English для юристов. Гончар

Part ІI. BASIC COURSE

lawyers — judges, prosecutors, notaries, investigators in Ukraine; barristers and solicitors in the United Kingdom — are, the more aware they are of their strengths and ambitions, the more they will be able to manage future career opportunities.

The legal profession is driven both by the changing needs of its clients and by government policy and new legislative frameworks. Lawyers need to ensure that services and standards are properly regulated, maintained and enhanced.

The legal profession is increasingly international — global economy, the European Union influences different aspects of lives of a European lawyer. Many lawyers deal with international business and clients now. In the UK, it tends to be solicitors who work for international law firms, but barristers may also be representing international clients.

Increased competition is a growing aspect of the legal profession. Clients look for high5quality specialist services. Within the legal profession in the UK there is a healthy competition between solicitors and barristers.

Information technology is an inescapable fact of modern life. You can’t get away from IT — you ought to be, and need to be, computer literate. You have to depend on relevant IT solutions — the legal profession here is no exception. Expect to make good use of specialist software packages and other IT services for research and client support as part of your everyday job.

As a prospective lawyer you will need to consider your options carefully:

–where do I train — what is the best course and training opportunity for me?

–what branch of the profession and areas of law do I eventually want to practice in and what are the opportunities?

You should be starting to ask yourself these questions now. Remember that as well as academic excellence, employers place a premium on good communication and teamwork skills combined with professional awareness.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What demands should the modern lawyer answer?

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2.Why the legal profession is changing?

3.How does the European law influence on legal professionals’ affairs?

4.What role does IT play in a modern life?

5.What items should you consider as a perspective lawyer?

6.Which two different meanings is a word «lawyer» used in the text? Give the definitions.

3.WORD FAMILIES. Find in the text the words having the same basic part of a word (root). Their meanings are related. Compose your own sentences to illustrate their meaning and function in a sentence.

To escape, to increase, to manage, to support, to except, to need, to train, to prosecute, aware, profession.

4.PREPOSITIONS. Choose the right preposition in brackets according to the contents of the sentences (with, on, to, of, for).

1.My neighbour looks … a good with self5management skills lawyer.

2.The law should respond ... political and economical changes.

3.Every highly5qualified professional is to make good use … IT services.

4.It will depend … many facts.

5.Smoking tends … injure the voice.

6.A lawyer is a person who deals … legal affairs.

BUILD UP YOUR VOCABULARY

5.A. Substitute the active vocabulary of the lesson for the italicized parts. To help — to succeed, to maintain, competition, client, opportunity, skill, to ensure, increasingly, to get away.

SOLICITOR OR BARRISTER?

You can’t live without the people who are in legal profession. The legal profession becomes more numerously international. The solicitor is the first point of contact with the law for a person who needs the services of a lawyer in the UK. The solicitor listens carefully to the client to make sure their needs are clearly understood and then explains the legal position and gives advice. By contrast, barristers will only see the client in the company of a briefing solicitor. The barrister is the

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specialist with particular abilities to do well in advocacy, a consultant who will examine the case and decide what line to take in court. There are only a few solicitors who have chances to present cases in the higher courts. Many more solicitors spend much of their time in an office making investigations, giving advice to clients and preparing do5 cuments for counsel. A barrister spends time either in a courtroom or preparing his arguments for the court. Barristers are self5employed in the independent Bar. Solicitors are normally salaried and may be offered a share in the profits of the practice if they turn out successfully. There is a healthy contest between solicitors and barristers.

The Bar is a small but influential independent body with just over 8,000 practising barristers in over 400 chambers in England and Wales. In addition, there are about 2,000 barristers employed as in5house lawyers. The Bar is an advocacy profession. The work divides equally between civil and criminal law.

But many people believe the distinction between barristers and solicitors should be eliminated in England, as has already happened in Australia. The government is considering various proposals, but there are for keeping in existence, as well as removing, the division.

Neither kind of lawyer needs a university qualification. The vast majority of barristers and most solicitors do in fact go to university, but they do not necessarily study law there. This arrangement is typically British.

B. Answer the following questions:

1.Who may represent the accused in court?

2.What is a solicitor?

3.What is a barrister?

4.In what cases does the solicitor hire a barrister?

Post reading tasks

1.Write down the plan for this text in the form of questions. Ask your partners to answer them.

2.Give your friend who is going to become a lawyer some advice.

