Bibielle Global Translations, S.L.

Writing in Plain English for lawyers _ LESSON 5

2012-02-24T10:51:00.001+01:00

Write using “if-then” conditionals

Conditionalstatements are very common in disclosure documents— although they are rarelywritten that way. When we rewrote the last example as a conditional, wefollowed the natural English word order very closely. That’s why the sentenceis easier to read.

Hereare four rules of thumb to help you write conditional statements effectively:

· One “if,” one “then” When there is only one if andone then, starting with the if may spare some of your readersfrom having to read the rest of the sentence. In these cases, the if clausedefines who or what the “then” clause applies to.

If youinvested in Class A shares, then...

· One “if,” multiple “thens” When there is only one if and more than one then, start withthe if and tabulate the thens.

· Multiple “ifs,” one “then” When there is only one then and more than one if, start withthe then and tabulate the ifs.

· Multiples “ifs” and “thens” When there is more thanone if and more than one then, you’ll probably need to break itdown into more than one sentence, taking care to specify which ifs applyto which thens. If the information is still unclear, consider presentingthe information in a table.

Keep your sentence structure parallel

A longsentence often fails without a parallel structure. Parallelism simply meansensuring a list or series of items is presented using parallel parts of speech,such as nouns or verbs. Note the quotation in the margin.

Inthis section, we’ve shown each parallel structure we’ve used in bold.

Here’san example from a mutual fund prospectus that lacks parallel structure:

before

If youwant to buy shares in Fund X by mail, fill out and sign theAccount Application form, making your check payable to “The X Fund,” andput your social security or taxpayer identification number on yourcheck.

after

If you want to buy shares in Fund X by mail, fillout and sign the Account Application form, make your checkpayable to “The X Fund,” and put your social security or taxpayeridentification number on your check.

Here is a more subtle example from another mutual fund prospectus:

before

We invest the Fund’s assets in short-term money market securities to provide you with liquidity, protection of your investment, and high current income.

Thissentence is unparallel because its series is made up of two nouns and anadjective before the third noun. It’s also awkward because the verb provide is too closely paired with the nominalization protection.

Onelogical revision to the original sentence is to change the noun series to averb series.

after

Weinvest in short-term money market securities to provide you withliquidity, to protect your investment, and to generate high currentincome.

Allwriters, regardless of their degree of expertise, occasionally write unparallelsentences. The best way to rid your document of them is to read through it oncesolely to find these mistakes. Reading your document aloud can make unparallelconstructions easier to spot.

Steer clear of “respectively”

Howeasy is it to read the following sentence once and understand what it means?

before

TheSenior Notes and the guarantee (the “Guarantee”) of the Senior Notes by IslandHoldings will constitute unsecured senior obligations of the Issuer and IslandHoldings, respectively.

after

Thesenior notes are an unsecured senior obligation of the issuer, while theguarantee of the senior notes is an unsecured senior obligation of IslandHoldings.

Wheneveryou use “respectively,” you force your reader to go back and match up whatbelongs to what. You may be saving words by using “respectively,” but yourreader has to use more time and read your words twice to understand what you’vewritten.

I now understand why Spanair filed bankruptcy

2012-02-15T18:58:00.001+01:00

Case Study: Ordinanza GIP di Grosseto. Incidente Costa Concordia. Too literal translation, clumsy wording in English and outright bad syntax

2012-02-07T10:50:00.001+01:00

Ordinanza originale in lingua italiana

Traduzione_ordinanza_grosseto.pdf

Writing in Plain English for lawyers _ LESSON 4

2012-02-05T21:58:00.000+01:00

Use short sentences

No onelikes to read a sentence that’s two pages long. And yet, lengthy,information-packed sentences choke many prospectuses today. To complicatematters further, these sentences are filled with jargon and legalese. Thelonger and more complex a sentence, the harder it is for readers to understandany single portion of it.

before

The following description encompasses all the material terms and provisions of the Notes offered hereby and supplements, and to the extent inconsistent therewith replaces, the description of the general terms and provisions of the Debt Securities (as defined in the accompanying Prospectus) set forth under the heading “Description of Debt Securities” in the Prospectus, to which description reference is hereby made. The following description will apply to each Note unless otherwise specified in the applicable Pricing Supplement.

If youreally want to root out the problem with this paragraph, you need to think ofthe deeper reasons why it doesn’t work. If you look beyond the language used,you’ll find that it presents complex information without first providing acontext for the reader.

Therewrites that follow show two ways to provide the context, with and withouttabulation.

after

Weprovide information to you about our notes in three separate documents thatprogressively provide more detail: 1) the prospectus, 2) the prospectussupplement, and 3) the pricing supplement. Since the terms of specific notesmay differ from the general information we have provided, in all cases rely oninformation in the pricing supplement over different information in theprospectus and the prospectus supplement; and rely on this prospectussupplement over different information in the prospectus.

Information-packed sentences leave most investors scratching their heads.So many of these sentences have become “boilerplate” that writers cut and pastethem into new documents without thinking about how they can be improved. Sincethese sentences can be a little intimidating, we thought we’d tackle anotherone:

before

TheDrake Capital Corporation (the “Company”) may offer from time to time itsGlobal Medium-Term Notes, Series A, Due from 9 months to 60 Years From Date ofIssue, which are issuable in one or more series (the “Notes”), in the UnitedStates in an aggregate principal amount of up to U.S. $6,428,598,500, or theequivalent thereof in other currencies, including composite currencies such asthe European Currency Unit (the “ECU”) (provided that, with respect to OriginalIssue Discount Notes (as defined under “Description of Notes—Original IssueDiscount Notes”), the initial offering price of such Notes shall be used incalculating the aggregate principal amount of Notes offered hereunder).

after
TheDrake Capital Corporation may offer at various times up to U.S. $6,428,598,500worth of Global Medium-term notes. These notes will mature from 9 months to 60years after the date they are purchased. We will offer these notes in series,starting with Series A, and in U.S., foreign, and composite currencies, likethe European Currency Unit. If we offer original issue discount notes, we willuse their initial offering prices to calculate when we reach $6,428,598,500.
As youcan see, one long sentence became four shorter sentences. The paragraph movesfrom the general to the specific, contains short, common words, and is writtenin the active voice. You only need to read the paragraph once to understand it.

Replace jargon and legalese with short, common words

Ruthlessly eliminate jargon and legalese. Instead, use short, common wordsto get your points across. In those instances where there is no plain Englishalternative, explain what the term means when you first use it.

If youhave been in the financial or legal industry for awhile, it may be hard to spotjargon and legalese in your writing. Consider asking someone outside theindustry to check your work for incomprehensible words.

Last,don’t create new jargon that’s unique to your document in the form of acronymsor other words. It’s asking too much of your readers to memorize a newvocabulary while they are trying to understand complicated concepts. This holdstrue for individual and institutional investors. Note the following, which isthe first sentence on the cover page of an exchange offer:

NLR Insured Mortgage Association, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“NLR MAE”), which is an actively managed, infinite life, New York Stock Exchange-listed real estate investment trust (“REIT”), and PAL Liquidating REIT, Inc., a newly formed, finite life, self-liquidating Delaware corporation which intends to qualify as a REIT (“PAL Liquidating REIT”), hereby jointly offer, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein and in the related Letters of Transmittal (collectively, the “Offer”), to exchange (i) shares of NLR MAE’s Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (“NLR MAE Shares”), or, at the option of Unitholders, shares of PAL Liquidating REIT’s Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (“PAL Liquidating REIT Shares”), and (ii) the right to receive cash payable 60 days after closing on the first of any Acquisitions (as defined below) but in no event later than 270 days (nine months) following consummation of the Offer (the “Deferred Cash Payment”), for all outstanding Limited Partnership Interests and Depository Units of Limited Partnership Interest (collectively, “Units”) in each of PAL Insured Mortgage Investors, a California limited partnership (“PAL 84”), PAL Insured Mortgage Investors - Series 85, A California Limited Partnership, a California limited partnership (“PAL 85”), and PAL Insured Mortgage Investors L.P. - Series 86, a Delaware limited partnership (“PAL 86”). See “THE OFFER.”

This sentence suffers frommany shortcomings. It’s long and laden with defined terms and other data thatmask the fundamental information: the two companies are offering to exchangetheir stock for the investors’ limited partnership holdings. Some of theinformation, such as par value and places of incorporation, can be moved toanother part of the document. Much of the language modifies the subjects andthe objects: this language, too, can be moved to a separate sentence or anothersection of the prospectus.

