Ox English for Legal Professionals PDF

Title Ox English for Legal Professionals
Pages 97
File Size 72.1 MB
File Type PDF
Total Downloads 453
Total Views 539

Summary

.: ' :r- i€-... . +.- -t OXfORD AC I( N O\1 'L E D C IJ M IJ N T S t \ I \ Lt s tI 1 l , l ( I \ \ l'r-cp(r''c'd.lbr OtlPi'v:Srar{ishDrsigt, Editorial:rndProjectManagenre nt l.rd. Crelt Cl.r r t n c l o nS r r 0 e t(.) x 1 i) r ((l) x2 6 r ) p i hc (nrthor-s (rn{ll )rrl r...


Description

.: '

:ri€-...

.

+.-t

OXfORD

AC I( N O\1 'L E D C IJ M IJ N T S

t \ I \ Lt s tI 1 l , l ( I \ \ Crelt Cl.r r t n c l o nS r r 0 e t(.) x 1 i) r ((l) x2 6 r ) p O x f brrllr n j v e r s i t Yl ' r e s \i s i ( l e l) a r tr n cnot fth c' tln ive r sity0 l Oxlb r d . It ti.rfthcrsthr t inivcrsitt,s objcrtivc of exccllcncein rescarth. st lrolarship, rncl ccluc.ttiortbr' 1;ublishingwot'lclwicle in Oxlirrd \crv \brk

r\ uc k lan dC a p e T o w nD a r e sSa la a mHo n g Ko n g Ka r a ch i Kr.rala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi New Delhi ShanghaiTaipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Creece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Ponugal Singapore Sor.rthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam are registeredtrade marks of oxFoRDand oxFoRD ENGLTSH Oxford University Pressin the UK and in certain other countrres @Oxford University Press2oo9 Adapted fronr EnglishforLegalProfesionals by Andrew Frost @Cornelsen Verlag GmbH & Co. OHG, Berlin zoo8 The moral rights ofthe author have been asserted Databaseright Oxford University Press(maker) First published2oo9 2073 2012 2011 2O7O 709876 5 4 3 2 No unauthorized

photocopying

All rights reserved.No pan ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expresslypermitted by law, or under terms agreedwith the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scopeofthe above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press,at the addressabove You must not circulatethis book in any other binding or cover and you nust imposethis samecondition on any acquirer Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addressesare provided by Oxford University Pressfor information only. Oxford University Pressdisclaims any responsibility for the content rs BN:978o 1 94 5 7 9 1 6z Printed in China

