Reading I Listening I Writing and I Language

International

Legal English

A course for classroom or self-study use

AmyKrois-Lindner

and

nsLegal@

, {

:~~"'" CAMBRIDGE

~~, ' UNIVERSITY PRESS

" ), www.cambridge.org "

Introduction

~ / "h

f1a""

~!" ~

International Legal English (lLE) is an upper-intermediate to

advanced level course for learners who need to be able to use

English in the legal profession. The course is intended for law

students and practising lawyers alike. The book has been

written to prepare candidates for the new International Legal

English Certificate (ILEC) examination developed by Cambridge

ESOL and TransLegal, but it can also be used effectively in

legal English courses of all kinds. ILE is suitable for both selfstudy

and classroom use.

it

Since the vast majority of practising lawyers in the world deal

with commercial law, ILE focuses on the use of English for this

purpose. Within the field of commercial law, a number of

important topics (such as company law, contract law,

intellectual property, real property law, employment law and

sale of goods, to name a few) have been selected as the legal

sUbject matter of the units. Particular emphasis is placed on

the areas of company law and contracts - with three units

dedicated to each - as the majority of commercial lawyers

practise in these areas.

The authors of ILE are well aware that most students using the

book need to be able to provide advice regarding their own

legal system in English as opposed to mastering US or UK

legal concepts. Thus, while the legal concepts introduced in

this book are those found in the legal systems of the UK and

the USA, it also includes texts about legal matters in other

countries and legal systems. It is important to emphasise that

nearly all of the legal concepts covered are found in legal

systems and jurisdictions the world over. Since many of the

tasks encourage you to compare aspects of the law in your

own jurisdiction with those presented in the book, an

international perspective is fostered.

v'S.

It is important to bear in mind that ILE is intended to help law

students and lawyers learn English in a legal context and to

prepare for the ILEC exam. Therefore, ILE should only be used

for the purpose of learning legal English and should not be

relied upon for legal advice or assistance in the practice of law.

is

ILE consists of 15 units.

Unit 1 gives you an introduction to basic legal concepts in

English, with a focus on general aspects of the legal system as

well as specific matters connected with a career in the law.

Units 2-15 deal with a different area of commercial law.

Each unit begins with a reading text which provides you with an

overview of the topic area in question. These overview texts

introduce crucial legal concepts while presenting a variety of

relevant vocabulary in the topic area. The main concepts

covered in this text appear in bold, meaning that they appear in

J

the glossary at the back of the book. In the main bOdy of each

unit, there are various types of authentic text material of the

kind commonly encountered by practising lawyers in their work.

These texts, both written and spoken, are accompanied by a

wide range of tasks, all designed to build the core skills of

reading, writing, listening and speaking.

At the end of each unit, there is a link to an online task which

is intended to improve your online legal English research skills.

Each of the 15 tasks presents an authentic language problem

that a commercial lawyer may encounter while at work. You are

then shown a research strategy, using the Internet, that leads

you to a solution to the problem.

The final part of each unit is the Language Focus section,

which contains exercises on the vocabulary and language

topics covered in the unit. This section offers an opportunity to

consolidate the language work done in the unit.

Interspersed at intervals through the book, there are three

legal case studies based on actual cases, featuring text

material of the kind lawyers need to consult when preparing a

case. The purpose of these case studies is to provide an

opportunity to apply the language skills developed in the main

units to authentic communicative tasks.

Following the main units, there is an Exam Focus section which

explains what kind of tasks appear in the ILEC exam. (See

How does the course help you to prepare for ILEC?, below.)

At the back of the book, you will find the Audio transcripts of

all the listening exercises, as well as the Answer key to the

exercises. There is also an extensive glossary of all the legal

terms which appear in bold in the units and an index to help

you find your way around the book.

are

0 To improve your ability to write common legal text types in

English, such as letters or memoranda.

0 To improve your ability to read and understand legal texts,

such as legal periodicals, commercial legislation, legal

correspondence and other commercial law documents.

0 To increase your comprehension of spoken English when it

is used to speak about legal topics in meetings,

presentations, interviews, discussions, etc.

0 To strengthen your speaking skills and to enable you to

engage more effectively in a range of speaking situations

typical of legal practice, such as client interviews,

discussions with colleagues and contract negotiations.

0 To familiarise you with the kinds of tasks you will encounter

on the ILECexamination and improve your performance on

these tasks.

0 To introduce you to some of the language-related aspects of

the work of a commercial lawyer.

course

To achieve these aims, the course focuses on several aspects

of legal English at the same time. These aspects include

1) the analysis and production of authentic legal texts,

2) language functions common to legal texts, and 3) vocabulary

learning that goes beyond mere terminology acquisition, and

which takes larger chunks of language into account.

The written and spoken texts in each unit have been chosen to

represent a wide range of text types in use in legal contexts.