Thisexample shows the hazards of creating unfamiliar acronyms. They provide falseeconomies, especially when they are introduced on the cover page and in thefirst pages of the prospectus. They may save a few words, but they may alsofrustrate and force the reader to take more time and effort to understand thedocument. Where acronyms, such as REIT, are widely understood to the investingpublic, they can safely be used without creating confusion.

Occasionally,it’s necessary to assign a shorter word to a long proper noun and use this wordthroughout the rest of the document. In these rare instances, try to choose aword that has an intuitive, logical relationship to the one it’s replacing.This reduces the number of new words or phrases the reader needs to memorize tounderstand the document.

Choose the simpler synonym

Surround complex ideas with short, common words. Forexample, use end instead of terminate, explain rather than elucidate,and use instead of utilize. When a shorter, simpler synonymexists, use it.

Keep the subject, verb, and object closetogether

Short,simple sentences enhance the effectiveness of short, common words. We’vecovered a number of guidelines for writing shorter sentences, but there are afew more you can use to streamline your writing further.
To beclear, sentences must have a sound structure. Here are a few ways to ensureyours do.
The natural word order ofEnglish speakers is subject-verb-object. Your sentences will be clearerif you follow this order as closely as possible. In disclosure documents, thisorder is frequently interrupted by modifiers. For example:

before

Holders of the Class A and Class B-1 certificates willbe entitled to receive on each Payment Date, to the extent monies areavailable therefor (but not more than the Class A Certificate Balance or ClassB-1 Certificate Balance then outstanding), a distribution.

after

Class A and Class B-1 certificate holders willreceive a distribution on each payment date if cash is available on thosedates for their class.

before

The following description of the particular termsof the Notes offered hereby (referred to in the accompanying Prospectus as the“Debt Securities”) supplements, and to the extent inconsistent therewithreplaces, the description of the general terms and provisions of theDebt Securities set forth in the Prospectus, to which descriptionreference is hereby made.

after

Thisdocument describes the terms of these notes in greater detail than ourprospectus, and may provide information that differs from our prospectus. Ifthe information does differ from our prospectus, please rely on the informationin this document.

Bibielle Global Translations SL & Finanza e Diritto

2012-01-24T17:16:00.002+01:00

Writing in Plain English for lawyers _ LESSON 3

2012-01-14T12:41:00.002+01:00

Omit superfluous words

Wordsare superfluous when they can be replaced with fewer words that mean the same thing.Sometimes you can use a simpler word for these phrases:

superfluous simpler

in order to to

in the event that if

subsequent to after

prior to before

despite the fact that although

because of the fact that because, since

in light of because, since

owing to the fact that because, since

Anothersource of superfluous words is “shotgunning”: letting loose a blast of wordshoping at least one conveys your intended meaning. The simplest solution hereis to replace your laundry list of adjectives with a single word or phrase thatadequately expresses your intended meaning.

Omittingsuperfluous words is one of the easiest ways to improve your disclosuredocument because it doesn’t require you to revise sentence structure.

before

Thefollowing summary is intended only to highlight certain information containedelsewhere in this Prospectus.

after

This summary highlights some information from this Prospectus.

before

Machine Industries and Great Tools, Inc. are each subject to the information requirements ofthe Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and inaccordance therewith filereports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities andExchange Commission (the “Commission”).

after

Wefile annual, quarterly, and special reports, proxy statements, and otherinformation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

before

Drakecorp has filed with the Internal RevenueService a tax ruling request concerning, among other things, the tax consequencesof the Distribution to the United States holders of Drakecorp Stock. It isexpected that the Distribution of Beco Common Stock to the shareholders ofDrakecorp will be tax-free to such shareholders for federal incometax purposes, except to the extent that cash is received forfractional share interests.

after

Whilewe expect that this transaction will be tax free for U.S. shareholders at thefederal level (except for any cash paid for fractional shares), we have askedthe Internal Revenue Service to rule that it is.
Write in the “positive”
Positivesentences are shorter and easier to understand than their negativecounterparts. For example:
before
Persons other than the primary beneficiary may not receive these dividends.

after
Only the primary beneficiary may receive these dividends.
Also, your sentences will be shorter and easier to understand if you replace a negative phrase with a single word that means the same thing. For example:

negative compound singleword

not able unable

not accept reject

not certain uncertain

not unlike similar,alike

does not have lacks

does not include excludes,omits

not many few

not often rarely

not the same different

not ... unless only if

not ... except only if

not ... until onlywhen

[By the Office of Investor Education and Assistance

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

450 5th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20549]

Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad/Bon Nadal/Buon Natale

2011-12-24T16:40:00.000+01:00

Writing in Plain English for lawyers _ LESSON 2

2011-12-21T09:33:00.000+01:00

Try personal pronouns

No matter how sophisticated your audience is, if youuse personal pronouns the clarity of your writing will dramatically improve.Here’s why.

First, personal pronouns aid your reader’scomprehension because they clarify what applies to your reader and what appliesto you.

Second, they allow you to “speak” directly to yourreader, creating an appealing tone that will keep your reader reading.

Third, they help you to avoid abstractions and to usemore concrete and everyday language.

Fourth, they keep your sentences short.

Fifth, first- and second-person pronouns aren’tgender-specific, allowing you to avoid the “he or she” dilemma. The pronouns touse are firstperson plural (we, us, our/ours) and second-person singular (you,your/yours).

Observethe difference between these two examples:

before

ThisSummary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by themore detailed information contained in the Proxy Statement and the Appendiceshereto, all of which should be carefully reviewed.

after

Becausethis is a summary, it does not contain all the information that may beimportant to you. You should read the entire proxy statement and its appendicescarefully before you decide how to vote.

Bring abstractions down to earthAbstractionsabound in the financial industry. What pictures form in your mind when you readthese phrases: mutual fund, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, zero coupon bond,call option, or foreign currency trading? Most people don’t have an image intheir minds when they hear abstract words like these. And yet, it’s far easierto comprehend a concept or a situation when your mind can form images.
In astudy conducted at Carnegie-Mellon University, a cognitive psychologist and anEnglish professor discovered that readers faced with complex writteninformation frequently resorted to creating “scenarios” in an effort tounderstand the text. That is, they often made an abstract conceptunderstandable by using it in a hypothetical situation in which people performed actions.Youcan make complex information more understandable by giving your readers anexample using one investor. This technique explains why “question and answer”formats often succeed when a narrative, abstract discussion fails.Hereis an example of how this principle can be used to explain an abstractconcept—call options:

For example, you can buy an option from Mr. Smith that gives you the right to buy 100 shares of stock X from him at $25.00 per share anytime between now and six weeks from now. You believe stock X’s purchase price will go up between now and then. He believes it will stay the same or go down. If you exercise this option before it expires, Mr. Smith must sell you 100 shares of stock X at $25.00 per share, even if the purchase price has gone up. Either way, whether you exercise your option or not, he keeps the money you paid him for the option.

Althoughit is impossible to eliminate all abstractions from writing, always use a moreconcrete term when you can.

Asset ➡ Investment ➡ Security ➡ Equity ➡ Stock ➡➡ Commonstock ➡ One shareof IBM common stock

Thefollowing examples show how you can replace abstract terms with more concreteones and increase your reader’s comprehension:

before

SandyhillBasic Value Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) seeks capitalappreciation and, secondarily, income by investing insecurities, primarily equities, that management of the Fund believes are undervalued and therefore represent basic investment value.

after

At theSandyhill Basic Value Fund, we will strive to increase the value of your shares(capital appreciation) and, to a lesser extent, to provide income (dividends).We will invest primarily in undervalued stocks, meaning those selling for lowprices given the financial strength of the companies.

before

No consideration or surrenderof Beco Stock will be required of shareholders of Becoin return for the shares of Unis Common Stock issuedpursuant to the Distribution.

after

Youwill not have to turn in your shares of Beco stock or pay any money to receiveyour shares of Unis common stock from the spin-off.

[By the Office of Investor Education and Assistance

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

450 5th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20549]

Writing in Plain English for lawyers _ LESSON 1

2011-12-18T13:10:00.000+01:00

We thought it would be helpful to list the most common problems we’ve encountered with disclosure documents.
Common problems:

• Long sentences
• Passive voice
• Weak verbs
• Superfluous words
• Legal and financial jargon
• Numerous defined terms
• Abstract words
• Unnecessary details
• Unreadable design and layout

In the following pages we offer some ways to fix these problems.

