Unit 8: English for Legal Purposes

Aims and Objectives

In this unit you will learn and practise vocabulary related to legal terms.

You will practise the following skills and functions:

• being discreet

The grammar focus of this unit is:

• PASSIVE and ACTIVE

Vocabulary

	declaración jurada
	apelación
	sumario
	ladrón
	caso
	corporativo
	tribunal
	daños
	escritura
	acusado/demandado
	divorcio
	pruebas
	culpable
	encarcelación
	inocente
	juez
	judicial
	jurado
	ley
	abogado
	legal
	legislativo
	homicidio involuntario
	hipoteca
	asesino
	notario
	delito
	precedente
	proceso
	trámites
	fiscal
	derechos
	sentencia
	abogado
	citación
	testimonio
	robo
	ladrón
	arrestar
	acusar
	alegar
	codificar
	perpetrar
	interrogar
	decretar
	demandar
	tribunal
	veredicto
	testamento
	testigo

Exercises

Section 1: Vocabulary Practice

Fill in the correct translation for each of the terms below.

1. divorcio [?]
2. citación [?]
3. derechos [?]
4. codificar [?]
5. demandar [?]
6. declaración jurada [?]
7. testamento [?]
8. delito [?]
9. culpable [?]
10. testimonio [?]
11. abogado [?]
12. sentencia [?]
13. inocente [?]
14. legislativo [?]
15. jurado [?]
16. legal [?]
17. acusado/demandado [?]
18. robo [?]
19. juez [?]
20. corporativo [?]
21. ladrón [?]
22. decretar [?]
23. alegar [?]
24. notario [?]
25. veredicto [?]
26. asesino [?]
27. interrogar [?]
28. trámites [?]
29. homicidio involuntario [?]
30. ley [?]
31. acusar [?]
32. fiscal [?]
33. tribunal [?]
34. encarcelación [?]
35. hipoteca [?]
36. precedente [?]
37. judicial [?]
38. caso [?]
39. daños [?]
40. arrestar [?]
41. apelación [?]
42. testigo [?]
43. proceso [?]
44. perpetrar [?]
45. sumario [?]
46. pruebas [?]
47. escritura [?]

Section 2: Listening Comprehension

Chose the correct answer.

Recording: show transcript

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. How does Michelle's friend know that she has a new job?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
2. How did Michelle get a job as a legal secretary?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
3. What did Michelle have to do to get the job ?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
4. What sort of work does she do?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
5. Who supervises her work?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]

Chose the correct answer.

Recording: show transcript

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. Where is Jack going?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
2. What has Jack done wrong?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
3. What do blind stenographers use?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
4. Who does Jack work for?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
5. What sort of documents does he prepare.?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]

Chose the correct answer.

Recording: show transcript

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. Why was the man in court?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
2. What did the thief steal?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
3. What was the magistrate's verdict?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
4. How did the defendant remove his arm?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
5. Did the defendant go to prison for the crime?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]

Chose the correct answer.

Recording: show transcript

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. Who sued whom?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
2. What happened?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
3. What did the accident report say?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
4. When the officer arrived at the scene what did he do?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
5. Why did the officer shoot the horse?

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]

Section 3: General Comprehension

For each of the statements below, choose True or False.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. To work as a legal secretary you must specialise in legal terminology.

   
   
   

   [?]
2. A legal secretary prepares legal papers.

   
   
   

   [?]
3. A legal secretary's work is very boring.

   
   
   

   [?]
4. A court recorder works in a court room.

   
   
   

   [?]
5. A court recorder doesn't use a stenography machine.

   
   
   

   [?]
6. To be a court recorder you must be certified.

   
   
   

   [?]
7. There are special stenography machines for the visually impaired.

   
   
   

   [?]
8. A court recorder doesn't need a high speed on the stenography machine.

   
   
   

   [?]
9. Witnesses give testimony.

   
   
   

   [?]
10. Private detectives are sometimes used in divorce cases.

    
    
    

    [?]

Speaking Practice. Complete the sentences you hear, using the example as a model.

Press Play to listen to the instructions:

Section 4: Grammar Practice

In this exercise, change the sentences from Active to Passive. All the sentences are in the Present.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

Example:

1. A. The lawyer supervises her.
   B. [?]
2. A. They record the proceedings.
   B. [?]
3. A. Courts of law contract me.
   B. [?]
4. A. They can store the information.
   B. [?]
5. A. Do they always catch criminals?
   B. [?]
6. A. Legal secretaries prepare the documents.
   B. [?]
7. A. Somebody is sending the deeds tomorrow.
   B. [?]
8. A. Do they consider a person innocent until proved guilty?
   B. [?]
9. A. Do they execute murderers in that country?
   B. [?]
10. A. The judge is going to sentence him tomorrow.
    B. [?]

