Christopher Balmford, LLB, is a former lawyer and the founder and CEO of two leading plain language organisations in Australia — Words and Beyond and Cleardocs.
Words and Beyond provides plain language training and document writing, rewriting, and editing services, and helps implement communication cultural change programmes.
Words and Beyond was launched in Australia in 1999. Its clients include the Australian Stock Exchange, eight of Australia’s top 10 national law firms, many listed companies, various government bodies including the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, the European Central Bank, and the UN’s International Labour Organization.
Cleardocs is a revolutionary document production website that delivers automated standard legal documents online. The documents are all in plain English and offer significant time and cost benefits.
The Cleardocs system is used by more than 5000 professional accountants, lawyers, financial planners, and others. The company is also a preferred supplier to many large networks of professional firms, including the largest Australian-based network of accountants.
In 2007 Christopher became President of Clarity — an international association promoting plain legal language (www.clarity-international.net).