For example, here’s a common sentence found in prospectuses:

NO PERSON HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO GIVE ANY INFORMATION OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION OTHER THAN THOSE CONTAINED OR INCORPORATED BY REFER¬ENCE IN THIS JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AND, IF GIVEN OR MADE, SUCH INFORMATION OR REPRE¬SENTATION MUST NOT BE RELIED UPON AS HAVING BEEN AUTHORIZED.

Here’s one possible plain English rewrite:

You should rely only on the information contained in this document or that we have referred you to. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different.

The plain English rewrite uses everyday words, short sentences, active voice, regular print, and personal pronouns that speak directly to the reader.

Use the active voice with strong verbs

The plodding verbosity of most disclosure documents makes readers yearn for clear words and short sentences. The quickest fix lies in using the active voice with strong verbs. Strong verbs are guaranteed to liven up and tighten any sentence, virtually causing information to spring from the page. When you start to rewrite or edit your work, highlighting all the verbs can help. You may be surprised by the number of weak verbs, especially forms of “to be” or “to have” that you’ll find.
The time you spend searching for a precise and strong verb is time well spent. When a verb carries more meaning, you can dispense with many of the words used to bolster weak verbs.
Weak verbs keep frequent company with two more grammatical undesirables: passive voice and hidden verbs. In tandem, they add unnecessary length and confusion to a sentence.

The active and passive voices

Don’t ban the passive voice, use it sparingly

As with all the advice in this handbook, we are presenting guidelines, not hard and fast rules you must always follow. The passive voice may make sense when the person or thing performing the action is of secondary importance to another subject that should play the starring role in sentence. Use the passive voice only when you have a very good reason for doing so. When in doubt, choose the active voice.

Find hidden verbs
Does the sentence use any form of the verbs “to be,” “to have,” or another weak verb, with a noun that could be turned into a strong verb? In these sentences, the strong verb lies hidden in a nominalization, a noun derived from a verb that usually ends in -tion. Find the noun and try to make it the main verb of the sentence. As you change nouns to verbs, your writing becomes more vigorous and less abstract.

before after
We made an application... We applied...
We made a determination... We determined...
We will make a distribution... We will distribute...

before
We will provide appropriate information to shareholders concerning...
after
We will inform shareholders about...

before
We will have no stock ownership of the company.
after
We will not own the company’s stock.

before
There is the possibility of prior Board approval of these investments.
after
The Board might approve these investments in advance.

[By the Office of Investor Education and Assistance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
450 5th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20549]

Famous Resume Myths - Debunked!

2011-12-13T16:26:00.002+01:00

Resume writing myths you may have heard, but should forget!

There is no one best way to write a resume; there are no absolutes. Every career counselor and recruiter has his or her own take on resume writing. Even the formatting you use and the positions you list depend on the industry, the specific job, and your experience. But amid all the potentially conflicting opinions, there is some agreement on common resume myths.

1. Your resume must be only one page.

False. "Your resume should be as long as needed [in order] to get your concise message across with zip and punch," says Joyce Lain Kennedy, careers columnist and author of Resumes for Dummies. If your experience and background justifies two or more pages, so be it. Recent grads shouldn't go beyond one page, but senior executives with decades of experience will probably need at least two pages.

The rules are slightly different for resumes sent via e-mail. Laura Dominguez Chan, a Stanford University career counselor, says that in that instance, shorter is better for both cover letters and resumes.

2. Prospective employers don't read cover letters.

False. "Remember that anything you send is part of an image you're projecting," says Dominguez Chan. "If [nothing else,] your cover letter shows your writing skills…and if all the candidates [for the position] really are top notch, it could be the cover letter that lands you the job."

3. Resumes should include and describe your entire work history.

False. Your resume is a sales piece, a personal marketing tool. Take time to consider what skills the position requires. It’s likely that a part-time job you took for a few months isn't going to be relevant or impressive. Unless you need to cover a significant time gap, it’s wise to include only those jobs that will showcase your ability to excel in the position for which you’re applying.

Volunteer and other non-paid positions can be just as valuable as paid ones—especially if you’re a recent grad or are re-entering the workforce after an absence. Use your resume format to communicate volunteer work as experience.

4. It's okay to fib on your resume.
False. If you think "blowing smoke on your resume—inflating grades, inventing degrees, concocting job titles—is risk free because nobody checks, you're wrong," says Joyce Lain Kennedy. Employers do check, and those fibs will catch up with you.

"People think they have to puff themselves up," says Ronnie Gravitz, a career counselor at UC Berkeley. "You just need to make a good case for what you have done.”

5. Including "References available upon request" is standard resume protocol.

False. "An employer won't assume [that] you don't have references," says Dominguez Chan. “[Removing the line] gives you more room to include important information about who you are." She adds, "The only reason to include that [information] is if for some reason references are absolutely needed in the field. Academic positions, for example, typically ask for several reference names and/or letters."

6. If your resume is good enough, it will produce a job offer.

False. Your resume is only one part of the process. Its job is to land you an interview. "Once you get the interview, says Joyce Lain Kennedy, "you are what gets you a job—your skills, your savvy, your personality, your attitude."

I had it professionally translated.......

2011-12-06T17:08:00.001+01:00

Citing EU documents

2011-12-02T18:55:00.001+01:00

Italicise the titles of white and green papers. Separate

the main title and the subtitle, if any, with a colon. Use initial capitals on the

first and all significant words in the main title and on the first word in the

subtitle. Launch straight into the italicised title: do not introduce it with ‘on’,

‘concerning’, ‘entitled’, etc.

In the White Paper

Growth, Competitiveness, Employment: The challenges and

ways forward into the twenty-first century

, the Commission set out a strategy …

The White Paper

Growth, Competitiveness, Employment was the first …

Growth, Competitiveness, Employment, on the other hand, the Commission set

in motion …

[this form might work where the White Paper had already been

mentioned, for example, or in an enumeration]

The Green Paper

Towards Fair and Efficient Pricing in Transport: Policy

options for internalising the external costs of transport in the European Union

The

Green Paper on Innovation [‘Green Paper on’ is part of its title]

Do the same with the titles of other policy statements and the like that are

published in their own right:

the communication

An Industrial Competitiveness Policy for the European

Union

[published as Bull. Suppl. 3/94]

the communication

Agenda 2000: For a stronger and wider Union [when the

reference is to the title of the document, which was published in Bull.

Suppl. 5/97; but of course we would probably say ‘an Agenda 2000 priority’ for

example]

If a policy statement has a title, but has not as far as you know been published,

put the title in inverted commas:

the communication ‘A European Strategy for Encouraging Local Development

and Employment Initiatives’

[this appeared in OJ C 265 of 12 October 1995,

and its title is cast like the title of a book, but it does not seem to have been

published in its own right]

‘Communications’ that are not policy statements, such as the announcements

which regularly appear in the Official Journal (OJ), get no italics, inverted

commas, or special capitalisation:

the Commission communication in the framework of the implementation of

Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 in relation to personal

protective equipment, as amended by Council Directives 93/68/EEC, 93/95/EEC

and 96/58/EC [OJ C 180 of 14 June 1997]

Seven Ways To Improve Your Legal Writing Skills

2011-11-25T16:58:00.001+01:00

The written word is one of the most important tools of the legal profession. Words are used to advocate, inform, persuade and instruct. Although mastering legal writing skills takes time and practice, superior writing skills are essential to success. Polish your legal writing skills through the simple tips below.

1. Remember Your Audience

Every word you write should be tailored to the needs of the reader. Documents that embody the same research and message may vary greatly in content and tone based on the document’s intended audience. For example, a brief submitted to the court must advocate and persuade. A memorandum to a client must analyze the issues, report the state of the law and recommend an appropriate course of action. Always keep your audience in mind when crafting any piece of writing.

2. Organize Your Writing

Organization is the key to successful legal writing. Create a roadmap for your writing by using visual clues to guide the reader. Introduce your subject in an introductory paragraph, use transitional phrases (“moreover, “furthermore,” “however,” “in addition,” etc.) between each paragraph, introduce each paragraph with a topic sentence and use headings and subheadings to break up blocks of text. Limit each paragraph to one topic and sum up your message with a concluding sentence or paragraph. Organizational structure guides the reader through your text and promotes readability.

3. Ditch The Legalese

Legalese - specialized legal phrases and jargon - can make your writing abstract, stilted and archaic. Examples of legalese include words such as aforementioned, herewith, heretofore and wherein. Ditch unnecessary legalese and other jargon in favor of the clear and simple. To avoid legalese and promote clarity, try reading your sentence to a colleague or substituting abstract words with simple, concrete terms. For example, instead of “I am in receipt of your correspondence,” “I received your letter” is clearer and more succinct.

