International Legal English, Self-study

introduction

 

Whet kind of legal English does a deal

 

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 lawr 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 и e USA, it also includes texts about lega1 "nTtcrs in other "ountims ana legal sym-p^s it is "г^оГгт to o-^nensise that neariv all of me legal rm^irs r^^md rw fo <nd m ipgal s.stw'-'' mu и ..с-н,г,+rr.c +hn we'd e m. Since many of the *asl s rnrc—gc you to "en-pprp asp'-mc of the law in your own ■ 1 ,"-r,i"on mh prcnerTori " m- h-"i ^ an

 

ptr,,, paispo'T n is ‘"stored.

It 'S 'important to bea" in rnina that ILE is merged to help law "'""‘"гт, and ->wy"rs |Cprn English ir a (oga! nontext and to [vepaie for the ILEC exam. Tiem'r>rc, ILE should onlv be used o; tne puipose of iccr^mg egal Eog'mh "-н "hw'id not be lened upon foi legal advice or assis‘"n"n in rim nmctice of law.

LE - r s 0' 15 units.

 

Unit _ bives you an to h"'in 'eea' ""п-рр in

 

E^gi'Sl with a hocus on general asne"ts of the legal system as ell as spc"'f'" m->*tci3 Гп--'"с+пн * *h ° in the law

 

Units 2-15 deal witn a d^o^nt area of m""" "rnnl i~r Each unit begms +p p man rg text h r- \nt, • '1 an

 

c "" w of fhn t"p " unr r nnnn+'o" These i or my, tots

 

„p PI. - n| log- oonrpp-S o.oopot og a . -I "fX Q

 

ioIcxa' t ""ihi'm, m tc"'c "rea The " cm """"cn*$ "o\e>ed in this text appcci in bold they apoeai in

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.

To nrv'if" J"urn1'i|i*y to M'to "nmmoo '"gal tc<t types in English, such as letters or memoranda.

 

^ To i Tim " \"ur nh 1 +y to road ""d u"dcrsm"p ingoi texts, suen as lega per "ms co^irn1 'pgohh"" legal rn"i"nrir""" -,nfi mh"i romnwem! hv "mpto,

 

^ To increase rout C",pp’"hensinn of epnl or, Eng' "h wh"r it is used to speak about legal topics in meetings.

 

P'O’fmt"'\ c" dis" jss ""s, etc To stmngthr" vmir open1 mg s' 'Is i"d to "nmVp you to engage more сЬЬ"Т'о'\ in a rang- of speal mg ерп-то"", typical of legal nractice such as client n+nr diS"jss ""s ,1+ r""ongu"s nnd r"rf a"t "pg"t'ptnns __ To ‘ami iP"se vnu ' hh the kmas or tasks vou will cnco irmr on 'he ILEC "vnm -mm" and mpm1 c ysm рт-тт-г""" on these tasks.

 

To tb rr to som" of the ~og age'ehmp a"""cts of tne work of " с"п""1пг" ni awyei

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.