Legal English

Wo r k s h o p
2013 edition

G u i d e

Prof. Mario Gonzlez-Hernndez

w o

LegalEnglish
r k s h o p

Chapter 1

Getting Started
This chapter will help our participants determine personal strengths and areas of opportunity. We associate our materials with individual interests and specic skills. A diagnostic evaluation will be carried out in and out of the classroom.

Chapter 1

Getting Started
CONTENT 1. Introduction a. Practical understanding and usage of English and Spanish grammar. b. Accurate interpretation and application of legal concepts and terms. c. Insight on comparative law from dierent traditions. d. Use of tools and technology. 2. Preliminary Evaluation

1. Introduction
The Legal English Workshop is a 12-year old professional training program aimed to help Spanish-speaking lawyers to improve their professional skills in the English language. Over the years, we have experienced a worldwide connection of legal systems across nations and a huge opportunity for legal professionals to participate on a global scale either in the public or the private sectors. Language and law endure an everlasting marriage. Grammar and semantics are the basis of law itself. And this course has been designed to study and practice the relationship between both phenomena.

a. Practical understanding and usage of English and Spanish Grammar

Despite the fact that this is not a grammar course per se. We do encourage the practical study of the fundamentals of grammar in both languages. This workshop includes practical grammar presentations and exercises which will help participants refresh some relevant linguistic principles. Participants soon realize

2013 Mario Gonzlez-Hernndez

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Chapter 2

Concepts, Terms and Denitions

The marriage between law and language has no room for divorce. Therefore, a legal professional must become procient in the use of grammar and semantics in both languages.

Chapter 2

Concepts, Terms and Denitions

CONTENT 1. Introduction a. Concepts b. Terms c. Denition 2. Exercises 3. Resources

1. Introduction
There are some words people use as if they were synonyms. This is the case of the words: concept, term and denition. Let us briey explain the dierence.

a. Concepts
Human beings are intelligent beings. Not only are we the dominant species on this planet because of what we know, but also because of the fact that we know that we are able to know. In other words, we are sapiens sapiens. We all have the capacity to think in concepts. Concepts are metal representations that allow us to draw appropriate inferences about the type of entities we encounter in our everyday lives. Concepts are ideas. They exist even before there is a term or a denition for such an idea. Concepts are the mental substance of what we call knowledge. Legal concepts are dierent from legal terms and legal denitions. Legal concepts are those ideas, either simple or complex, that we have created to give ourselves a social structure and organization as well as sense of what is permitted and what is forbidden.

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Chapter 3

The Elements of the Sentence

In order to guarantee an accurate interpretation or expression of legal content, we most make sure that we understand how nite ideas are constructed. It is within the sentence where our critical-thinking truly begins.

Chapter 3

The Elements of the Sentence

CONTENT 1. Basic Concepts a. Words b. Phrases c. Clauses d. Sentences 2. Activities

1. Basic Concepts
It is convenient for us to review the following elements:

a. Words
Words are the basic element that may be expressed in isolation with semantic and pragmatic content. Words can be put together to build larger elements such as phrases, clauses or sentences. Words have sounds (phonetics), meanings (semantics) and even forms (morphology). We will talk about those in class. There are dierent types of words. In the English language, there are basically nine categories: Noun: any abstract or concrete entity; a person (police ocer,Michael),

place (coastline, London), thing (necktie, television), idea (happiness), or quality (bravery) Pronoun: any substitute for a noun or noun phrase Adjective: any qualier of a noun Verb: any action (walk), occurrence (happen), or state of being (be)

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Chapter 4

Connecting Ideas
Building great sentences may not be enough. Just like cities need roads, ideas need bridges. Legal content is full of these bridges. These connectors make a huge dierence when understood and applied properly.

Chapter 4

Connecting Ideas
CONTENT 1. Connectors a. Connecting Words and Phrases b. Connectors that form Subordinate Clauses c. Connecting Sentences 2. Activities

1. Connectors
We link words, phrases and sentences through connectors. Connectors may be words or phrases. Some of them are common and simple such as: and, or, but, etc. Others may sound a bit more odd and sophisticated like: moreover, as though, provided that, etc.

a. Connecting Words and Phrases

After discussing about words and phrases in our previous chapter, let us only say that we may connect words and phrases using coordinating conjunctions such as: and or but We may also use correlative conjunctions such as: Either.... or Neither... nor

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Chapter 5

Tenses & Modals

You may take away any element of the sentence but a verb. Verbs must always be explicit. In this chapter, we shall go over the tenses, forms and other important aspects of what we may call the heart of every sentence.

Chapter 5

Tenses & Modals

LOREM IPSUM 1. Verbs Forms 2. The 12 Tenses Chart 3. Modals 4. Phrasal Verbs 5. Activities
Natural 3rd Person Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Gerund

1. Verb Forms
While Spanish may have more than 50 forms for a single verb, English has only ve:

claim sign break y

claims signs breaks ies

claimed signed broke ew

claimed signed broken own

claiming signing breaking ying

English verbs are either regular or irregular. Sometimes American English and British English disagree on the past form and the past participle form of some verbs.