4. Be Concise

Every word you write should contribute to your message. Omit extraneous words, shorten complex sentences, eliminate redundancies and keep it simple.
Consider the following sentence:
“Due to the fact that the defendant has not attempted to pay back the money owed to our client in the amount of $3,000 it has become absolutely essential that we take appropriate legal action in order to obtain payment of the aforesaid amount.”
A more concise version reads: “Since the defendant has not paid the $3,000 owed our client, we will file a lawsuit seeking reimbursement.” The latter sentence conveys the same information in 18 words versus 44. Omitting unnecessary words helps clarify the meaning of the sentence and adds impact.

5. Use Action Words

Action words make your legal prose more powerful, dynamic and vivid. Add punch to your writing with verbs that bring your prose to life. Here are a few examples:
Weak: The defendant was not truthful. Better: The defendant lied.
Weak: The witness quickly came into the courtroom. Better: The witness bolted into the courtroom.
Weak: The judge was very angry. Better: The judge was enraged.

6. Avoid Passive Voice

Passive voice disguises responsibility for an act by eliminating the subject of the verb. Active voice, on the other hand, tells the reader who is doing the acting and clarifies your message. For example, instead of “the filing deadline was missed,” say “plaintiff’s counsel missed the filing deadline.” Instead of “a crime was committed,” say “the defendant committed the crime.”

7. Edit Ruthlessly

Edit your writing ruthlessly, omitting unnecessary words and rewriting for clarity. Careful proofreading is particularly important in legal writing. Spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors in a document submitted to the court, opposing counsel or a client can undermine your credibility as a legal professional.

by S. Kane

«No say the cat is in the sac»

2011-11-11T19:32:00.000+01:00

http://video.corriere.it/no-say-the-cat-is-the-sac/26694a22-0c4c-11e1-bdbd-5a54de000101

The collapse of the trial of two footballers has renewed debate about England's contempt of court laws

2011-11-04T11:20:00.000+01:00

This is not the first time that a judge has halted a trial in England because of prejudicial publicity. But it's unusual for the case to be stopped so late in the legal process. The case centred on allegations that four men, including two well-known English footballers, Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, attacked an Asian student in Leeds city centre -- inflicting grievous bodily harm. All the defendants have denied being involved.

As the jury was deliberating its verdicts in the original trial, the judge called the proceedings to a halt, after deciding that a newspaper article about the case was potentially prejudicial. This area of law, known as contempt of court, is familiar to all properly trained journalists in England. They must avoid publishing or broadcasting any material that poses a substantial risk of seriously prejudicing a fair trial. Although the stipulations are laid out in law, the question of what constitutes a substantial risk is open to debate.

prejudicial publicity: information about a case which is not given in court but which could change the jurors' opinion

allegations: an allegation is a statement suggesting that someone has done something wrong

grievous bodily harm: very serious physical injury

denied being involved: said it was not true that they took part

verdicts: a verdict is the decision given at the end of a trial

contempt of court: the criminal offence of disobeying instructions from the judge or a court of law

stipulations: conditions: if you stipulate that something must be done, you state clearly that it must be done

constitutes: if something constitutes a particular thing, you can regard it as being that thing

Job Search Toolkit for lawyers

2011-10-27T11:42:00.000+02:00

Action Verbs

Below is a list of action verbs to assist you in describing your experiences and accomplishments:

accelerated
accomplished
achieved
acquired
activated
adapted
adjusted
administered
advised
allocated
analyzed
annotated
anticipated
applied
appraised
arranged
articulated
assembled
assessed
assigned
authored
balanced
briefed
budgeted
built
catalogued
categorized
chaired
clarified
cleared
coded
collaborated
compared
compiled
completed
composed
computed
conducted
consolidated

constructed
contacted
continued
contracted
convened
conveyed
coordinated
corresponded
counseled
created
critiqued
decided
defined
delegated
delivered
demonstrated
derived
designed
detected
determined
developed
devised
directed
distributed
drafted
edited
educated
effected
elicited
encouraged
established
evaluated
examined
executed
exhibited
expanded
expedited
experienced
experimented

explained
explored
facilitated
figured
financed
focused
forecasted
formed
formulated
fostered
founded
functioned
generated
governed
grouped
guided
helped
identified
illustrated
immunized
implemented
improved
increased
informed
initiated
instituted
instructed
interpreted
interviewed
introduced
invented
investigated
judged
led
listened
maintained
managed
marketed
mastered

measured
mediated
modeled
modified
molded
monitored
motivated
named
negotiated
observed
obtained
operated
ordered
organized
originated
outlined
oversaw
perceived
performed
persuaded
planned
planted
presented
presided
printed
produced
protected
provided
publicized
questioned
raised
recommended
recorded
recruited
reduced
rendered
repaired
reported
represented

reproduced
researched
resolved
responded
restored
retained
retrieved
reviewed
revised
rewrote
routed
scheduled
searched
selected
served
shaped
shared
showed
simplified
solicited
solved
specified
spoke
stimulated
structured
studied
supervised
supported
synthesized
targeted
taught
tested
trained
translated
tutored
updated
utilized
verified
wrote

Things to Organize Before You Start Writing

Sit down and list all of your work experience since high school, including your activities, hobbies and interests. After you have made this list, start thinking about the following:

· What were your primary responsibilities?

· What specific examples can you give of your work (e.g. "Represented social security claimants denied disability benefits," "Drafted legislative initiative to reform the Civil Rights Act of 1990," "Analyzed $150,000 budget to identify cost-cutting initiatives")?

· What skills did you develop?

· What tasks or projects did you undertake?

· What accomplishments did you contribute to or complete yourself?

Talking to friends or co-workers about these experiences may make it easier to recall all your responsibilities and achievements.

It is worth taking the time to clarify your career goals before revising your resume and launching your job search. You also may need to give some thought to which interests, work skills and experiences you want to emphasize for prospective public service employers.

Length

Your resume should not generally exceed one page. That usually means that you have to make some strategic omissions in your work experience or academic sections. Exceptions to this "one page rule" are if you have an extensive list of publications or five or more years of work experience prior to law school. Also, some fellowship sponsors ask that you include any relevant information even if it dates back to high school and causes your resume to exceed a page.

A Dynamic Document

Plan to rewrite your resume many times during your legal education and your professional career. Invite friends, family members and classmates to look over your resume and offer suggestions, corrections and help in identifying any areas that need clarification. Incorporate those suggestions that appeal to you, but make sure you use your own language. For this reason, you should always save an updated resume on your computer or on a drive you can easily access.

Remember that your resume ultimately serves as a public relations piece to market you to prospective employers. Refine it continually to accentuate your accomplishments and strengths.

Appearance

The visual aesthetics of your resume are important. Employers tend to make only cursory scans of newly received resumes looking for something that grabs their attention. Your format should allow the employer to skim through your education and experience. By enabling the employer to read all of your attributes at a glance, you increase your chance of getting a second look.

Your resume should be easy to read or scan along the left-hand margin and free of typos. Resumes and cover letters should be on matching stationery, preferably white or off-white. Standard office bond paper is acceptable. The tabs and margins must be consistent and you should avoid using too many different type fonts or sizes on your resume. Avoid underlining words or sections; use italics instead. Put the names of former and current employers in bold and in all caps, so that a prospective employer can know from a glance where you have worked. An excellent technique for proofreading your resume is to read it backwards, so that your eyes move more slowly over the words.

Header
List your present address and a telephone number and email address where employers can reach you.	If you are a current student, use your University e-mail address.
Be sure that your voicemail greeting is professional.	You may decide to include your permanent address as well, both to allow employers to get in touch with you when you are not at the University and to let them know the geographic area you consider home.
Do not include a job objective here or elsewhere on your resume; your career objectives and plans should be expressed in your cover letter.

RACHEL MOSS
81 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-3108
rmoss@jd11.law.harvard.edu

Education
Unless you are more than three years out of law school, your education section should precede your experience section.	For current law students, indicate the degree you expect to earn, e.g., J.D. and date of graduation, e.g., June 2013.
List your advanced degrees, starting with your law or most recent degree and working back to college.	If you have earned two degrees from the same institution, list them separately.
Your education section should reflect whether you transferred as an undergraduate, studied abroad, enrolled in a joint degree program or received a graduate degree prior to law school.	Omit your high school education in nearly all cases. If you think it would be helpful to include for geographic or alumni connections, indicate that when submitting your resume for review.

