English as a Second Language - English problems with Legal Terms

N

name008

Hello gentle & lady

I`m a new begineer on my work of Contract and I`m On the Job Traning.

Actually say, I am not ENGLISH native. Thus when I read anykinds of documents, i`m always stuck at legal words. Almost everyday, i`m just fooling in around on the office.



My questions are as follows


1.How can i solve this problem?

2. if there is a good book for developing Contract, could you recommand that?


I think my questions are so lumped, not detailed. But I really need your kind HELP.


OK. Thanks very much to read my thread and have a nice day!
 

Jim Wynne

Leader
Admin
Hello gentle & lady

I`m a new begineer on my work of Contract and I`m On the Job Traning.

Actually say, I am not ENGLISH native. Thus when I read anykinds of documents, i`m always stuck at legal words. Almost everyday, i`m just fooling in around on the office.



My questions are as follows


1.How can i solve this problem?

2. if there is a good book for developing Contract, could you recommand that?


I think my questions are so lumped, not detailed. But I really need your kind HELP.


OK. Thanks very much to read my thread and have a nice day!

Welcome to the Cove.

The legal dictionary at Law.com might be helpful.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Welcome to the Cove.

The legal dictionary at Law.com might be helpful.
Well . . . that will help folks understand the words, but the concepts in the clauses in legal contracts are not just about the meanings of the individual words, but about the words in combination with all the other words. I have a lot of law courses under my belt and years and years of experience with contracts and one thing I've learned is that otherwise reasonable people can get into terrible disagreements about the interpretation of the terms of contracts. Lawyers get paid a lot of money in the US to act as advocates for the parties to contracts as they are written, but nearly as much money is spent on court proceedings when there are disputes about the interpretations when something goes wrong.

Added to the normal rancor when all parties are in the USA is the additional complication when the parties are in different international jurisdictions where laws about commerce sometimes vary widely, especially regarding trade secrets, patents, and copyrights.

My advice:
In contract review, worry first about the capability and capacity of the parties to perform and have a really good meeting of minds about the work to be performed, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, hire a lawyer experienced in the jurisdictions of the parties to review the basic understanding and ensure the final contract covers that understanding in a way both parties can agree without exposing themselves to disastrous penalties if something goes wrong.

The attorney is just one of the experts (production, finance, marketing, quality, etc.) who should be part of the contract review. Just as you would not usually put the finance details in the hands of the shipping clerk (just because he knows the difference between American dollars and Australian dollars), it is probably not a good practice to put the legal fate of the organization in the hands of the Quality Manager (just because he has an on-line law dictionary.)
 
Top Bottom