An Overview of Legal English
"What is the difference between legal English and illegal English?" a Dutch student asked us recently.
Here, we will seek to provide an overview of legal English which can help to clear up any confusion!
In its simplest form, Legal English is the specialised language industry professionals use in legal documents. It differs from everyday conversational English in that it includes specific terminology and more formal language and grammar.
As you can imagine, it has a range of uses in a professional setting. Whilst the most obvious use would be for lawyers in a courtroom setting, legal English is used across many industries, including any which deal with legal contracts, which is pretty much all of them.
In fact, most people have used legal language at some point in their lives. If you've ever signed a rental agreement, bought a house or signed a job contract, then you have used legal language. Legal English has a few key qualities:
To start with, it is precise. It needs to be. After all, who wants to sign a contract that says something like, ‘the tenant may or may not pay the rest on the 1st of each month, or maybe the 5th’? Vague statements like this, that are open to interpretation, can cause confusion and make it incredibly hard to settle potential disputes. The correct use of Legal English leaves minimal room for confusion.
Legal English is very formal. Legal matters are important, they usually relate to actions with big consequences, including legally binding commitments to pay large sums of money, to provide a product to a certain specification, or to provide a property in good order. Given that these are serious matters, more informal language would not be suitable.
Although formal and precise language is crucial to Legal English, it can sometimes make it more difficult for people to understand, even native English speakers!
Why not try the game below, can you match the legal term to the correct definition?
At Connected Business English we have collaborated with legal professionals to gather insights into sector developments and to ensure our Legal English learning content meets high, industry-set standards to support legal professionals globally. Follow this blog to hear more from our discussions with lawyers, barristers and patent attorneys among others. Explore our legal English courses, or contact us for a tailored course for your company.