EDUCATION HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, J.D. Candidate, June 2011
Activities: Harvard Law and Policy Review
American Constitution Society
Women’s Law Association
1L Section Events Committee

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
B.A. with High Honors in American Studies and English, May 2008
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
Rapoport-King Honors Thesis Scholarship
Kemp-Foreman Unrestricted Endowed Presidential Scholarship
Activities: University Democrats
Blanton Museum of Art Student Guild
First-Generation College Student Mentorship program, mentor
Thesis: “They Aren’t Hearing Us – They’re Rich”: Consequences of Social Difference
on Public Housing in New Orleans and Nationwide

Honors & Activities
You should include two separate subsections for each educational degree: "Honors" and "Activities."	Be sure to include a brief explanation on any awards or distinctions that are not familiar to most readers.	At most, you should include three to five entries; listing too many detracts from the most relevant activities or honors.
The "Honors" section should list any awards or distinctions you received, such as Dean's List, cum laude or Phi Beta Kappa. Because they are Latin phrases, magna, summa, and cum laude should always appear in italicized, lower case letters. (Note that honors such as Dean's List may seem redundant if you also graduated with Greek or Latin honors. )	In the "Activities" section, indicate any student organization memberships, reading groups, elected offices, activities or sports in which you have participated.	Do not include your undergraduate grade point average unless it is specifically requested by an employer or not well-reflected in honors received. An impressive GPA is often self-evident from your honors — if you graduated magna cum laude for instance. If you do choose to include your grades, do so in brackets next to honors: such as cum laude (GPA 3.7).
Of note, public service employers are interested in much more than how you perform on tests. While they may ask you about grades during an interview, they almost never impose strict grade cutoffs.	LSAT and other standardized test scores should not appear on your resume.

Thesis or Paper
You may want to include a separate "Thesis" subsection under the appropriate educational degree and indicate the title of your thesis in italics.
Any notes or articles you are writing for a journal should go under a separate publications section, in blue book form or with a notation such as: (publication pending) or (forthcoming in the spring edition).

Experience
List your work experience in reverse chronological order, with your most recent work experience listed first, going back no more than five jobs.	Clinical work during law school, internships and even part-time work may be included under your "Experience" section, particularly if you came straight to law school from college. Remember that volunteer work counts equally in terms of experience and need not be singled out under a separate heading on your resume. On the other hand, if you have a significant number of work experiences, you may want to create a separate heading such as a "Community Service" section on your resume and group your volunteer work there.
Do not feel compelled to list every job you have held before or during law school, as your resume should be designed to highlight your most significant and relevant experiences. The most obvious omissions should be your earliest work experiences, particularly nonlegal work that has little to do with your current job search.	You can choose to exclude more recent work experience, such as one part of a split summer, but be careful; gaps may grab an employer's attention. If you leave out a bad work experience, you still may find yourself having to explain the gap in your resume.
Descriptions are everything in this section, since they capture the essence of your experience and any recognition and accomplishments. Paint a dynamic picture of the type of work you did and the extent of your responsibilities.	Try not to exaggerate your responsibilities and avoid self-aggrandizing descriptions. Detail what you did in each job. For example, if you worked at a legal services center, list the type of clients with whom you worked and the scope of cases you handled.
The proportional length of each job description is key. Use the longer descriptions to accentuate those work experiences most critical to your current search. Employers will assume that the longer the description, the more priority you give to the experience. Thus, you can downplay certain experiences by either merely listing them on your resume or by abbreviating their descriptions.	Do not make the employer search for information on your resume. Just as you do not want him/her to have to decode your resume format, you also do not want to leave the employer confused about your responsibilities or the type of work you did.

EXPERIENCE TENANT ADVOCACY PROJECT Fall 2008 – Present
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Represent tenants facing eviction and other housing issues such as application denials,
transfers, and reasonable accommodation in Housing Authority grievance hearings.
Advise tenants of legal rights by telephone.

CENTER FOR AMERICAN HISTORY Summer – Fall 2007
Austin, TX
Served as student page in University of Texas archival library. Retrieved archival
materials for researchers. Entered data in a biographical newspaper database, compiled
newspaper clippings for vertical files, and assisted with special projects.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RESIDENCE LIFE Fall 2005 – Spring 2007
Austin, TX
Provided support, peer education, conflict mediation, policy enforcement, emergency
management, and event planning for a floor of 40-50 student residents. Performed
administrative shifts at residence hall front desk.


When employers review your resume, they should be able to figure out quickly what you did at a particular job. If an employer becomes frustrated with the information on your resume because it is incomplete or a struggle to interpret, your resume will be put aside.	Your experience descriptions should be broken into shorter phrases so that they read more quickly than sentences. Each segment should begin with an action verb like these examples: Assisted in scheduling city projects. Drafted Congressional testimony. Created summer intern program. Advised freshmen on course selection.
Action verbs should dominate your resume —see our list of action verbs for ideas. Review your entire experience section and omit any passive verbs, particularly any form of "to be." Phrases such as "was responsible for running" should become "Ran," for example.	Unless you need to fill space, job titles should be used only when they indicate relatively high level positions or help define jobs, such as Director of Legislative Advocacy or Education Outreach Coordinator. List them in italics on the line directly below the employer's name. Titles such as "volunteer," "research assistant," "paralegal" or "law clerk" should be omitted; instead, you should plunge directly into a description of your responsibilities.
If you have held more than one job with the same employer, enter both jobs under one header, putting the title of each job in italics.

Dates	Publications
Clearly delineate dates on your resume. Place them flush right on the page.	Include publications in a separate section of your resume, especially if they are law-related pieces, such as a note or comment for a journal.
Refer to the dates of summer or semester-long jobs as Summer 20__, Fall 20__, Spring 20__.	The citation should generally follow blue book format.
Do not worry about the exact dates of your employment. If you worked at an organization from March 2006 to November 2007, simply put 2006-2007.	If your article, comment or note is published in a law journal that may not be recognizable to a prospective employer, write out the full title of the law journal rather than use the blue book reference

Computer Skills	Languages
Unless yours are extraordinary, omit these—you do not want a legal employer hiring you based on computer skills or based on any Lexis/ Nexis/Westlaw training you may have.	If you are fluent or conversant in several languages, you may create a separate category entitled "Languages" that lists the languages you speak: "Fluent in French. Can read Italian. Conversant in Japanese."
Since most law students have this training, its inclusion does little to distinguish you.	Do not overrate your skills, as you may be asked to demonstrate them during an interview.

Interests/Personal
Adding one or two lines about your outside hobbies, interests or travels can be invaluable for interviews. Not only does it help to counterbalance your academic pursuits, but it gives an interviewer additional topics of conversation. It also stops an employer from asking open-ended (and sometimes inappropriate) questions, such as "Tell me about yourself," in an effort to get to know a little more about you personally. You should be prepared to talk a little about your passion for the things included in your interest/personal section. However, be careful not to include personal information that the employer does not need to know, such as age, marital status or whether you have children.

Interests/Personal

Adding one or two lines about your outside hobbies, interests or travels can be invaluable for interviews. Not only does it help to counterbalance your academic pursuits, but it gives an interviewer additional topics of conversation. It also stops an employer from asking open-ended (and sometimes inappropriate) questions, such as "Tell me about yourself," in an effort to get to know a little more about you personally. You should be prepared to talk a little about your passion for the things included in your interest/personal section. However, be careful not to include personal information that the employer does not need to know, such as age, marital status or whether you have children.

PERSONAL Interests include travel, movies, vegetarian cooking, reading fiction, following
political news, and practicing yoga.

References
It is unnecessary to add "References (or writing samples/ transcripts) will be furnished upon request" at the end of your resume, as employers will ask you to provide them with your references and it occupies valuable space on your resume.	Bring a separate piece of paper listing three or four references to an interview (along with an extra copy of your resume) and be prepared to offer it if the interviewer mentions references.
This sheet should be formatted in the same manner as your resume. Your name, address and phone number should be at the top, with "References" typed in the same format as "Education" is on your resume. This title should then be followed by the names, titles, email, address, organization names, addresses and telephone numbers of references. It also is important to include a line or two about how you know the person. See sample reference sheet.	Give careful consideration to which references you will use for different employers, as some contacts may be more helpful for one position than another. Before you list someone as a reference, be sure to call them to ask permission, let them know the type of work you are pursuing and, if necessary, refresh their memory about your work.

