Legal English refers to the style of English used by lawyers and other legal professionals in the course of their work. It has particular relevance when applied to the drafting of written material, including:

• legal documents: contracts, licences etc
• court pleadings: summons, briefs, judgments etc
• laws: Acts of parliament and subordinate legislation, case reports
• legal correspondence

Legal English has traditionally been the preserve of lawyers from English-speaking countries (such as the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) which have shared common law traditions. However, due to the spread of English as the predominant language of international business, as well as its role as a legal language within the European Union, legal English is now a global phenomenon.

Historical development
Modern legal English is based on standard English. However, it contains a number of unusual features. These largely relate to terminology, linguistic structure, linguistic conventions, and punctuation, and have their roots in the history of the development of English as a legal language.

Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, French was the official language of legal proceedings in England for a period of nearly 300 years. Consequently, many words in common use in modern legal English are derived from French. These include property, estate, chattel, lease, executor, and tenant. The use of French during this period has an enduring influence on the general linguistic register of modern legal English. It also accounts for some of the complex linguistic structures employed in legal writing.

During the period mentioned above, Latin remained the language of formal records and statutes. However, since only the learned were fluent in Latin, it never became the language of legal pleading or debate. The influence of Latin can be seen in a number of words and phrases (such as ad hoc, de facto, bona fide, inter alia, and ultra vires) which remain in current use in legal writing.

In 1356, the Statute of Pleading was enacted, which stated that all legal proceedings should be conducted in English (but recorded in Latin).

Key features
As noted above, legal English differs from standard English in a number of ways. The most important of these differences are as follows:

• Use of terms of art. Legal English, in common with many other professional languages variations, employs a great deal of terminology that has a technical meaning and is not generally familiar to the layperson (e.g. waiver, restraint of trade, restrictive covenant, promissory estoppel).
• Use of foreign - mainly French and Latin - words and phrases.
• Use of ordinary words in apparently peculiar contexts. For example, the familiar term consideration refers, in legal English, to contracts, and means, an act, forbearance or promise by one part to a contract that constitutes the price for which the promise of the other party is bought (Oxford Dictionary of Law). Other words often used in peculiar contexts in legal English include construction, prefer, redemption, furnish, hold, and find.
• Lack of punctuation. One of the most unusual aspects of old-fashioned legal drafting – particularly in conveyances and deeds – is the almost complete lack of punctuation. This arose from a widespread belief among lawyers and judges that punctuation was unimportant, potentially confusing; and that the meaning of legal documents should be gathered solely from the words used and the context in which they were used. In modern legal drafting, punctuation is (or should be) used for the same reason as it is used in ordinary writing – to give clarification about meaning.
• Use of doublets and triplets. There is a curious historical tendency in legal English to string together two or three words to convey what is usually a single legal concept. Examples of this include null and void, fit and proper, perform and discharge, dispute, controversy or claim, and promise, agree and covenant. Such constructions must be treated with caution, since sometimes the words used mean, for practical purposes, exactly the same thing (null and void); and sometimes they do not quite do so (dispute, controversy or claim).
• Unusual word order. At times, the word order used in legal documents appears distinctly strange. For example, the provisions for termination hereinafter appearing or will at the cost of the borrower forthwith comply with the same. There is no single clear reason explaining this phenomenon, although the influence of French grammatical structures is certainly a contributing factor.
• Use of unfamiliar pronouns. For example, the same, the said, the aforementioned etc. The use of such pronouns in legal texts is interesting since very frequently they do not replace the noun – which is the whole purpose of pronouns – but are used to supplement them. For example, the said John Smith.
• Here-, there- and where- words. Words like hereof, thereof, and whereof (and further derivatives, including -at, -in, -after, -before, -with, -by, -above, -on, -upon etc) are not often used in ordinary English. They are used in legal English primarily as a way of avoiding the repetition of names of things in the document – very often, the document itself. For example, the parties hereto instead of the parties to this contract.
• -er, -or, and -ee name endings. Legal English contains a large number of names and titles, such as employer and employee, or lessor and lessee, in which the reciprocal and opposite nature of the relationship is indicated by the use of alternative endings. This practice derives from Latin.
• Use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs play a large role in legal English, and are often used in a quasi-technical sense. For example, parties enter into contracts, put down deposits, serve [documents] upon other parties, write off debts, and so on.

Legal English education
Due to the prevalence of the English language in international business relations, as well as its role as a legal language within the European Union, a feeling has existed for a long period in the international legal community that traditional English language training is not sufficient to meet lawyers’ English language requirements. The main reason for this is that such training generally ignores the ways in which English usage may be modified by the particular demands of legal practice – and by the conventions of legal English as a separate branch of English in itself.

As a result of this Legal-Ease International Inc, is the World Leader in Legal English and provides the perfect training seminar and materials for lawyers worldwide. Courses are also given online. Sign up now at www.legalenglish.com or email to info@legalenglish.com.