3.Being a lawyer is regarded as one of the best professions in many countries. Think about what the different areas of specialisation are, and which you would choose, or have chosen, and why.

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Make notes under the headings: choice of specialisation; number of years of training; income expectations; responsibilities; kinds of clients; need for foreign languages; likely challenges and opportunities. Add any other points that occur to you.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

The Gerund

1.Rewrite the following sentences as in the example:

Example: It is important to have good friends. — Having good friends is very important.

1.It’s easy to learn how to read. 2. It’s important to become computer literate. 3. Is it difficult to study Criminal Law? 4. It’s important to have professional awareness. 5. It is interesting to learn about global economy. 6. It’s important to maintain legality. 7. It’s necessary to obtain team work skills.

2.Answer the questions using the gerund:

1.What is the best way for training investigator skills? 2. What is the best way for gaining as much knowledge as possible in Criminal Law? 3. Learning a foreign language is necessary to become a good lawyer, isn’t it? 4. Maintaining public order is the task of law5enforcement bodies, isn’t it? 5. Everyone has the right to a good standard of living sufficient for him and his family hasn’t he? 6. After finishing school your choice was obvious, wasn’t it? 7. You should start asking yourself now, what you must do to become a good lawyer, shouldn’t you?

3.Encourage people to do the following things:

Example: to read from page 1 — Would you please start/begin reading from page 1?

1.to write a law report; 2. to compose a dialogue; 3. to examine the evidence; 4. to discuss the case with a judge; 5. to prepare the case for the trial; 6. to search the scene of the crime; 7. to exchange impressio5 ns at the lesson. 8. to tell about the accident. 9. to answer the inspector’s questions.

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4.Make a polite request using the construction stop/ start + gerund:

Example: to make that terrible noise — Would you please stop making that terrible noise?

to type those legal documents; to lie the lawyer; to chatter about the case; to listen to the President; to use the dictionary; to go to those meetings; to use the phone so much; to trust her.

5. Express your attitude to the following using the structure to be worth + gerund:

Example: to read the book — The book is (not) worth reading.

1.to discuss his speech at the meeting; 2. to study to become a prospective lawyer; 3. to repeat an investigatory experiment; 4. to develop your self5management skills; 5. to be computer literate; 6. to go to the police and tell everything ourselves; 7. to interrupt the speaker.

6.Make up sentences using the structure need + gerund: Example: to paint the window — The window needs painting.

1.My jacket, to clean. 2. This difficult problem, to think about carefully. 3. The door, to repair. 4. The information, to check. 5. The documents, to analyze. 6. The evidence, to examine. 7. The report, to rewrite.

7.Make up sentences as in the example (use the verb to excuse): Example: to interrupt — Excuse my interrupting.

to come lagte; to tell all the story to mother; to give so much

trouble; to cause your trouble; not to call you on Sunday; to remind you of your promise; to remind of your debt; not to be present at the court hearing; to forget our arrangements to meet.

8.Complete the following sentences with appropriate verb in the gerund form:

1.He is accused of… 2. I insist on telling … 3. He didn’t succeed in find5 ing … 4. Passing a sentence must be … 5. Without considering the evidence of the accused the jury can’t … 6. Before becoming a judge one must … 7. After explaining the rules to the accused the judge began … 8. The House of Representatives kept on discussing … 9. Making laws is … 10. They are suspected of… 11. I am looking forward to… 12. We depend on…

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9.Translate the following sentences into English:

1.Нарешті вони почали ретельно вивчати питання міжна5 родного бізнесу. 2. Припиніть хвилюватися. Ви безумовно отри5 маєте місце в цій юридичній фірмі. 3. Проблему інформаційних технологій треба розглянути дуже ретельно. 4. З цим не слід сперечатись: клієнти шукають високо5якісних спеціалістів у галузі права. 5. Вона заперечувала, що працює барістером. 6. Перестаньте звинувачувати усіх! 7. Вони з нетерпінням чекають на підвищення якості послуг.

Construction both … and

1.Use the construction both…and in your own sentences, use the following words:

1.(somebody)… to be professional solicitors.

2.(somebody)… to have become computer literate.

3.(somebody)… to be able to manage future opportunities.

4.(something)… to demand legal professionals.

5.(something)… to be needed to get a good job in the sphere of law.

6.(something)… to become a prospective lawyer.

(something)… to influence different aspects of lives of a European lawyer.