Sending Your Resume	Follow Up
If the employer states a preference for email or another format (mail or fax, typically), follow his/her guidelines. Many times an organization will accept both emailed and hard copy applications.	Unless an employer requests no phone inquiries, it is smart to call the employer to confirm that your resume was received and indicate when you are available for an interview. Alternatively, you can send an email message if you have one for the hiring contact. It is particularly helpful to let an organization know if you will be coming to town and are available to meet.
	Be careful to balance persistence and enthusiasm about the position against aggressiveness and over-exuberance. The idea is for the employer to have your name in mind when turning his or her attention to final hiring decisions – not to harass them.
If you are sending your materials electronically, and no file format is specified, convert your files to PDF. Include both your last name and the type of document (resume, writing sample, etc.) in the filename to facilitate the recipient's ability to store and locate these files.	You can also send writing samples or other materials to update your resume if the hiring process takes some time. Calls or emails from practitioners or professors familiar with the employer are sure to impress potential employers and may land you an interview.

Cover Letters

Your cover letter is an excellent opportunity to communicate your personality, enthusiasm and professional strengths to a potential employer. It gives you a chance to highlight those experiences and interests that make you a unique applicant. Also, keep in mind that your letter gives the employer a sample of how well you write. As with your resume, be careful about typos. Vary your sentence structure to keep the employer interested; for example, do not begin every sentence with "I (verb)."

When writing to employers who have indicated specific job openings, you should draft a cover letter with the same creativity you put into your resume. Try to set a personal, yet professional, tone in your cover letters that adds a sense of who you are as an individual, why you are interested in this particular employer and why you will work well at that particular office. The less standardized your letter is, the better it will be remembered.

First, try to address your cover letter to the particular person responsible for hiring in each office. Simply call the personnel office or hiring contact and ask for the hiring attorney's name. Avoid addressing a letter "to whom it may concern." Show that you took the initiative to find out the person's name and title. Remember to confirm all contacts' information, as changes are inevitable. If possible, mention the name of the person who referred you to the job, as this is one highly effective form of networking. When all else fails, you can address your letter to the "Hiring Coordinator." In addition, be sure to spell-check your letter and edit any grammatical mistakes.

Your cover letter can convey more fully who you are than your resume. Go into detail about your background and skills instead of reiterating what is already on your resume. Cover letters should never serve simply as letters of transmittal. More and more, interview decisions rest on the employer's sense of you as a person. Your cover letter plays a pivotal role in creating this impression.

Length & Tone

Cover letters should be about a full page long. Your letter is an uninterrupted chance to tell an employer about yourself and to add depth to the credentials highlighted on your resume. Treat the cover letter much like a one-sided interview, using a slightly informal, conversational tone to convey your interest in the job and the relevant experiences that qualify you for the position.

Paragraph of Introduction

The first paragraph of your letter should serve to identify you (e.g., I am a first year student at Harvard Law School) and should explain why you are contacting them (e.g., I am interested in a summer internship with your office.). Mention how you learned about the organization or the specific job opening, whether it was from a friend, a previous intern in the office, an article in the paper, a speaker on a panel or a job announcement.

Qualifications & Interests

The middle paragraphs should stress those work experiences that are most relevant to the position without merely rehashing the descriptions in your resume. This section should include your public service experience, leadership positions, relevant course work, etc. Weave a story that explains your background and ends with why you are seeking work with this particular employer (e.g., your interest in civil rights).

Focus on how your skills fulfill the employer's needs. Doing so will show not only that you recognize your own capabilities, but that you also have done research about and understand the organization.

In this section, the employer expects to find out why he or she should consider you for the job. For this reason, you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Displaying genuine and informed enthusiasm for the position goes a long way, particularly when it is linked to your own work experience.

Concluding Paragraph

The last paragraph should thank the employer for his or her consideration, provide your telephone number and indicate that you will call within the next few weeks to set up a time to meet. Let out-of-town employers know if you will be in their area at some time in the near future in order to facilitate scheduling an interview.

Follow-up

Unless an employer requests no phone inquiries, it is often a smart follow-up strategy to telephone the employer to confirm that your resume was received and indicate when you are available for an interview. Alternatively, you can send an email message if you have one for the hiring contact. It is particularly helpful to let an organization know if you will be coming to town and are available to meet. You have to be careful to balance persistence and enthusiasm about the position against aggressiveness and overexuberance. The idea is for the employer to have your name in mind when turning his or her attention to final hiring decisions – not to harass them.

You can also send writing samples or other materials to update your resume if the hiring process takes some time. Calls or emails from practitioners or professors familiar with the employer are sure to impress potential employers and may land you an interview.

Below is an example of a good follow-up email:

Dear Ms. Landers,

I recently applied for a summer fellowship with your organization. Though I know how busy you must be, I just wanted to confirm that you had received my letter and resume. Also, if there is anything else I should do – including, perhaps, sending you a transcript or a writing sample – please let me know. You can reach me via email (jharvard@mail.edu) or by telephone (617.495.3108). Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
John Harvard

1563 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Sending Your Letter and Resume

If the employer states a preference for email or another format (mail or fax, typically), definitely follow his/her guidelines. Many times an organization will accept both emailed and hard copy applications. If you are sending your materials electronically, and no file format is specified, convert your files to PDF to preserve formatting. Be sure to include both your last name and the type of document (resume, writing sample, etc.) in the filename to facilitate the recipient's ability to store and locate these files. Also, if you are writing to a federal agency in Washington, DC, it is often wise to send your letter electronically (email or fax) because mail for US Government offices is subject to security measures and is often delayed by weeks or months

Ask BBL for free samples of Cover Letters and Cvs.

Traduzione e tradizione giuridica: il Legal English dalla Common Law alla Civil Law

2011-10-06T23:52:00.000+02:00

Introduzione

Nel volume monografico di “Ars interpretandi” pubblicato nel 2000 e intitolato Traduzione e diritto, R. Sacco rileva che "nei prossimi vent'anni i problemi della traduzione diverranno certamente il capitolo più promettente della comparazione giuridica, in grado di aprire vie d'importanza primordiale per l'epistemologia giuridica e la riforme della lingua giuridica".

Ciò discende non solo dall’interesse dottrinale per i sistemi giuridici diversi da quello di appartenenza, a cui consegue la necessità di rendere nella propria lingua termini ed istituti appartenenti all'ordinamento giuridico straniero, ma anche da altre ragioni di ordine più operativo: da un lato, la globalizzazione ha determinato la comparsa e la circolazione di norme e documenti giuridici, come ad esempio i contratti, che regolano i rapporti tra soggetti di paesi diversi: da qui il problema della lingua (o delle lingue) in cui redigere i testi ed i relativi problemi di traduzione; dall’altro, la presenza di immigrati nei paesi occidentali impone la ricezione all'interno del nostro ordinamento di norme giuridiche straniere. Iura aliena novit curia, come è riaffermato dalla legge 218/95, che riforma il diritto internazionale privato italiano.

Il problema della traduzione giuridica

Ogni sistema legislativo si situa in un quadro sociale e politico complesso che risponde alla storia, agli usi ed alle abitudini di un particolare gruppo etnico o nazione. Questa struttura complessa è raramente identica da un paese ad un altro, anche se le origini dei rispettivi sistemi legislativi possono avere punti in comune. La diversità dei sistemi legislativi rende la ricerca nel campo della terminologia legale molto difficile perché un concetto particolare in un sistema legislativo può non avere corrispondenti in altri sistemi. A volte, accade che un concetto particolare può esistere in due sistemi differenti e riferirsi a realtà differenti. Porsi il problema della interpretazione e quindi della traducibilità dei termini legali da una lingua all'altra implica sia uno studio comparativo (sebbene limitato al campo specialistico oggetto del discorso) sui sistemi legislativi differenti che una consapevolezza dei problemi generati o dall'assenza degli equivalenti o, dall'altro lato, dalla perfetta equivalenza dei termini ma con sfumature giuridiche assolutamente peculiari. A questo riguardo la comparazione giuridica ha esaminato alcuni aspetti particolari relativi all'utilizzo di nozioni astratte come, ad esempio, «contratto», contract, contrat, «proprietà», property, propriété, «fatto illecito», tort, fait illicite, e simili: ognuna di queste espressioni è caratterizzata nei dettagli da una differente disciplina giuridica in base al sistema di cui fa parte, e perciò stesso esprime una nozione giuridica peculiare.