l'r-cp(r''c'd.lbr OtlPi'v:Srar{ishDrsigt, Editorial:rndProjectManagenre nt l.rd. (rn{ll )rrl rl tshrr l l hosrrl i o hrryrqi rorl L',j ri ssi r)r i hc (nrthor-s trrrgni l L'/ilirr I(, i i 'l )rrl l rccl ht'.l i rl |rs i l l ! frl rl l .l si l I(i rl ri rl l l {l l i o,ts ofa()|\'n.glDltl l l l dIi Lti p25 : i /rr l intr's1ti Mal'ch200:l"'f ie cascthLowsclresscodcsinto confirsion' col 'l rcl i rnes/NSI yndi crti ontpp72.,76i l l r.si ndss l -dl r'D eniK s ecnan& S rr;th ItichesBUSINESS LAW 7th edition, O Pe:lrsontducation Limite(I,200.1: p36 'lhel irnesSJune 2004" l;lour power and contract law" O fhr,'l rnrcs/ NI Syndicationlpp38,42, 92 contractcl:rusesO Dr Albert Kitzler; pp72. 77 songwdting agreementCultural Foundation/Peter Bell amended for the purposeofthe exerciseby kind permissionofCultural Foundation www.cultfound.org; p46 TheTimes26March 2008 'J.K. Rowling determined to block RDRBooks' Harry Potter'rip-off"' @The Times/NISyndication: p47 TheTimes18 October 2007 "Why businesses should be wary ofgoing after eBayfakes" O Gill Grassie;p56 Letter of Intent @Beck'sches Formularbuch Zivil, Wirtschafis-und Unternehmensrecht herausgegbenvon Roben Walz (erschienen2007 im Verlag C.H. Beck, Munchen): p57 "Regarding FairnessOpinions ProsAsk, What's Faii?" Mergers6 Acquisitions Joumal,January 2008; p61 contract clauses @Beck'sches FormularbuchZivil-, Wirtschafts- und Untentchmensrecht herausgegbenvon Robert Walz (erschienen2007 im Verlag C.H. Beck, Munchen): pp65,67 "Creditors - order ofpriority" and tVAsGuide for Creditors: wrvwberr.govuk/R.eproducedunder the terms of the Click-UseLicence;p67 Thr'Times 29 December2006 'Lenderswlite offa record € 1.4bn ofI\A debt" @TTie Times/Nl Syndication Althoaghr1'cr1t'n)ll h(rsbccnnlodeto troceand contoctcopyightholders beforepultlictttion, thishdsnot br,enpossibie in somecases. Weapologise for any apparent infringementoJcoptright and. ifnotified, the publisherwillbe plcased to rectifyand en'orsor omissions .rt the eorlLest opportunity. Thepublisherwouldlike to thank the followingfor their kind permissionto photographs reproduce and othercopyrightmateial: istock ppS (lawyer/ Nicolay Suslov),(law books/SeanNel), 7 (mature woman/Justin Horrocks), (young man/Ben Blankenburg). (young woman/Jacob (matureman/JacobWackerhausen), Wackerhausen), (Asianwoman/ emilyzK),13 (projectorpresentation/Sean Locke),16 (matureGerman man/DuncanWalker),(maturewoman/PaulKline),(youngwoman/ Dmitriy Shironosov),(medium-agedman/lan McDonnell),(ltalian man/ lzabelaHabur),(medium-agedwoman/MichaelDeleon),18 (intervieW SeanLocke),22 (woman/SeanLocke),23 (contract/Nielslaan), 25 (formal/informal couple/Dmitry Sagalaev),26 ($oup meeting/Marcus Clackson),33 (digital camera/JakubSemeniuk), 37 (perfume/PaliRao), (chocolate/Pederk),(pills/Yin Yang),(leaning tower of Pisa/JimTardio Photogaphy), 48 (young man/Peter Finnie). (old man/Justin Horrocks), (young woman/jacob Wackerhausen),(medium-agedman/JasonYork), (CEOon phone/Mario13).58 (businessmanfillicole 49 (CEO/Mario13), Waring), 61 (businesswoman/Acilo),65 (businessman/FrancisBlack). nlustrationsW : Stephen May

a MultiROM Engtlshfur Legal Prohssionalsis accompaniedby a MuttiROMwhich has a numberof features. lnteracdyeqxerclsesto practiseuseful phrases,vocabulary, and communication throughyour computer. Listeningextracts.Theseare in enhancedaudio formatthat can be playedon a conventionalCD-player or throughthe audio playeron your computer. lf you haveany problems,pleasecheckthe technicat supportsectionof the readmefi[e on the MuttiROM.

l3

Tableof contents TOPtCS

USEFUTtAilGUAGEAlID SKItts

SeftinElup a business

typesof business the rightbusiness choosing type tiabitity company

givingadvice m a k i n gr e c o m m e n d a t i o n s e n u m e r a t i n rge a s o n s explainingstepsof a procedure

tro,"r.ngpeople

employment contracts amendments to contracts letter of resignation

referring t o l e g a ld o c u m e n t s statingrightsand obligations reportingoutcomes writingformallettersand emails

26

Buyin$ and selling Eoods and scrviees

preambles commoncontractterminoLogy i n t e r a c t i nw g itha client agreements andcontracts of sale contractual disputes a d v i s i n go n a c o u r s eo f a c t i o n commonlegaltermsandconditions

37

Protectingl intellectual property

copyright,patent,trademark landmarklP cases rightsagreement lP rightson the internet

negotiatingan agreement a m e n d i n ga n a g r e e m e n t l i n k i n gi d e a si n w r i t i n g

48

Merglers and acquisitions

planning anacquisition M & A procedure articlesof association financinga takeover lettersof intent(LOl)

c o m p a r i n ga n d c o n t r a s t i n lge g a l structures vocabularyof companyprocedures languageof meetings expressions usedin takeovers

58

Risk management and insolvency

legaIrisk insolvency terminologv assessing of insolvencye m p h a s i z i nag p o i n t causesandimplications insolvencyprocedures h y p o t h e s i z i nagb o u tp a s ta c t i o n s creditors'rights personalinsolvency

