RE: The cost of inaccurate technical documentation

["Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>]

The crucial missing information was the numerical citation of a statute.
Sounds pretty technical to me. And if the document had been written as
required, it would not have "allowed for interpretation."

Depending on its content, legal documentation can be a subset of
technical documentation -- just like chemical documentation, medical
documentation, traffic control documentation...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Posada 
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 2:08 PM
> To: Dan Goldstein; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: The cost of inaccurate technical documentation
> 
> > So that's just two errors, at an estimated cost of $50 to $87.5
> > million per error.
> 
> That's not technical documentation...it's legal documentation.
> Lawyers don't employ technical writers to write that type of
> documentation...they use paralegals and law clerks.
> 
> It's not the same thing. In fact, I'd say they couldn't be farther
> apart. Tech documents take difficult concepts and describe them
> simply. Legal documents intentionally allow for interpretation.
> 

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