PLEAD
Program for Legal English Academic Development

PLEAD is an academic program developed to help law faculties and language schools provide Legal English training to university law students and legal professionals throughout the world. PLEAD has been developed by TransLegal in cooperation with the Boston University School of Law, the Boston University Center for English Language and Orientation Programs, and Cambridge University Press using a ‘blended learning’ approach which combines live instruction based on the best-selling coursebook, International Legal English, authored by TransLegal and published by Cambridge University Press, and online self study courses produced by Boston University, TransLegal and Cambridge University Press.

Pilot study

A pilot study is being carried out by TransLegal, Boston University, and Cambridge University Press to obtain feedback from stakeholders in the legal community – primarily law faculties, and language schools.

TransLegal

Founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1989 by American and British lawyers, TransLegal has grown to become the leader in Legal English products and services. TransLegal’s in-house staff of lawyer-linguists is the largest in the world, providing a wide range of products and services to the international legal community, including Legal English testing, online Legal English courses and resources, live seminars and training, translation of legal documents, and publishing of Legal English materials.

Boston University

Consistently ranked among the best law schools in America, since 1872 the Boston University School of Law has been home to distinguished American figures in law and legal scholarship, to judges and other public servants, to prominent members of the bar, and to some of the finest teachers of law in America.
Named by the Princeton Review as #2 in faculty quality in the United States and by the Leiter Law School Ranking as #1 in teaching quality, BU Law enjoys one of the best reputations for excellence in legal scholarship in the United States.

Established at Boston University in 1975, CELOP (the Center for English Language and Orientation Programs) provides international students with a high quality intensive English language training and orientation program to assist them in attaining linguistic proficiency in English and broadening their cultural awareness for success in their academic, professional, and personal lives. CELOP is one the largest and most prestigious programs in the United States, and is a leader in providing university-based Legal English Programs. In 2006, CELOP was recognized as a premier institution when it was awarded the highest level of accreditation by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation under the auspices of the US Department of Education.

Cambridge University Press

Founded by a royal charter granted to the University of Cambridge by King Henry VIII in 1534, Cambridge University Press is the oldest printer and publisher in the world, having been operating continuously since 1584.

Cambridge is one of the world's largest and most prestigious academic publishers and is acclaimed for its list of journals, textbooks, monographs and practitioner guides, in subjects from medicine and law to literature and classics. Cambridge's academic publishing includes around 200 journals and around 1,200 new books each year and Cambridge is one of the world’s leading publishers of English Language Teaching materials with ELT publications sold to almost every country in the world and promoted by representatives based in over 60 countries.

Who is PLEAD for?

PLEAD is for law faculties, language schools and legal professionals around the world seeking the very best Legal English study materials available.
Due to the large numbers of law students and the unavailability of materials, many law faculties have found it difficult to provide sufficient Legal English training.
PLEAD makes it possible for participating university law faculties to provide affordable, high-quality Legal English training to large numbers of law students, providing them with essential skills for legal practice in the 21st century.

How does PLEAD work?

PLEAD is a blended learning course which provides
1) an online self-study course designed to build vocabulary in the 15 areas of the law covered by the coursebook, International Legal English, plus 2) the International Legal English coursebook which can be used as a self-study book or as the coursebook for a live course at a language school or university, for example.
The coursebook teaches a ‘four-skills’ course (i.e. reading, writing, speaking and listening) while the online course provides focused vocabulary training.
TransLegal can assist with contacts at language schools in various locations that teach Legal English using the International Legal English coursebook and, thus, that are appropriate for PLEAD.

Law faculties

For Law faculties, PLEAD can be expanded to include a needs analysis of the university law faculty, including the number of students, the availability of Legal English teachers, current English levels, the university’s budget for the program, the availability of law courses in English, and the availability of local legal materials in English (dictionaries, legislation in translation, law study materials). Thereafter, a proposal is produced together with the law faculty and its Legal English teachers, if any, based upon a compilation of local language materials, the interface between PLEAD and local materials, a blend of online, self-study, and live training, and the need for teacher training. The law faculty’s own Legal English teachers implement PLEAD based upon a program outline produced together with TransLegal. This outline (the PLEAD Statement) is a handbook for teachers on how to teach Legal English courses using the International Legal English course book, the online courses, and local materials. One and two-day teacher training seminars are also available to help the university’s teachers better understand the materials and the program. Finally, an annual follow-up of results is carried out together with the law faculty to make any necessary changes or improvements prior to the next academic year.

Legal English - not instruction in the common law

PLEAD is not intended to teach the common law but rather to give law students the language tools they’ll need to work with their own countries’ legal systems in English, assisting and advising clients and others on the law of their country, and to practice law in a global legal environment.
The PLEAD program also prepares students for the International Legal English Certificate (ILEC) examination produced by Cambridge ESOL, a division of the University of Cambridge, in cooperation with TransLegal.

How is PLEAD purchased?

A number of purchasing options are available to Law faculties and language schools. A law faculty or language school can allow its students enrolled in a PLEAD course to purchase the PLEAD packages (books + licenses for online courses) directly from TransLegal or the law faculty / language school can purchase a number of PLEAD packages at a group discount and distribute these to their students.

Teacher training and additional consulting services regarding incorporation of local materials into PLEAD are purchased separately at prices dependant upon the scope of the local PLEAD program with discounts available for group purchases of PLEAD packages.