PAGE

APPENDIX

68 7o 75

Test yourself! Partner files Partner A Partner liles Partner B

8o a7

Transcripts Answer key

PA6E U]IIT

t6 I

4l

About the book Englishfor LegalProfessionals hasbeendesigned to provide anyonewhoneedsto speakaboutthe lawin a business environment withthe language theyneedto be ableto operatewithconfidence. Thesixunitscoverselectedbasicareasof Commercial Law:companylaw,employment [aw,contract patent law, andcopyrightlaw,mergersandtakeovers, riskmanagement, andbankruptcy law. pointsof lawdesigned Eachunithasits ownstoryline whichthrowsup interesting to placethe experienced legalprofessional in a position to adviseclientson suitablecourses of legalactionin English. A clientis givenadviceon startingup a company in Unitr, employees arehiredandcontracts of employment negotiated in Unitz, andcontracts withpartners arefinalized in Unit3. Successful protecttheirproducts companies in Unit4; somearein a position to takeoversmallerfirmsin Unit5; perhaps othershaveto takea closerlookat theirtiabilities, because theyareon the brinkof progression bankruptcy, in Unit6. Atthoughthereis a logicaI fromstart-upto bankruptcy, the units canbeapproached in anyorder. Eachunitbeginswitha Starter.a \riarm-Lp activitythatintroduces thethemeof the unitand the studentto refresh encourages existirgxro'.'rledge. Newoccupational vocabulary is acquired by ThereareVocabulary analyzing authentic documents. Assistants for manyexercises, whichprovide definitions of important wordsandphrases. Ne,,.figuresof speecharepractised in listening and speaking exercises. Language boxesprovideadviceon the correctusageoflegalandgeneral Engtish you language structures, whilethe Did know?boxesintegrate usefulprofessionaland linguistic information for English-speaking legaIexperts. role-plays Realistic usedwithrole-play cardsfromthe PartnerFitesallowstudents to practise what theyhavelearntin authentic legalsituations. An Outputcloseseveryunitwitha demanding and authentic textfromthetradepressandstudents pointsofview areencouraged to takepersonaI throughthe accompanying Overto you discussions. TheMuttiROMcontainsall the Listeningextractsfromthe book.Thesecanbe ptayedthroughthe audioplayeron yourcomputer, or througha conventional CDplayer.In orderto giveyourselfextra practice, listening listento it in yourcar.TheInteractive exercises let you reviewyourlearningby doingUsefuIphrases, VocabularyandCommunication exercises on yourcomputer. Thiswittbe particularly valuableif youareusingthe bookfor self-study. Thereis alsoan A-Z wordlistwith a[]the keywordsthat appearin Engtishfor LegalProfessionals, as wellas a glossaryof UsefuIphrasesand Thewordlistincludesa columnof phonetics vocabulary. anda spacefor youto writethe translations of the wordsin yourown language.

ls

Settin€ up a business

Lawyersoften haveto use these terms when talking about businesslaw. Howmanyof them are you familiar wlth? Canyou explain any of them?

r soletraderr articlesof association capital. tangible assets. equity/ company . unlimited companies liability registerof Forfurtherhelp,lookat the termsin the text below. t

for the firm's Deborah Eyans, a solicitorin the lawflrm GarfleldBrown,is writinga brochure clientsaboutthe differentbuslnessstructuresin the UnitedKingdom.Fill the gapswith the wordssuppliedbelow.

INFORMATION FORINVESTORS AND ENTREPRENEURS FROMABROAD in theUnitedKingdom Legalstructures i :. :::l :.:1,:

'

:..

.

