LEGAL ENGLISH IN RUSSIA

LEGAL ENGLISH IN RUSSIA
The main aim of this blog is to discuss matters of interest to Russian speakers who work with and draft legal documents in English, based on my experience of working as a legal editor, translator and English solicitor in a prominent Russian law firm.













21 November 2013

10 expressions with their roots in the glorious game of cricket

Cricket. It’s a game that is incomprehensible to many and is regarded as boring by some. On the other hand I, in the words of the song by 10CC, love it. How can anyone with a soul not adore a game in which the players break for tea? Where after heated battle for six hours a day over five days, they pack up to go home with no decisive result at all, merely shaking hands and saying, “Good show, chaps. It’s a draw!” This, it strikes me, is the height of Englishness.

Today, battle was resumed in international cricket’s oldest rivalry: over in Brisbane, Australia and England started a series of matches over the next few weeks for The Ashes. I won’t go into detail about exactly what this means, but for me it’s a BIG DEAL. And so, instead, I’ll bring you a few phrases that have passed into the English language (or at least the British version of it) courtesy of this engagingly eccentric sport.

19 November 2013

The single word that exemplifies everything I most loathe in legal English

As Richard Wydick, the author of the book Plain English for Lawyers, notes, lawyers “use eight words to say what could be said in two. We use arcane phrases to express commonplace ideas. Seeking to be precise, we become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, we become verbose.” I think he’s right, and there’s one word above all that I regard as a bellwether for these trends. That word, guaranteed to send me into paroxysms of unrestrained fury every time I see it, is “hereinafter”.

Defend or protect?

Sometimes it’s hard to choose the right word in a language that isn’t your own; you aren’t quite sure of all the nuances that different options reflect. This is all the more so when a single word in your language can be rendered by two different words in your target language, as is the case with ‘defend’ and ‘protect’ in English, both of which often translate the Russian verb ‘защищать’.

18 November 2013

20 phrases in English that were made popular by Shakespeare

One of the best ways for anyone looking to write English which is more natural, readable and lively to achieve their objective is to use idioms. Of course this isn’t much use when drafting complex contractual documentation, but in other contexts – even corresponding with clients – it’s not only tolerable but even recommended.

The individual who invented or popularised more phrases that are still used in modern English than anyone else is William Shakespeare. His impact on the language in this regard was quite extraordinary, and is well worth a closer look.

The lawyer in me

I generally advise people not to get too hung up if they have to work with legal texts. In my opinion, good English is good English, whether it’s used in legal writing or in a sports report. Nonetheless, there’s one aspect of working with legal texts that lawyers, editors and translators need to take on board, and that’s the need to be faithful in preserving the original or intended meaning of any text you’re modifying. This was brought home to me recently by one of my favourite language resources.

Do as I do or do as I say? The role of the legal editor

When I edit legal texts (and, as we’ve previously noted, I use this term advisedly), my primary objective is to produce a document that reads as though it could have been written by a native English-speaking lawyer. However, I strongly believe that an editor who works with non-native speakers has another important role, and that’s to set a good example to the people whose work you edit. People assume that you, as a native speaker, produce English that they can imitate.

A note on swearing

In discussing matters falling within its scope, this blog aims where possible to use everyday, modern British English. Everyday, modern British English sometimes features swearing.

What I do and what I don’t do

At work, I regularly receive requests to look over documents and sometimes they’re phrased in a way that really gets my back up. Sometimes the offending formulation appears even in the title of the email containing the request, making me ill-disposed to the task before I even know what it is.

How to avoid confusion when terminology may be ambiguous

Legal writing in English can sometimes confuse readers because different items of legal terminology can sometimes be ambiguous. Here I take a look at some of those and suggest ways to avoid problems.

A note on British and American English

In this blog, I’ll be using British English. This is for the simple reason that I’m British. I’m not interested in offering partisan arguments about what may be the best form of English; in cases where British and American usage differs, the American version is probably to my preference at least as often as the British.

The difference between the relative pronouns ‘that’ and ‘which’

Relative clauses in English (i.e. those which modify a preceding noun, noun phrase or pronoun) are introduced by a relative pronoun – either ‘that’ or ‘which’, depending on the circumstances.

This blog: what it’s all about, and the one thing I want to stress above all

Having decided to make a serious effort with this blog, I thought I should start off by saying a few words about what I’m seeking to achieve by producing it. In one sense, that’s easy: it does exactly what it says on the tin, in that it deals with legal English in a Russian context. But the how and the why also deserve some explanation.