Legal English in 10 Minutes a Day

The busy lawyer's 10 minutes-a-day Legal English course with a lesson a day for 6 months

TransLegal knows that many lawyers want to improve their Legal English but have great difficulty fitting language lessons into their busy schedules. That’s why TransLegal has developed a 6-month online language course consisting of 130 (Monday – Friday) mini-lessons which take less than 10 minutes out of your busy day. The course takes highlights from TransLegal's Contract Law, Company Law, IP Law and LE500 courses and teaches almost 1,000 Legal English terms essential to lawyers practicing in the area of commercial law. This 26-unit online course teaches 5-10 essential Legal English terms a day for six months. Each week focuses on a different area of Legal English (e.g. advising clients, contract law, company law and litigation), providing a new text and two tasks every weekday (Monday-Friday). The texts reflect the kinds of English language documents with which lawyers need to be familiar (correspondence, summaries of law, cases and statutes). Weeks 1-24 also include a listening exercise to help improve your listening skills in English speaking legal contexts. A wordlist is provided at the end of each week to help you test and further develop the vocabulary you have learned.

Course description

“Legal English in 10 Minutes a Day” presents key Legal English terminology in short online reading and listening passages. The exercises which follow each reading or listening passage include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, true-false and matching exercises that are designed to help you learn the vocabulary through context, testing and reinforcement. All of your results are stored in a database which you can access at any time to monitor your progress.

Course duration

This course includes ten minutes of online self-study every weekday for 6 months, providing over 20 hours of Legal English training in total.

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Course contents

Week1 Rights and Duties Mon: Liability and responsibility Tue: Contractual Rights and Responsibilities Wed: The duty of care owed by company directors Thu: Standards of conduct Fri: Listening: Discussing a client's rights Week 2 The Sources of Law Mon: Sources of Law Tue: Legislation Wed: Case law Thu: Interpreting legislation and construing intention Fri: What is clear and unclear Week 3 Applying the Law Mon: The language of applicablity Tue: An employment law case Wed: A judgment Thu: Vocabulary review Fri: Listening: A pre-trial review Week 4 Advising clients Mon: Making suggestions and warning a client Tue: Outlining the issues Wed: A lawyer's letter to her client Thu: Vocabulary review? Fri: Listening: A lawyer-client dialogue Week 5 Litigation (and arbitration) Mon: The language of civil claims Tue: Starting legal proceedings Wed: Types of court decisions Thu: ADR Fri: A lecture on legal procedure Week 6 Enforcing the law Mon: Following & breaking the law Tue: Complying with a court order Wed: Insider dealing - prevention and remedies Thu: Vocabulary review? Fri: Listening - complying wih an injunction Week 7 Legal personnel Mon: Courthouse personnel Tue: Company directors, officer and shareholders Wed: The Fee Structure of a Law Firm Thu: A Jury Trial Fri: A typical law firm’s structure and personnel Week 8 Legal Standards Mon: Standards of care Tue: Guilt and liability Wed: Legal standards imposed by statute Thu: A corporation's internal regulations and standards Fri: Briefing by a senior partner Week 9 Due diligence Mon: Investigation of the target Tue: Conducting an IP due diligence review on behalf of the seller Wed: Conducting an IP due diligence review on behalf of the buyer Thu: A Termination clause Fri: Listening: a discussion between two lawyers Week 10 Contract formation Mon: An introduction to contract formation Tue: Contract clauses Wed: Defences to contract formation Thu: Vocabulary review Fri: Beware the boilerplate Week 11 Remedies in contract law Mon: An introduction to remedies Tue: Damages Wed: Limitation of liability clause Thu: A termination clause Fri: Injuctive relief Week 12 Non-Competition and Confidentiality Mon: Covenants not to compete Tue: Enforceability of non-compete agreements Wed: Trade secrets, confidential information and know-how Thu: Drafting clauses Fri: A lawyer-client interview Week 13 Contract law: assignment and third party rights Mon: Contracts and third parties Tue: An assignment clause Wed: Avoiding assignments Thu: Discharge from a duty to perform Fri: A discussion between two lawyers Week 14 Contract law: Performance Mon: Impossibility and non-performance Tue: Substantial performance Wed: Extract from the US Uniform Commercial Code Thu: Force majeure Fri: Listening - selecting the best forum for your client Week 15 Contract law: termination Mon: Terminology for ending contracts Tue: A termination clause Wed: Draftiing termination letters Thu: Vocabulary review Fri: A lawyer-client interview Week 16 Company Law: Incorporation Mon: Company formation Tue: An extract from a company charter Wed: The articles of association Thu: Corporate officers Fri: Listening: A discussion with a company formation agent Week 17 Company Law: Mergers and Acquisitions Mon: Types of acquisitions Tue: A press release Wed: The seller's liability and the buyer's remedies Thu: Vocabulary review Fri: Listening: A discussion between a partner and an associate Week 18 Company Law: Sale and purchase agreements Mon: Aspects of the SPA Tue: An extract from a sale and purchase agreement Wed: Warranties and disclosures Thu: Vocabulary review Fri: Friday (listening): A discussion between a businessman and his solicitor Week 19 Debt Finance Mon: Loan Facilities Tue: The loan agreement Wed: Extract from a loan agreement Thu: Debt capital markets Fri: Presentation by a finance expert Week 20 Equity finance Mon: Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) Tue: An extract from a prospectus Wed: Rights issues Thu: An article about a rights issue Fri: A lawyer-lawyer dialogue Week 21 Corporate Insolvency Mon: Liquidation Tue: Distribution of company assets Wed: Corporate rescue procedures Thu: Advising on a bankruptcy proceeding Fri: Listening: A solicitor-shareholder dialogue Week 22 Competition law Mon: Listening: An Investigation by the UK Office of Fair Trading Tue: Sections 18–20 of the UK Competition Act 1998 Wed: An online discussion forum Thu: A law journal report Fri: Vocabulary review Week 23 Real Property Law Mon: Listening: A lawyer-client interview Tue: A letter from a lawyer Wed: A purchase and sale agreement Thu: A title deed Fri: Vocabulary review Week 24 Intellectual Property Law Mon: Trade mark law Tue: Copyright Law Wed: Patent law Thu: Intellectual property agreements Fri: Listening: A discussion between a partner and an associate Week 25 eCommerce Mon: An overview of eCommerce Tue: Unauthorised emails Wed: The European Directive on Electronic Commerce (2000) Thu: The European Directive on e-Privacy Fri: An introduction to internet jurisdiction Week 26 Language review Mon: Prepositions Tue: Collocations Wed: Paraphrasing contract clauses; Paraphrasing legal terms Thu: Working with the TransLegal Learner's Dictionary of Law Fri: Working with online concordances (TransLegal LE Dictionary referenced)