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Module 5 Unit 2

Text: Civil Law (family, contract, intellectual property)

Vocabulary in use Language focus:

The Infinitive

Pre reading tasks

1.Give examples from your country (different countries) of how the family is given special legal consideration.

2.Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

Reading tasks

1.Read the text to understand what information is of primary importance or new for you.

Note on the text:

Tort — делікт, цивільне правопорушення

CIVIL LAW

(FAMILY, CONTRACT, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)

The civil law covers cases related to family, property, contracts and non5contractual wrongful acts suffered by one person at the hands of another (torts). Family law includes the laws governing marriage, divorce

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and the welfare of children; the law of property governs ownership, disposal of property on death, etc.; the law of contract regulates, for instance, the sale of goods, loans, partnerships, insurance and guarantees.

Civil proceedings are started by the aggrieved person. As a private matter, they can usually be abandoned or ended by settlement between the parties at any time. In many cases, parties to a dispute settle their differences through their lawyers before the trial stage is reached.

Family law is divided into public and private law cases. Public law cases involve local government and other public authorities and include matters such as care of children. Private law cases involve divorce proceedings, etc. Most court cases involving children concern private disputes between parents — often after separation.

Torts include wrongs such as negligence, defamation, etc. if these legal rights have been infringed, a plaintiff can sue for compensation. One of the most important tort actions is that for negligence, when a person fails to live up to an expected standard of care and someone is injured as a result. This can cover physical damage or financial loss.

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties, which is enforceable by law. A valid business contract, for instance, must involve an offer to supply goods or services, consideration (the price to be paid) and acceptance by the purchaser. The offer may be revoked at any time before acceptance but it must be communicated to the purchaser. Accep5 tance of an offer must mean agreement entirely with the terms of the offer, and the terms must be sufficiently detailed. In addition, the object of the contract must not be illegal; it is against the law for two people to make a deal between themselves if this involves a criminal offence.

An example of a contract is the purchase of goods in a shop. If the goods purchased turn out to be shoddy, the purchaser can sue the seller in the civil courts usually for damages. Conversely, if the ownership of goods passes to the purchaser and they are not paid for, the seller can sue for the price of goods. Similarly, an employer is bound to pay an employee for work done; if he or she fails to do so, a breach of contract action can take place.

Intellectual property laws reward the creators of original works by preventing others from copying, performing, or distributing those works without permission. They also provide incentives for people to produce scientific and creative works that benefit society at large. Some types of intellectual property are automatically protected by law from the moment of their creation. Other types require a specific grant of

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rights from a government agency before they may be protected by law. Nearly all nations have laws protecting intellectual property. The principal types of intellectual property are patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Patent law protects inventions that demonstrate tech5 nological progress. Copyright law protects a variety of literary and artistic works, including paintings, sculpture, prose, poetry, plays, musical compositions, dances, photographs, motion pictures, radio and television programs, sound recordings, and computer software programs. Trademark law protects words and symbols that serve to id5 entify different brands of goods and services in the marketplace.

Intellectual property differs from other forms of property because it is intangible, a product of the human imagination. Because intel5 lectual property is intangible, many people may use it simultaneously without conflict. For example, only one person can drive a car at a time, but if an author publishes a book, many people can read the work at the same time. Intellectual property is also much easier to copy than it is to create. It may take many months of work to write a novel or computer program, but with a photocopy machine or a computer others could copy the work in a matter of seconds. Without intellectual property laws, it would be easy to duplicate original works and sell them for very low prices, leaving the original creators without any chance to secure economic rewards for their efforts. The legal system avoids this problem by making it against the law to reproduce various forms of intellectual property without the permission of the creator.

2.Divide the text into logical parts and supply a title for each of them.

3.Find in the text and decide from the context what the word could mean, then choose the appropriate definition.

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4.PREPOSITIONS. Choose the right preposition in brackets according to the contents of the sentences (without, after, of, from, for, by).

1.Literature, computer programs, artistic works cannot be patented, but they can be protected … copyright.

2.In most countries, such work is automatically protected when it is created; there is no need to apply … or to register copyright.

3.In recent years it has been difficult for intellectual property law to prevent new original works … copying and too keep pace with technological change.

4.The Laws of intellectual property usually require anyone wanting to copy something to ask permission from the holder … the patent or copyright.

5.In Britain, … instance, the 1988 Copyright and Patents Act covers a work of music, drama, computer software, … 50 years after the author’s death.

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