TOLES/CAMBRIDGE LAW STUDIO

Most contracts for the sale of something (goods?) say that the goods are sold 'free of encumbrance.' The contract usually names a lot of different kinds of encumbrance. For example, 'pledge', 'lien', 'mortgage', 'floating charge.' Young lawyers need to know the meaning of these words in their first language and in English. This is what legal English is. Join us in Cambridge and online.

"The problem is, they can't draft." That's what law firms have been telling me about new law graduates for 25 years. Of course new graduates can't draft a contract. Their degree doesn't teach them that. We make our courses a safe 'bridge' between university and real work in law. Step 1 is understanding the legal vocabulary found in commercial contracts. Knowing the meaning of legal vocabulary is the start of being able to draft. Join us in Cambridge or online.

In English, we use the word ‘mortgage’ in two ways. As security on real estate, it is a ‘legal mortgage.’ But we also call the money a person borrows to buy real estate a ‘mortgage loan.’ When a lawyer says ‘mortgage’ they mean a legal mortgage. When a homeowner says ‘mortgage’ they mean a mortgage loan. This is legal English 🙂

You be the judge in this contract dispute. Mr Stilk was one of 11 sailors who signed a contract to sail a ship from London to the Baltic and back again. In the Russian port of Kronstadt, 2 of the sailors disappeared. The captain promised the 9 remaining men a share of the pay of the 2 missing men if they sailed the ship safely back to London. They did so. The captain then said he would pay them NO EXTRA because they were under contract to sail back anyway. Who wins. Stilk or the captain?

Exploring around the London law courts. We say goodbye to our October group of lawyers tomorrow. Bon Viyage, safe journey home.

I always tell our international law students that they are studying ‘book law.’ They learn to identify what a contract is, but not how to produce a contract. We believe that as well as learning legal English, any law student needs to begin with drafting and ‘commercial awareness’ from Day 1 of studying with us.

Monday is probably a good day for ‘simple interest’ and ‘compound interest.’ A person buys a car ‘on credit’, which means they enter into a contract to buy the car by paying equal monthly amounts for a period of three years. Those equal monthly amounts are called ‘instalments.’ The price of being allowed to pay this way is that 4.5% interest each year is added to the cost of the car, and each monthly instalment contains part of that interest. This is ‘simple interest’. However, the contract states that if the buyer fails to pay an instalment, a second layer of interest at 6% is added to the debt. The 6% is another layer of interest on a monthly instalment that ALREADY contains part of the 4.5%. This second level is compound interest. It is forbidden in many jurisdictions, but it happens in common law systems quite often. This vocabulary is legal English. 🙂

The legal term ‘breach’ means to break a contract. In other words, to fail to fulfil a contractual obligation is ‘to breach the contract.’ A significant breach is called ‘a material breach.’ A material breach could be enough to end the contract. A less serious breach is called ‘a minor breach.’ A minor breach usually results in a payment of compensation called ‘damages’, but it will not end the contract. Legal vocabulary: breach, material breach, minor breach, damages. This is legal English 🙂

In common law systems, contracts always explain what the parties are exchanging. There is always a sentence starting ‘In consideration of… .’ For example, in consideration of the shares in the company, the buyer agrees to pay $10 per share’ that phrase ‘in consideration of… is always there. They do this because an agreement is only ‘binding’ on the parties if a court can see that both parties provided ‘consideration’. Legal vocabulary for international lawyers to translate: ‘in consideration of’, ‘a binding contract’, ‘shares in a company’. This is legal English 🙂

Which is more painful? To ‘fall into arrears’ or to ‘fall in love’? Which fall hurts most? The phrase to ‘fall into arrears’ means to fail to pay a debt on the day you agreed to pay. Contracts speak about ‘arrears’. What is the contractual consequence of arrears? It’s usually interest. At what rate? Painfully high.