Alcuni aspetti teorici

Mentre il de Saussure asseriva «l'impossibilità per un segno di una lingua di occupare, nei sistemi dei segni che occupa nella sua lingua, il segno con il quale ci si sforza di tradurlo»,¹ sia per Hjelmslev che per Sapir e Whorf vi è una forte correlazione tra la lingua e il suo ambiente; l'intraducibilità dal punto di vista strettamente linguistico sarebbe quindi nella natura stessa delle cose.

San Gerolamo non ha alcun dubbio sul modo in cui procedere, come egli stesso spiega a più riprese nelle prefazioni alle sue traduzioni. In una lettera indirizzata a Pammachio, scritta nel 395 d.C., egli cita come maestro Cicerone, il quale aveva dichiarato che il miglior modo di tradurre consiste nel riproporre «le stesse frasi e le loro figure di parole e di idee con vocaboli consoni ai nostri usi. Non ho giudicato necessario rendere parola per parola, ma di tutte le parole ho conservato il valore e l'espressività».²

Tuttavia, la traducibilità giuridica presenta delle regole peculiari; secondo Cooray «problems arise in legal translations which are not present in the case of translations in other subjects».³ Spesso non vi è una corrispondenza tra i concetti, le categorie e gli istituti nei vari sistemi giuridici, per cui tradurre fedelmente un atto, una norma giuridica o una sentenza è molto difficile.

R. Sacco avverte che: «le vere difficoltà di traduzione sono dovute (...) al fatto che il rapporto tra parola e concetto non è lo stesso in tutte le lingue giuridiche».⁴ Ogni traduzione è interpretazione del testo. Questo atto interpretativo è inteso come attribuzione di significato ad un simbolo. La traduzione-interpretazione del testo parte, quindi, dal significato da assegnare ai termini che compongono il discorso giuridico per giungere alla definizione di esso con termini giuridicamente appropriati nella lingua d'arrivo. Sotto questo aspetto Sacco sottolinea come "al momento di tradurre, l'operatore sarà in presenza di due realtà: da un canto il testo, con i suoi vocaboli e la sua sintassi; dall'altro canto il senso da assegnare al testo, ossia la norma giuridica".
I giuscomparatisti lo sanno bene e, quando operano con le categorie di un sistema di dritto straniero, lungi dal cercare un equivalente lessicale preferiscono riportare il termine straniero (esempio trust, equity, trespass, consideration), spiegandone il significato con un giro di parole.

Il dilemma del traduttore

In linea generale, il traduttore di testi di natura giuridica si trova di fronte a una di queste quattro situazioni:⁵

Nei sistemi giuridici presi i considerazione esiste lo stesso istituto, che è regolamentato allo stesso modo. Il termine della lingua di arrivo rappresenta il medesimo concetto del termine della lingua di partenza. In questi casi il traduttore deve solo sostituire al termine nella lingua di partenza il termine nella lingua di arrivo, anche se, in realtà, una perfetta equivalenza dal punto di vista linguistico e giuridico è estremamente rara. Ad esempio le norme di sistemi giuridici integrati tra loro, come gli atti comunitari emanati nelle lingue ufficiali dell'Unione Europea, per definizione, hanno un'unica interpretazione e devono dare luogo ad una sola disciplina giuridica.
I nomi degli istituti sono uguali, o almeno equivalenti, a livello lessicale, ma la normativa sottostante è diversa. In questi casi, sotto l'aspetto semantico la traduzione letterale è scorretta e si deve evitare. In questo senso indicano due concetti differenti droit commun e common law, personal property e «proprietà personale». In questi casi è necessario che il traduttore faccia capire che il testo di cui si tratta è il prodotto di una traduzione, e che specifichi da quale lingua e sistema giuridico egli abbia tradotto. è corretto ad esempio tradurre l'inglese contract con «contratto», a patto che sia chiaro per il destinatario della traduzione che il vocabolo italiano «contratto» riceve nella specie l'accezione inglese di contract, tant'è che nei rapporti commerciali internazionali regolati da contratti redatti in più lingue, è prassi comune decidere in via preventiva quale sarà la legge applicabile in caso di controversie: questa pratica permette di assegnare un contenuto giuridico preciso a parole che altrimenti assumerebbero sfumature diverse secondo l'ordinamento in cui sono inserite.
Un istituto ha sia nomi differenti a livello lessicale che diversa disciplina normativa. Può accadere che alla traduzione letterale del termine non corrisponda nessun concetto giuridico familiare al sistema della lingua di arrivo, e tuttavia il nucleo semantico è facilmente individuabile: così la provenienza non interna al sistema appare evidente ed evita pericolosi errori, non provocando ambiguità con termini ed istituti familiari. Non suscita nessun tipo di problema rendere lo statunitense District Court con «Corte distrettuale», il francesi Ministre de la Justice con l'inglese Minister of Justice, Conseil Constitution con «Consiglio Costituzionale», in quanto nei sistemi di arrivo non vi è nessun organo o istituzione che abbia la stessa denominazione.
Un istituto esiste in un sistema ma non nell'altro. In questo caso una traduzione letterale appare priva di senso: così Public Ministry non traduce correttamente «Pubblico Ministero»; sempre mentre per Guardasigilli» si avrebbe in inglese un inverosimile Sealwatcher.

Sia nel caso 3 che nel caso 4, i rischi di un fraintendimento sono limitati. Non crea problemi tradurre i francesi Tribunaux de commerce con «Tribunali di commercio», poiché questa espressione non ha riferimenti nel sistema italiano. Ma nell'ipotesi in cui si confrontino due sistemi giuridici che utilizzano la medesima lingua ufficiale (si pensi ai paesi anglofoni o dell'America latina), si dovrà spesso operare traduzioni intralinguistiche. Infatti, nel caso di più stati che usano la medesima lingua le differenze tra sistemi impongono comunque la necessità di tradurre: il termine «possesso» utilizzato nella Svizzera Italiana ha un valore diverso dallo stesso termine utilizzato in Italia, ed una traduzione esatta tra queste due lingue dovrà rendere chiaro che, malgrado l'equivalenza lessicale, i due termini si riferiscono a due nozioni diverse. In questi casi non basta più parlare di linguaggio di partenza o di arrivo, ma di linguaggio del sistema di partenza o di arrivo, con tante lingue quanto i sistemi giuridici che utilizzano una lingua: non si parlerà di «italiano giuridico», perché ne esistono almeno due tipi: l'italiano usato in Italia e l'italiano usato in Svizzera.

Dalla common law alla civil law

Il diritto, attraverso i secoli, ha acquisito un suo proprio vocabolario tecnico-specialistico, come è evidente nell'inglese, che sempre più si pone come lingua di mediazione tra diversi sistemi linguistici e giuridici. Ciò sebbene sia da sottolineare la forte interdipendenza che sussiste tra la lingua inglese ed il sistema giuridico basato sulla common law. L'inglese e la common law sono due aspetti inseparabili della medesima cultura: nessun sistema di common law si è mai sviluppato in totale indipendenza dalla lingua inglese.

Gli ordinamenti di civil law sono invece meno legati alla lingua di riferimento; questi sistemi, derivano dai Codici napoleonici in francese, e dalla dottrina giuridica tedesca, si sono diffusi in tutta l'Europa continentale e sono stati presi come modello, oltre che nei sistemi che utilizzano una lingua neolatina come Italia ed i paesi dell'America Latina, anche in Paesi di tradizione giuridica e linguistica molto lontani tra loro, come ad esempio Grecia, Turchia, Russia e Giappone.

Nel suo testo sull'inglese giuridico, Melinkoff ⁶ riporta un elenco di nove motivi per cui il linguaggio del diritto differisce dal linguaggio ordinario, e sottolinea le difficoltà che il traduttore di testi giuridici trova dovendosi confrontare con differenti tradizioni giuridiche, come i sistemi di common law e di civil law.

Mentra la common law si basa sulle soluzioni date ai casi particolari, procedendo induttivamente, e non, come la civil law, per applicazioni specifiche di norme astratte. Una differenza importante tra i due sistemi è quella per cui i giuristi di common law riconoscono che nella stessa cultura giuridica possono convivere più risposte accettabili, mentre i giuristi di civil law, anche ammettendo che ci possono essere contrasti fra le diverse risposte ad un problema giuridico, si deve pervenire alla conclusione che una sola risposta è giusta, e che le altre sono sbagliate.

