Legal English : Commercial Lawyers

Helping commercial lawyers to work effectively in an international setting

Typical course participants

This course is for qualified, experienced lawyers with a fairly confident command of English.

Course content summary

The course includes case studies, negotiations, discussions and meetings, and the materials combine real professional content with our highly effective learning methodology.

The trainers are language specialists with expertise in this field. There is important input from the real legal world including sessions led by practising lawyers and visits to a law firm and the civil courts. Many participants also benefit from making lasting professional friendships.

Benefits of doing this course

Whichever course you take with us, you can expect to improve your English in the following ways:

communicate more confidently
speak more accurately and fluently
participate more successfully in meetings
improve your written English including emails
expand your professional vocabulary
improve your understanding of grammar
socialise and network with greater confidence
work successfully in a cross-cultural environment

In addition to the benefits outlined above, this course will enable you to communicate more confidently in legal situations and use specialised legal vocabulary more effectively.

Course content

The course is designed to develop participants' language and communication skills in a legal context. The course focuses on active speaking and writing skills and communication strategies.

The key language and skills you will learn in the course include:

legal vocabulary expansion
effective communication skills for meetings and negotiations
effective participation in discussions
giving presentations
written communication including email, reports and formal letters
effective telephoning skills
hosting visits, socialising, meeting and greeting
listening skills

Typical activities that you will participate in will include:

taking part in simulated meetings and negotiations
drafting examples of contracts
giving legal advice: for example describing the process of litigation to a foreign client, role-playing real life communicative situations such as greeting visitors, making arrangements by telephone and socialising
making a presentation on a legal topic of your choice

There are opportunities to learn about aspects of English and EC law and the English legal system but it is not a course in law. There are extensive reading materials available if students wish to research particular areas of law in their own time.