These include texts which lawyers have to produce, read or

listen to, such as letters of advice, proposals, client interviews

or presentations, In each unit, the typical structure of a text

type is ana lysed and the text type broken down into its

constituent parts. You are encouraged to identify these parts,

and to recognise the language functions typically used in each

of these parts of a text. (The term 'language function' refers to

phrases which express a specific meaning in a text, for

example, the language function of 'suggesting' can be

expressed with phrases like I'd recommend ... or Whydon't

you ... ?) The result is a kind of template of a common legal

text type. Equipped with this template and with useful language

functions, you are then given the opportunity to produce such a

text, either by writing a letter or email, by taking part in a roleplay

interview, or by discussing a legal issue, for example.

While a selection of legal terminology in each legal topic area

is presented in every unit, mastering legal English requires

more than simply improying your knowledge of specialised

vocabulary. For this reason, every unit includes exercises that

focus on larger chunks of language, common phrases and word

combinations that are not specialised legal terms, but which

are necessary for successful communication.

is

The International Legal English Certificate Examination (ILEC) is

the world's first and only internationally recognised test of legal

English. ILEC has been developed to test the ability of lawyers

to use English for professional purposes. It is a test of

language, and not a test of legal knowledge. The examination

is a product of the collaboration of TransLegal, Europe's

leading firm of lawyer-linguists, and Cambridge ESOL, producer

of the world's leading certificates in English.

The ILEC examination is primarily intended for law students and

young lawyers at the beginning of their legal careers. It provides

legal employers with an accurate means of assessing the legal

English skills of job applicants, while offering law students and

young lawyers a means of proving their legal English skills to

prospective employers. The ILEC certificate is recognised by

leading law firms, university law faculties, language centres,

lawyer associations and government employers.

For more information about the ILEC exam, visit

www.legalenglishtest.org

For more information about TransLegal, visit

www.translegal.com

course

ILE offers thorough and systematic preparation for the ILEC

exam. The topic areas in commercial law featured in the units

are all topic areas to be found on the ILEC exam. Thus you are

given the opportunity to become familiar with important

subject-specific vocabulary. As the texts in the book represent

the kinds of texts that are found in the exam, you will be well

prepared to deal with the texts in the actual exam.

Furthermore, since some of the exercises in the book are

modelled on the tasks found on the ILEC exam, you can

become familiar with these tasks. Beyond this, all of the

exercises in the book are intended to strengthen the

fundamental language skills you need to succeed in the exam.

The Exam Focus section of the book is specifically intended to

prepare you for the exam. This section covers each of the four

parts of the ILECexamination - Reading, Listening, Writing and

Speaking - and introduces the individual exam tasks in detail.

An example of each task is provided, along with a complete

explanation of what the candidate is expected to do, what

skills the task in question is designed to test, as well as what

the candidate should bear in mind while working on each task.

These tips are intended to help you avoid common pitfalls and

improve your performance in the exam.

Finally, the book includes an ILEC practice test. This sample

paper offers you the opportunity to test your Legal English

skills and to prepare for the exam by simulating the test

experience.

can

If you are using the book for self-study, how you proceed

through the book will depend on your goals and the amount of

time and effort you wish to devote to the study of legal

English.

If you wish to improve your command of legal English for

general work or study-related purposes and are willing to

devote several weeks of concentrated study to the task, it is

recommended that you proceed through the book from

beginning to end.

However, if you are planning to take the ILEC examination and

would like to improve your legal English more quickly, you

should work through the Exam Focus section first in order to

get an idea of the requirements of the exam. You can then

consult the contents pages at the beginning of the book to

locate the topics, tasks and skills you need to work on.

Whatever your goals might be, bear in mind that the glossary

and the answer key are provided to help make your self-study

easier, Note that sample answers for all of the writing tasks

are provided and that legal terms found in the glossary appear

in boldthroughout the book.

Naturally, the speaking tasks will be more difficult to carry out

when you are working through the course on your own.

However, when given the task of preparing a presentation, it is

a good idea to prepare and to hold the presentation. You may

be able to find an audience to listen to you and offer

constructive criticism. If possible, record yourself giving the

presentation and listen back to it, noting areas for

improvement. Discussion activities and role-plays pose an even

greater challenge when you are working on the course on your

own. However, you should not miss them out altogether. Look

at the discussion activity and decide what you would say in

this discussion. Say your ideas aloud. Then try to think what

an opposing view might be and say this aloud as well. Pay

close attention when listening to the discussions on the CD to

how people offer opinions, agree and disagree. Practise these

phrases aloud. Of course, the ideal solution is to ask a friend

or colleague to discuss these questions with you.

Above all, enjoy using ILE!

~

0 the 0

TransLegal@

Www.translegal.com

TransLegal is Europe's leading firm of lawyer-linguists,

providing the legal community with:

0 online legal English courses;

0 online legal language resources;

0 live legal English courses and seminars;

0 translations of legal and commercial documents;

0 legal language consultancy services.

TransLegal has collaborated with Cambridge ESOL, a

division of the University of Cambridge, in the development

of the Cambridge ILEC examination, the world's only

internationally recognised test of legal English.