Un caso evidente di difficile comparabilità è l'espressione francese personne morale» che corrisponde all'italiano «persona giuridica» in contrapposizione alla «persona fisica»: traslata letteralmente sia in italiano che in inglese, essa acquista immediatamente un connotato riferito alla moralità, e dunque etico-religioso, che invece nell'originale non ha. Per evitare ciò, l'inglese ha trovato un equivalente in legal person, che se pure non ha avuto grandissima fortuna, è l'espressione usata nei testi bilingui francese -inglese in uso in Canada.

Altro caso esemplare è il problema della traduzione del termine francese contrat (o del termine italiano «contratto») con la parola inglese contract; non tutti i contrats del Codice Civile francese (o i contratti del Codice Civile italiano) sono traducibili con il termine inglese contract. I vocaboli, non sono fra loro interscambiabili Nei sistemi di common law non si riscontra una precisa ed univoca definizione (per così dire, legislativa, come propongono i sistemi di civil law) degli istituti che vengono ricondotti in ambito continentale al contratto o, viceversa, di quegli istituti che possono venire ricompresi nel sostantivo contract.

L'inglese come lingua internazionale del diritto

L'uso di una lingua veicolare internazionale, come è stato il latino fino al '700, e come ora è l'inglese, nonostante le sue diverse varietà, costituisce un formidabile strumento di uniformazione del lessico, in quanto opera da lingua franca tra gli idiomi nazionali. Nel caso del diritto la più diffusa conoscenza della lingua inglese anche tra i giuristi opera da elemento uniformatore.

Una branca del diritto che ha fatto fare all'inglese un passo avanti nello sviluppare un ruolo di lingua di mediazione è il diritto internazionale. Inizialmente il linguaggio del diritto internazionale era il linguaggio della diplomazia, vale a dire il francese. Fu, in effetti, solamente con il Trattato di Versailles nel 1919 che i testi francesi e inglesi del trattato furono considerati entrambi «autentici».

In tempi più recenti, la Convenzione di Vienna sul Diritto dei Trattati, entrata in vigore nel 1980, stabilisce il principio dell'eguale autenticità dei trattati redatti in lingue diverse e costituisce un tentativo di risolvere i gravi problemi cui spesso dà luogo l'interpretazione dei questi trattati.

In questo contesto, sicuramente bisogna registrare l'indiscusso affermarsi dell'inglese (in particolare, quella particolare varietà di inglese chiamata «inglese internazionale»), che già è preminente come lingua di vari settori come l'economia, il commercio internazionale, la tecnologia, e anche come lingua generale della comunicazione internazionale: nel 2003 la DG Traduzione dell'Unione Europea (che ancora sui chiamava Servizi di Traduzione) ha tradotto 1.416.817 pagine; il 58,9% dei testi originali erano redatti in inglese.⁷

Molti dei documenti prodotti dalla Commissione devono essere resi pubblici contemporaneamente in tutte le lingue ufficiali, devono apparire identici e - soprattutto - devono avere lo stesso significato. Ciò ha posto in primo piano i problemi di armonizzazione dei testi giuridici comunitari. E'un argomento di grande interesse, non tanto e non solo linguistico, che è stato esaminato con grande l'attenzione dalla dottrina giuridica: l'inglese, perfezionato dagli studiosi del diritto al fine di immettervi le nozioni di civil law e di creare termini neutri che non facciano esplicito riferimento alle definizioni elaborate dalla giurisprudenza anglosassone, sta diventando la lingua comune dei giuristi europei e mondiali, e standard di riferimento per le traduzioni giuridiche, perché ha quelle caratteristiche di internazionalità ed universalità che possono renderlo lingua neutra, libera da connotazioni particolari.

Autore: Prof. L.Fiorito

¹ G. Snow, J. Vanderlinden, Francais juridique et science du droit, Universite de Moncton, testi presentati al II colloquio internazionale del centro internazionale del Coomn Law in francese, Bruylant, Bruxelles, 1995, pag.144

² S. Girolamo, Lettera VII.

³ G. Snow, J. Vanderlinden, Francais juridique et science du droit, Universite de Moncton, testi presentati al II colloquio internazionale del centro internazionale del Coomn Law in francese, Bruylant, Bruxelles, 1995, pag.147

⁴ R. Sacco, La traduction juridique, un point de vue italien, 28 C. de D. , 1987, pag.850 estratto dalla Comunicazione presentata al XII Congresso dell'accademia internazionale di diritto comparato, agosto 1986, Sidney, Australia

⁵ D.De Leo, «Pitfalls in Legal Translation», in Translation Journal, April 1999.

⁶ Per una dettagliata analisi dell'inglese giuridico, non si può prescindere da Mellinkoff, D., The Language of the Law, Boston e Toronto, 1963. In particolare, per quanto riguada le caratteristiche stilistiche del linguaggio del diritto inglese, cfr. pagg. 24 e ss.

⁷ Translating for a Multilingual Community, a cura della Direzione Generale della Traduzione della Commissione Europea, Maggio 2004.

solicitor, lawyer, attorney, barrister or counsellor ?

2011-10-04T22:56:00.001+02:00

LAWYER: general term and can mean anyone who gives legal advice or believes himself learned in one or more areas of law.
There are no formal qualifications needed to be a lawyer. Working in a firm of solicitors and working on court files is often enough for the term to be used by employees

SOLICITORS: advise clients and represent them in civil and criminal courts and also deal with business advice wills conveyancing and every area of law. Some specialise in specific areas of law and others may be 'GENERAL PRACTIONERS'.
The term Solicitor is mainly used in UK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and some parts of the US.

BARRISTER (often called counsel) may be junior counsel or Queens counsel (selected for special ability and experience). Their clients are the solicitors who "instruct" them. At one time barristers had sole rights to appear in the High Court and the court of appeal and the house of Lords.

Essentially barristers do three things:

appear in court to represent others

give specialised legal advice in person or in writing

draft court documents

In the past, the solicitor appearing in open court wore a robe but the barrister wore a robe and a horsehair wig, but the wig is now being abolished.

ATTORNEY is American English word for a British English lawyer. The D.A. or District Attorney is a lawyer in the U.S. who works for the state and prosecutes people on behalf of it. There are also, of course, defense attorneys in America who act on behalf of their clients.

PROSECUTION COUNSEL or DEFENCE COUNSEL when referring to the team of lawyers who are operating on behalf of either the state or a client.

30 Sept. 2011 International Translation Day

2011-09-30T00:37:00.001+02:00

International Translation Day is celebrated every year on 30 September on the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered as the patron saint of translators. Now it is an officially recognised International Translation Day by UNESCO to show solidarity of the worldwide translation community in an effort to promote the translation profession in different countries (not necessarily only in Christian ones). This is an opportunity to display pride in a profession that is becoming increasingly essential in the era of progressing globalisation.

El Parlamento luso aprueba el polémico acuerdo ortográfico del portugués

2011-09-22T22:13:00.001+02:00

El pasado 9 de diciembre de 2010 el Consejo de Ministros de Portugal aprobó, entre otras normas, la aplicación del Acuerdo Ortográfico de la Lengua Portuguesa en el sistema educativo para el año lectivo 2011/2012.

A partir del 01/01/2012, también se aplicará gradualmente en la publicación del Diario de la República, así como en todas las actividades del gobierno y de los servicios, organismos y entidades a su dependencia. En Brasil, la norma entró en vigor el día 01/01/2009, aunque ya había sido ratificada en el año 2006.

El Acuerdo Ortográfico de la Lengua Portuguesa es un tratado internacional firmado por representantes oficiales de Angola, Brasil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal y Santo Tomé e Príncipe en Lisboa, el 16/12/1990. En 2004 se uniría Timor-Leste después de obtener su independencia. El objetivo es instituir una ortografía oficial unificada para la lengua portuguesa, con el objetivo explícito de poner fin a la existencia de dos normas ortográficas oficiales divergentes, una en Brasil y otra en los restantes países de lengua oficial portuguesa. Con este acuerdo se contribuye además a aumentar el prestigio internacional del idioma portugués.

La aplicación del acuerdo es de momento facultativa. Hay clientes que simplemente no quieren que los textos sean redactados con la nueva ortografía, y hay otros que sí lo solicitan. De la misma manera, hay portugueses que aplican la norma
y otros que no.

La aplicación del acuerdo es muy polémica en Portugal, pero a nosotros nos cabe defender los intereses de nuestros clientes y respectar su voluntad.

AN EXAMPLE OF MISTRANSLATION

2011-09-21T15:07:00.000+02:00

Clinton Hits Wrong ‘Re-Set’ Button With Russia