In this exercise, change the sentences from Active to Passive. All the sentences are in the Past.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

Example:

1. A. The lawyer supervised her work.
   B. [?]
2. A. The police arrested the burglar.
   B. [?]
3. A. They took him to court.
   B. [?]
4. A. The judge sentenced him a year in prison.
   B. [?]
5. A. A car injured Mr Smith and his horse.
   B. [?]
6. A. Mr Smith sued the driver of the car.
   B. [?]
7. A. The lawyer cross-examined him.
   B. [?]
8. A. Did somebody injure you?
   B. [?]
9. A. Why did the police officer shoot the horse?
   B. [?]
10. A. Who wrote this document?
    B. [?]

In this exercise, change the sentences from Active to Passive, using the Indirect Object as subject of the passive. All the sentences are in the Past.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

Example:

1. A. My friend told me the name of the company.
   B. [?]
2. A. A big law firm gave Susan a job.
   B. [?]
3. A. The lawyer asked the burglar a lot of questions.
   B. [?]
4. A. How many visits did they allow him?
   B. [?]
5. A. They promised the young man a pardon.
   B. [?]
6. A. Somebody sent the Prime Minister a letter bomb.
   B. [?]
7. A. They taught her stenography.
   B. [?]
8. A. An informer gave the police some important information.
   B. [?]
9. A. My boss told me the news.
   B. [?]
10. A. The judge gave the prisoner a long sentence.
    B. [?]

Chose the correct answer.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
2. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
3. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
4. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
5. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
6. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
7. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
8. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]
9. a. 
   b. 
   

   [?]

Section 5: Consolidation

For each of the statements below, choose True or False.

Recording: show transcript

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. Common law developed in Britain and then spread to continental Europe.

   
   
   

   [?]
2. European Union law comes from both common and civil law systems.

   
   
   

   [?]
3. The civil law system is used in many more countries than common law.

   
   
   

   [?]
4. Codification is the essence of civil law.

   
   
   

   [?]
5. Common law systems are codifying their laws.

   
   
   

   [?]
6. Civil law systems never admit the existence of judicial precedent.

   
   
   

   [?]
7. Civil law relies on laws made by judges.

   
   
   

   [?]
8. In the future, common law and civil law will appear the same.

   
   
   

   [?]
9. In civil law an unwritten system of judicial precedent has developed.

   
   
   

   [?]
10. In a civil law system, codification is the responsibility of the legislative body.

    
    
    

    [?]

Listen to the complete recording first. Then go to the textbox and use the > key to listen to the text section by section. Type what you hear into the textbox. For detailed instructions, read the Exercise Help.

Recording: show transcript

[?]

Listen to the recording carefully and then fill in the gaps in the text below using the same words.

Recording:

European Union law comes from multiple [?] and borrows from [?] common and civil law systems.

[?] law developed in Britain. Whatever the Monarch [?] other legislative body decreed became law. This was interpreted in [?] light of particular situations and new opinions and decisions became law.

The essence of [?] law, which is used in many more countries than common law, is that every law of the country is written [?] the law [?] the legislative body. The judge is limited [?] applying the law to the facts of a given case. Because the facts of each case may vary [?] unwritten system of judicial precedent has developed.

Choose the correct option to fill the gaps in the following sentences.

This exercise can be also done purely aurally/orally:

1. Secretaries may ____ in many different areas of the law.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
2. Lawyers delegate some of their ____ to their secretary.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
3. Lawyers ____ divorce agreements.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
4. Some employers train ____ secretaries on the job

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
5. Because secretaries frequently ____ with the public, they should be courteous.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
6. Lawyers are responsible for legal work, but they ____ their tasks to legal secretaries.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
7. Legal secretaries understand legal terminology and have organisational ____ .

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
8. The civil law system is used in ____ more countries than common law.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
9. The judge's role is ____ to the application of the law.

   a. 
   b. 
   c. 
   

   [?]
10. The jury could not ____ on a verdict.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
11. The murder case went ____ the Court.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
12. He was____ he had the right to remain silent.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
13. The ____ of a Notary is to authenticate documents.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
14. The Notary has the responsibility to protect ____ fraud.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
15. A ____ in England is a kind of lawyer.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
16. Civil law is ____ codified.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
17. In civil law, every law of the country is written ____ the law.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
18. His solicitor is seeking compensation ____ the Defendant.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
19. A stenographer gets a professional ____.

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]
20. Crime doesn't ____ .

    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    

    [?]

Checklist

Use the following list to check whether you have obtained full benefit from this unit. You should be able to:

• use vocabulary related to common legal terms for daily situations

You should also have greater skill and confidence in the use of:

• Present Passive
• Past Passive