English for Lawyers and Law Students

Book excerpt: Since legal language can neither be taught nor understood without context, English for Lawyers and Law Students essentially serves two purposes: It provides an insight into selected issues of the US legal system and in doing so acquaints the reader with (primarily American) English legal terminology and a variety of law concepts. The book’s contents are selective rather than comprehensive because the focus lies on legal vocabulary rather than knowledge building. Thus, each chapter is followed by a list of related legal terms and concepts, whereby a wide range of legal terminology is defined and explained in English and not forced into a German corset. Among other issues, the book offers a valuable insight into the US trial and jury system, US legal education, the legal profession and various legal (civil and criminal) proceedings. It is a suitable reference book for law students as well as legal professionals and anyBartzone interested in US law and English legal terminology. The author’s main goal is to promote and ease the reader’s understanding of legal terms by contextualizing them, which should enable the legally trained eye to realize the small but subtle differences between the (American) English and related German terms. In addition, the book includes a great number of legal terms and their respective translation into German.