For more information about TransLegal and for online

legal language resources, visit www.translegal.com

or e e

I would like to extend my special gratitude to my colleagues at

TransLegal. Particular thanks are due to Robert Houser for his

unfailing hard work and sound thinking in writing this book.

Many thanks to John Kokko, who conceived and wrote the

Internet research sections of the book, and Robin Bernstein

and William Yeago, whose valuable insights and dedication

over many years are a part of this book. I'd also like to thank

Janice Carling for her work on the glossary and case studies,

Graham Plutz for his proofreading, and Randy Sklaver for her

help. I am also grateful to Howard Sussman, whose sharp

legal mind has been a tremendous resource.

I would also like to thank my partners at TransLegal, David

Kellermann, Thomas Mann, Bill Harrison and Ingvar Pramhall,

for all of their expertise, wisdom, hard work and support over

so many years of building TransLegal.

Finally, my deepest thanks to Marie and Liam Lindner for all

their love and support throughout this project.

h e

Amy Krois-Lindner

Amy Krois-Lindner has taught language competence at the

University of Vienna for over ten years. She teaches Business

English and academic writing and is also a teacher-trainer.

In addition, she has played a role in the development of a

departmental ESP module with certification and has been

involved in the curriculum development of several ESP courses

at the Vienna University of Applied Technology.

I would especially like to thank our editor, Clare Abbott, for her

expert guidance, for helping to keep the whole project on track,

for communicating so well, and for motivating all of us.

Thanks are due to editor Catriona Watson-Brown for her

excellent work. I am also grateful to Annette Capel for her

valuable assistance with the Exam Focus section, to Kathy

Gude for her input on the Exam Focus Speaking section, and to

Michelle Simpson for working hard to obtain permission for the

texts used in the book.

Many thanks are due to my family: to Adrian, for all his support

and his honest opinions, to Fabio and Linus for their

understanding, and to Chiara for sleeping long and well.

Many thanks are due to Estera Satmarean for all her help.

Finally, I wish to thank my personal proofreader and coach,

George Lindner.

The authors and publishers would like to thank: the teachers who commented on the material: Dorthe

G.A. Engelhardt, Monica Hoogstad, Michael Thompson, Jill Northcott and Caroline Hare; Melissa Good,

who provided guidance on the law content of the book throughout the project; Craig Duncan, who

reviewed the online tasks in their initial stages; and Matt Firth for his immense and ongoing input on

the online tasks.

This book is dedicated to our parents, June and George Lindner;

who inspired us with their love of the English language.

J

Contents

Unit 5

Contracts:

Contract

Formation

page 64

Unit 5

1 Introduction to

contract formation

2 A covenant

3 E-contracts

1 Negotiating

2 Contract

negotiation Speaking

1 Paraphrasing

clauses

2 Role-play:

negotiating an

agreement

0 Key terms: Defences

to contract formation

OText analysis: Understanding

contracts

0 Language use 1:

Giving emphasis

0 Language use 2: Negotiating

expressions

OLanguage use 3: Adverbs

Focus page 76

(

Reading I Listening I Writing and I Language

Speaking

Unit1 0 Bodies of law 1 Documents in court Speaking

I OTypes of courts

The practice of0 Types of laws 2 Lawyers 1 Explaining what a OPersons in court

law0 Legal education: 3 Law firm structure law says 0 Legal Latin

page 8

A call to the Bar 4 Practice areas 2 Civil court systems

0 A lawyer's curriculum 5 Law firm culture 3 Describing a law

vitae firm

Unit2 1 Introduction to 1 Company formation Writing0 Key terms: Roles in company

Company law:company law 2 Forming a business A letter of advice management

Company

2 Memorandum of in the UK

Speaking0 Language use: Shall and may

formation andassociation

Informal presentation: OText analysis: A letter of advice

management3 Limited Liability a type of company

page 20 Partnership Bill

4 Corporate

governance

I

Unit '1 Focus page 32

Unit3 1 Introduction to 1 A rights issue Writing0 Key terms: Shares

Company law:company 2 Plain language Summa rising 0 Language use 1: Contrasting

capitalisationcapitalisation Speakinginformation

page 34

2 Shareholders and

Paraphrasing and 0 Language use 2: Common

supervisory boards expressing opinions colloctions (verb plus noun)

3 New legislation 0 Text analysis: Understanding

legalese

Unit 3 Focus page 46

Unit4 1 Introduction to 1 Explaining legal Writing0 Key terms: Opposing concepts

Company law:changes in aspects of an Standard phrases for in company law

fundamentalcompanies acquisition opening and closing OText analysis: Beginning a

changes ina 2 Spin-offs 2 A checklist letters and emails presentation

Company

3 The minutes of a

Speaking0 Language use 1: Explaining a

page 48 meeting Presenting a spin-off procedure

4 Shareholder rights 0 Language use 2: Collocations

J

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1125