I. The Case for Plain Language In “The Public Speaks, Again: An International Study of Legal Communication” published in the University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Review (2017), Law Professor Chris Trudeau and co-author Christine Cawthorne took a look at the public’s preferences for legal communication across five major English-speaking countries (the U.S., England, Canada,…
Read more
February’s Book of the Month is Marking Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges by Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016, and Bryan Garner, American lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher who is also the editor of Black’s Law Dictionary. The book purports to…
Read more
January’s Book of Month is Introduccion al Common Law by Fernando Cuñado de Castro and Ruth Gámez González (and, yes, I do realize I’m publishing this post in March, but better late than never). If you read in Spanish and are interested in learning about Common Law in the UK and US compared to Civil…
Read more
This week’s word of the week is caution, and no, I don’t mean a warning or admonition. I stumbled upon this term in the context of loans and securities. And while I cannot quote context for confidentiality reasons, I can tell you that it found its way to my computer via a client in England.…
Read more
Under the common law tradition, when accomplishing a specific goal is not entirely up to the promising party, the parties may agree that the promisor use reasonable efforts, or some other efforts standard, to accomplish that goal. In such cases, the contract will only impose an efforts standard in connection to one or more specific…
Read more
I know, I know, “to the extent that” is four words, not one. But the question of what “to the extent that” means in warranty claims has come up in court and merits consideration. The Case The case is Zayo Group v Ainger. The Court is the England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court). The…
Read more
When I was a budding young lawyer-linguist, the word deed was the cause of many headaches. Though it might seem like a straight-forward enough word in English, the truth is it can be a real head-scratcher in cross-border scenarios that require translation. Translating it correctly involves understanding not just what a deed is, but…
Read more
In “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell laid the groundwork for the philosophical theory he would brilliantly put forward two years later in his great dystopian masterpiece 1984. I doubt any of my readers are unfamiliar with the novel, so I won’t go into details. However, I will remind readers what Winston (the main…
Read more
Two weeks ago, I published a post on using will and shall in dual language or translated contracts. The post caught the attention of fellow lawyers and translators alike, resulting in many interesting exchanges and debates. Some in my comments section, others via private message or email. I’m always open to such exchanges and grateful…
Read more