The article covers the study of the peculiarities of the interaction of the language and the law, based on the need to comply with the requirement for the clarity of the text of regulatory legal acts as one of the main rules of legal technique. The main features of the language of law in various periods of historical development are highlighted. It was established that in the pre-revolutionary period the language of law was characterized by professionalism and a high level of culture, but due to this, it was inaccessible to understanding by ordinary citizens. The Soviet period was marked by the slogan-like nature of the legal language, but at the same time by its brevity and thoroughness, as well as the functionality of the preamble as an element of a normative legal act. In addition, during this period, legal technique was actively studied as an independent branch of legal science, despite existing opinions that it is alien to the proletariat. The current stage of development of language and law is called recessionary. There is a significant increase in the number of regulatory legal acts designed to solve new problems, but which in fact complicate legal regulation due to contradictions with previously adopted acts and complex language structures. Among the noted positive aspects of the modern period is defense of the Russian language as a state-forming factor against excessive borrowing of foreign terms is. It is concluded that in each considered period of the development of the law and the language, positive and negative aspects can be identified, since the language of law reflects the characteristics of the socio-political situation. In accordance with the cyclical pattern of historical development, after a crisis there is always a rise, which needs to take into account the positive experience of those periods of development.