Legalese Incantations
Of superstitious lawyers, and legalese as hard-wrung incantations.
... ...legalese is a collection of superstitious incantations built up over millennia, which lawyers use because "you need to say it exactly like this or you'll face bad consequences." Except sometimes the superstitions are right.
I also think lawyers don't find it worth optimising the language much, because the target audience is other lawyers who know all the incantations anyway.
Many lawyers fear being unable to fall back to some authority when pressed by a judge - which, if you think about it, is not unlike being scared that a spell might fail and backfire.
Thus I have personally witnessed lawyers relying on precedent slavishly; despite what the actual laws/rules permit, and even when those laws have changed.
In reality, most precedents and forms are quite permissive. They encourage compliance, and rarely prohibit deviation. Thus the use of phrases like:
"...applicable with such variations as the circumstances of the particular case require."
So when lawyers insist on literal legalese? It does seem akin to a superstitious kind of fear.