FACULTAD DE DERECHO

ENG I
Prof. Belkis Aizpurúa
June 29, 2019
• TOPICS FOR LAST SESSION

WORKING SKILLS:

- COLLOCATIONS
- PREPOSITIONS
- DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BARRISTERS AND - SOLICITORS
- AREAS OF LAWS
- FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE
 COLLOCATIONS
COLLOCATIONS ARE WORDS THAT
FORM NATURAL PARTNERSHIP IN
ENGLISH.

FOR EXAMPLE:

- ‘MERRY’ CHRISTMAS
- ‘HAPPY’ NEW YEAR
The previous examples do not form a good collocation. Legal
English is full of collocations. Look at the following:

1. VERB +NOUN
Do you accept liability?
2. NOUN+VERB
The gap has widened between them.
3. VERB+ADVERB
Could we please discuss this matter rationally?
4. ADJECTIVE+NOUN
She made a fatal error.
5. ADVERB+ADJECTIVE
This is a highly contentious dispute.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF
PREPOSITIONS
“They are importance because they act as vital markers
to the structure of a sentence; they mark special
relationships between persons, objects and locations”.
(Aug. 2014)

In legal context prepositions must be accurate in time

and limit.
Here some examples:
AN ATTORNEY AT LAW:
‘My daughter is an attorney at law in Atlanta”
TO WORK ON SOMETHING:
‘I’m currently working on a merger agreement’.
TO SEND A CHECK FOR AN AMOUNT OF MONEY:
‘Please send a check for $2.000”.
SUBJECT TO SOMETHING:
‘The goods are for sale at this price subject to
availability’.
 TO BE KNOWN AS SOMETHING  TO SPECIALIZE IN SOMETHING
 “They are known as barristers’.  ‘ Tom specializes in commercial
litigation.

 TO QUALIFY AS SOMETHING
 TO WORK IN A BUSINESS
 ‘She qualified as a lawyer two years  ‘He works in a law firm, but she works
ago”. I a ban’.

 TO GO INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH  TO PRESIDE OVER A CASE

SOMEONE  ‘The insurance case has started and
Judge Mortimer is presiding over it.’
 ‘He is going to go into partnership
with his brother.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS

 The basic difference between barristers and

solicitors is that a barrister mainly defends
people in court and a solicitor mainly
performs legal work outside court.
 In England barristers can be distinguished
from a solicitor because they wear a wig
and gown in court.
 AREAS OF LAWS
BUSINESS
MARITIME AND
LAW OF TORT
LAW COMPANY
LAW

THE LAW OF
CONTRACT
EQUITY AND
LAW
TRUSTS
I.T. LAW
INTELLECTUA
L PROPERTY
FAMILY
LAW LAW

EMPLOYME THE LAW OF

REAL
NT
PROPERTY/C
/LABOUR ONVEYANCIN
LAW G
 FORMAL AND INFORMAL
LANGUAGE
THE LEGAL PROFESSION IS THE PROFESSION
OF FORMALITY, THEREFORE ITS
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND ESSENCE IS
FORMAL. THESE FEATURES TEND TO MAKE
LEGAL WRITING FORMAL, IN PARTICULAR,
WHEN LEGAL CONTENT MUST BE CONVEYED
TO NONLAWYERS, FORMALITY SHOULD GIVE
WAY TO CLEAR COMMUNICATION.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE
DONE A GOOD JOB!