. caSt.: t',.debtsr onyourown . owners. agreement .,'.pr9fitsr publicly. separate. shareholding personaflyliable Workingfor yourself as a sotetrader.Youdo not andaredescribed lf youworkfor yoursellyou areself-employed you your the start tradingandmanage business in order to set it up: simpty haveto register makesa certainamountof onceyourbusiness business '. However, year, you authority. As a sote trader,thereis no limitto the mustregisterwiththe tax moneyevery buton theotherhand,youhaveunlimited amountof capitalyoucantakeout of the business, your for tiability

6 | UNIT1

Settingup a business

Partnerships Therearetwo maintypesof partnership partnership. in the U.K.Theotdestis thegeneral This business vehicledoesnot havea separatelegalidentityfromthe peoplewho formit. This I withoutlimitfor thedebtsof thefirm. meansthatthe partners are a A writtenpartnership is recommended but is notrequired by taw. partnership A generaI private. cankeepits partnership agreement andits financial information Partners do not haveto provide a minimum amountof equityby lawbuttheyusuallyagreeto paycapitalintothefirmwhentheyjointhe partnership. Thesecondtypeof partnership in the partnership (LLP). U.K.is the timitedliabitity partnership, Untikea general the partners are I of the business, calledmembers. Thevarestillthe buttheirliabitity for the debtsof the firmis timited.However, everyLLPmustpublishregularfinancialinformation aboutitself. Limitedcompanies Thesebusiness mustbe registered structures on the Register of Companies andhavea b legalidentity. Thismeansthe members areonlytiabteto payfortheir z in thecompany. lt is the company thatis liabteto its creditors. Whena is formed,its ownerswillnormally putcapitaIintoit. However, company thiscompany capital 8- tangibleassetse.g.machinery doesnot haveto consistentirelvof canalsobe contributed. Limitedcompanies mustalsohavea writtenagreement - calledthe articlesof association. Thetwo maintypesof limitedcompanyarethe privatecompany(which hasLimitedor Ltd in its name)andthe publiccompany, or plc. plc A is often- but not always- a companywhosesharesaretraded i.e.anyoneis allowedto buythem.Forthesecompanies thereis a minimum amountof capital andtherearedifferentrequirements procedures. regarding directorsandaccounting DtDYOUrlOW? TheBritishandAmerican Engtish termsfor business structures vary.Theestablished in the structures UnitedKingdom aresoletraders,generalpartnerships, andtimitedcompanies. Soletradersand partnerships areoften(butnotalways)smallbusinesses. Limitedcompanies areusedby businesses of all sizes,fromtheverysmallto the verylarge.Thesmalleronesareoftenprivatecompanies andhave Ltdor Limitedin theirname.Largerlimitedcompanies oftenchooseto be publiccompanies andhaveptc in theirname.Sincezoorin the U.K.,a fourthbusiness structure, the limitedliabititypartnership or LLP, hasexisted. ln the U.S.,the abbreviations lnc andCorpareverycommon,buttheyarejustthe abbreviations acceptabte in attU.S.statesfor a company that hasregistered itselfas a separate legalidentity. TheU.S. limitedliabititycompany or l[C is a differenttypeof company whichcombines thetaxflexibitity of a partnership withthe personal liabitityprotection of a corporation. Besureto checkandusethe correcttermin the rightjurisdiction: exercise 1 on pages5-6 witl helpyou do t his .

U N I T1

2

S e t t i n gu p a b u s i n e s s| 7

Hereare somepoints of view about dlfferent legal aspectsof the companytypes presented above.What do you think?

A limited liability partnershipis a reallygood ideo nowadays. Youcan't expectlaw firms, orchitects,tox advisersand so on to acceptunlimitedliability in traditionalpartnerships.lf a big contractgoeswrong,it cancosttensof millions.

It's veryimportantfor a public companyto haveminimumequitytHowcan onyone haveconfidence in a companyof thissort if it doesn'thoveony capitalof its own?

I can't see why the law in the U.K.requiresa company to registeritself beforeit startstrading,but doesn't requirea sole traderor a partnershipto registerat that paint. They'reall businesses,aren't they?

I feel verysorryfor entrepreneurswho form a limited company. Theideabehindthistypeof companyis that yourpersonal as soonos the ownersgo to assetsshouldn'tbe at risk.However, the bonkfor stort-upcapital,the banksecuresany loonsit makes ossets- usuallytheirhome. againstthe owners'personal AUDIO

g\

v}

3

DeborahFlynnhas a meetingwith her client Miya Osborne,a fapanesewomantiving in the U.K. andanswerthequestions. Partr: Listento the firstpartof the meeting r

Whendid sheformhercompany?

business? z Whatis the natureof MivaOsborne's

doesshenowwantto moveintoandwhy? 3 Whatareaof business 4 Whatplansdoesshehavefor oneor two of hercolteagues? advicefromDeborah? 5 Whatotherreasondoesshehavefor seeking

8 | uNlTl'

Settingup a business

AUDIO

a

Partz: ListenandcompleteDeborahFlynn'swrittennotesfromthe meeting.

