WHY DO YOU NEED LEGAL & BUSINESS ENGLISH TO MOVE AHEAD IN YOUR CAREER AS A LAWYER?

As a lawyer you need to produce emails, texts, and documents that serve the needs of the client. These needs include solving existing problems efficiently, foreseeing and forestalling future problems, issues, tensions, and uncertainties, which occur in all forms of human social and economic transactions. Courts, in particular, are growing increasingly impatient with lawyers’ texts, which are some times badly written enough that they result in litigation.

The spread of Common Law Court systems in Civil law Countries, such as the DIFC in Dubai and the newer court systems now developing in Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan, all contribute to the requirement for lawyers to possess a high level of legal and business English ability to appear before the courts and to conduct cases and other legal business.

In the 21st-century, with the de-facto use of English as the language of international business, legal English has become even more important in the international legal sphere. It is the common legal language, which all non-native English speaking lawyers use in their international transactions. This leads to the simple rule that, if you want to practice international law – you must be able to use legal and Business English effectively.

I have been helping many legal professionals improve their legal and business English communication skills. In my program, I also provide tips and guidance which will assist you in developing, speeding up, and achieving success in your legal career. If I had to choose just one piece of advice, above all others, then it has to be – Constantly improve your legal & business English ability!

Law students around the world are now required to study so much law in their degree courses, that they have no time to develop professional skills. Because of this, you will quickly be able to gain an advantage over your contemporaries if you can improve your English ability to a high level. One other point is almost certain, as well: Unless you are able to speak English and deal with legal English effectively then you have little chance of becoming an international lawyer. Clients will not wish to deal with a lawyer who can only communicate with them through an interpreter. Clients prefer the human element and want to deal direct with the lawyer who is handling their matter.

Legal professionals who operate internationally, who communicate with clients and other professionals across different cultures, have a need for both trans-national legal awareness and trans-cultural linguistic awareness. Whatever the nature of the legal writing, whether for correspondence, documents or courts, legal skills and language skills are a vital part of a lawyer’s professional training.

Why is it so important for newly qualified lawyers?

Learning legal and business terms is important for your career if you are studying law regardless of the country. The main reason behind this is the rise in globalization. Since many people study in one country and then apply their learned skills by moving to another country, it is important that you should be able to communicate well while interacting with others.

Since learning both written and spoken legal communication skills is essential to succeed in the legal profession, you should give special emphasis to it.

Learning legal and business terms along with the concepts of law is the only way you can represent yourself as a lawyer. Due to a challenging market for lawyers, it is a necessity for all lawyers.

The last messages I want to leave you with relate to success and developing yourself and your career come from famous people. I know that some people may argue with my advice, but it's difficult to argue with the advice from these successful people.

"There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed". Ray Goforth.

"Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts". Winston S.Churchill.

I agree with Churchill – I believe it's important to experience failure at least once in your life, in order for you to learn how to get past it and move on to success.

And something I heard somewhere but I don't know who said it first. “In life you will meet three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say: what happened?” Make sure that you're one of the ones who make things happen. Success is there waiting for you. Go out and take it – why shouldn't you have it? But remember, no one else is going to deliver it for you. Your own actions and determination are going to be needed on this journey.