Telegraph