7

lvltya Osborrtt u currextly ruvutivg her ivnport bwinus as a soletraobr and has 2 ernployu^r. Shz has fauvtd a possible v1r.wproperty to ure ar a shtp owd wants to yrwke aw ffir to buy tt imnediatdy. Rtskt We dow't Ww whether shc.wLu be oillav,led to chavge its we/rorn an ^ buildivg to a shtp. Ne*d to find o,tt tnore.

She'sftwrved tUz bwLnzrsup ta wv,/wtvg the

! of tt^e

bwirizss and satu&sawvEs.she has 3 rusow for formtvg ot coynpqnyww:

1. to rev'/ardthe loyalty of h", Z stdf by gtivtg thzm a thz bwivtzss

,Lw

2. otko toreNard thLym;trffi:tr-fuure bymakbs them 3. thz. bwLnzs.ryrxds to apand qnd thue b a possihlencw who wowtt share^sin thz bwirizrs She doerw't woM, to borrow monzyfrorn the bank becausethe bq* wiil qsk hr-r f the toawpersavuillyand that wtII put her htme at rirk qs thz laqyLwill be seturd ovt,her hnwe.

4

In prlncipte, lllya Osbornehas a potentiatly good ldea, but there are a lot of issues to consider. Work in smatl groupsand discussthese quest:ons. . ShouldMiyaOsbornegivesharesin the newcompanyto hertwo loyalemptoyees? Whatarethe risky? rewarding loyalty that are less other ways of for her? Are there any risks r Whatotherstructures Whydo youthinkDeborahdid not suggest for Miya'sbusiness? areavailable them? . lf youwereadvisingMiyain yourowncountry, wouldyouradvicebe the sameor differentfrom Why? Deborah's? Lookat Deborah'slist of issues.What should tlya do and why? Usethe following phrases: I would(wouldn't)adviseherto .... | (don't)thinksheshould....

oughtto .... She(realty) Shecouldalways....

UNITl

5

S e t t i n g u p a b u s i n e s| s9

A daylater DeborahFlynnsendstliya Osbornethe followingtetter. Putthe six paragraphsinto the correctorder.

Dear Mrs Osborne New businessproposals a) Accordingly,I must stressthat a bank will usuallyask you to guaranteethe loan personally,which it might make to your companyand take your houseas security.This would mean that, if the companydefaultedon the loan, the bank would requireyou to repayit. If you could not afford to do so,the bank would take legalproceedingsto sellyour houseand recoverits money. b) I look forward to meetingyou againnext weekasarranged.Meanwhileif you haveany questions about the mattersI haveraisedin this letter,pleasedo not hesitateto contactme on my direct ling which is setout at the top of the page. c) Following our meetingthis morning, I write to summarizemy adviceand setout the stepswhich you shouldtake now. d) As you explained,your businesshas now reacheda point wheie it needsto expandand requires externalfunding to do this. Your choicesare betweendebt (that is, a bank loan) and equity (that ig financingthrough sharesbought by an investor).Bank loansareavailableto you asa soletrader and would also be availableif you wereto form a company.You explainedinitially that you were interestedin obtaining a bank loan to pay for someof the expansion,but that you wereworried about the effectthat this might haveon your personalassets,particularlyyour house. e) If you decideto incorporatethe businessas just described,then you will be under more legal obligationsthan you wereas a soletrader.Theseobligationsrelateto the waysin which you can take money out of the company,and the waysin which you make valid decisionson behalf of the company.I enclosea copy of our firm's booklet Runningyour newcompanywhich givessome examplesof theseobligationsand explainsa little about the constitution of the company. f) Turning to financingthroughshares, this option is not availableto soletradersor partnershipsand is only possibleif you form a company.Sincean externalinvestoris alreadyinterestedin investing in your business,I would advisethe formation of a privatecompanyasthe most practicaloption. The assetsof the businesswould be transferredfrom you astheir ownerto the companyand shares would be issuedto you and the other shareholders. Yours sincerely

Deborah Flynn Solicitor

A n s w e r...


Similar Free PDFs