New English for Law Examination and preparation courses
We are very proud to announce that after 5 years of development Cambridge ESOL, the University of Cambridge faculty specialising in English Testing, is now offering the world's first ever accredited examination in English for Law. The examination is called ILEC (International Legal English Certificate) and takes place twice a year, in May and November. CAE now runs six-week preparation courses for the test starting in late March and October (minimum enrolment period is two weeks). The exam is aimed at upper-intermediate to advanced learners of English and can be taken by law students and qualified lawyers alike. The exam has been long awaited by law companies around the world to externally validate the English abilities of their employees and for recruitment purposes. Please feel free to contact the Professional Centre for further details.
Lawyers interested in studying at the CAE Professional Centre can learn legal English in individual lessons or combine small-group Professional English classes with legal English on a 50:50 basis.
There is no typical or pre-fixed content of the lessons because the objectives of each course, in both all-day one-to-one or half-day combination training, are negotiated with the client on their first day at the Centre. Since most of our lawyers have highly specialised and therefore usually very different needs the courses are tailored to suit the individual. In addition, the content varies with the length of course and is amended with regular feedback. However, the following specialist areas are regularly approached;
The language of Commercial Law
Typical Topic Areas:
- The legal status of companies
- Setting up companies
- Articles/Memoranda of Association
- Company activities as legal entities
- Powers and duties of directors
- Balance sheets
- Company case studies and litigation (leading civil court cases)
- Stocks and shares
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Insolvency/liquidation
The language of Contracts and Agreement
Typical Topic Areas:
- Necessary features of contracts
- Contract types
- Drafting
- Use of boiler plate clauses
- Implied/explicit clauses
- Damages or remedies for breach
- Case studies
- Linguisitic manipulation of real examples
- Letters before action
- Direct language and skills work on appropriate vocabulary, grammar, writing, newspaper and article activities
Other Aspects of Civil Law and Associated Language
Typical Topic Areas:
- European Law
- Employment Law
- The Law of Tort
- Land and Property Law
- Maritime Law
- European Union Law
- Further aspects of litigation (e.g. advocacy, procedure)
- Equity
- International Law
- The Law of Trusts
- Law related to Banking and other financial areas
- Formal letter writing
- The language of Criminal Law (very occasionally)
- The English Legal System in general