2. The 12 Tenses Chart

One of the simplest ways to evaluate the level of English of an ESL student is to pay attention to the number of tenses that he or she understands and uses in regular speech. In this course, we want to make sure that you remember and apply the 12 tenses accurately.
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Chapter 6

Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs

Nouns are second in importance after the verb within a sentence. Adjectives and adverbs deserve our particular attention too. Let us explore some of the key grammar concepts that will help you used them even more accurately.

Chapter 6

Nouns, Adjectives & Adverbs

CONTENT 1. Nouns a. Word Nouns b. Phrasal Nouns c. Noun Clauses d. Gerund Nouns 2. Adjectives a. Simple and Compound b. Active and Passive Adjectives 3. Adverbs a. Classication

1. Nouns
We use nouns to call things. There are noun words, phrasal nouns and even noun clauses.

a. Word Nouns
A noun is used to denote a person, an animal, a thing or an idea. They may or may not include an article or a determiner: People are crazy. (in general) The people are crazy. (a specic group) A person is crazy. Some people are crazy. Every person is crazy. (determiner) The plural form of nouns in English is quite easy. There are, however, a few words that bear an irregular plural format such as: sh (singular), sh (plural)

4. Activities

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Chapter 7

Paraphrasing

Eective communication requires complex intellectual processes. Understanding a message containing legal concepts is not an easy task. Paraphrasing is a skill that every lawyer must exercise intensively. An accurate paraphraser is always a smart individual.

Chapter 7

Paraphrasing
CONTENT 1. Concept 2. Paraphrasing Legal Ideas a. False Cognates

1. Concept
Quoting means repeating or reproducing someone elses exact words. Lawyers certainly need to constantly quote legal provisions. Paraphrasing is the restatement of the meaning of a text, a passage or a speech using dierent words. The term itself is derived via Latin paraphrasis from Greek , meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis". Paraphrasing requires complex intellectual and linguistic abilities. A paraphraser cannot do an accurate job unless he or she fully understands the original message. You may paraphrase by just substituting some words for others: The contract will be signed by Robert on Friday The agreement will be subscribed by our CEO before Saturday.

3. Comparison of Legal Systems a. Paraphrasing across legal systems

4. Activities

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Chapter 8

Summing up and Developing Ideas

A legal concept may be reduced to its minimum expression through a legal term. On the contrary, a legal concept could be also thoroughly developed in a book.

Chapter 8

Summing up and Developing Ideas

CONTENT 1. Summing up a. How grammar helps b. How an Outlines helps 2. Developing 3. Activities

1. Summing up
In the second chapter of this workshop, we talked about concepts, terms and denitions. In class, we mention that if you open a dictionary you shall nd terms and denitions about concepts. Some denitions are long and others are short. Concepts can be reduced to a single sentence and even to a single word. Summing up is the ability to reduce information without distorting it. This can take up a lot of neurons since it requires us to be able to discriminate between: what is essential; what is important; what is complementary; what is ornamental; and what is excessive.

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Chapter 9

Basics of Legal Translation

The oldest and most famous legal document ever translated, that we know of, is the Rosetta Stone. It contains an ancient Egyptian decree in three versions: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs; Demotic Script and Ancient Greek. It is currently displayed at the British Museum since 1802.

Chapter 9

Basics of Legal Translation

CONTENT 1. Basics of Translation a. Translation Units b. Fidelity and Transparency c. Equivalence d. Back-Translation 2. Legal Translation Strategies a. Functional Equivalence b. Formal Equivalence c. Borrowing d. Description 3. Activities

1. Basics of Translation
Translation is both an art and a science. It requires both knowledge and critical thinking. Translation is the act of accurately importing a message from one language to another. Computers and new technologies are new tools to produce better and faster translations. However, human translation is still the most reliable form of translation there is today.

a. Translation Units
Experienced translators break information into translation units in order to do a better job. A translation unit is segment of a text which the translator treats as a single cognitive unit for the purposes of establishing an equivalence. The translation unit may be a single word, a phrase, a clause, one or more sentences, or even a larger unit. Example of a paragraph broken into seven translation units:
1The

earliest written constitution still governing a sovereign nation today 2may be that of San

Marino. 3The Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini 4was written in Latin 5and consists of six books. 6The rst book, with 62 articles, 7establishes councils, courts, various executive ocers and the powers assigned to them.

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Chapter 10

Common Documents & Forms

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Chapter 10

Common Documents & Forms

CONTENT 1. Certicates a. Birth b. Marriage c. Death d. Apostille

1. Certicates
Most legal translations are related to certicates needed by individuals to complete immigration or school lings. In this chapter, we are going to translate the most common documents of this kind.

2. School Transcripts 3. Business Letters 4. Activities

a. Birth Certicate
A birth certicate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certicate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certied copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth. Depending on the jurisdiction, a record of birth might or might not contain verication of the event by such as a midwife or doctor.

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