The most famous U.S. legal stationery item is the yellow pad. I think the traditional size is foolscap (is that what they call legal size?), but Staples had them even in mini sizes. The yellow paper with blue lines (and red margin?) is so distinctive that For Counsel sell ‘legal briefs’ in the form of yellow-lined underwear.

It was difficult to find a picture of a legal pad, but here is one.

We are discussing the translation of certificates tomorrow at the monthly meeting of the translators’ association, provided the temperature drops below 35°C. Germany has sworn translators, but each of the 16 Länder / states does it slightly differently. I was thinking about the concrete problem of how to bind multi-page documents together. We are supposed to bind them together so they can’t be separated without it being obvious they have been tampered with. Some translators in Bavaria use white gummy star seals and an elaborate arrangement of notarial string (you can get it in blue and white for Bavaria). My own knowledge of sewing and cords goes back to English solicitors’ practices, however. So here are a few links showing pictures of lawyers’ paraphernalia. As for what sworn translators do, I hope to illustrate that with pictures shortly. Continue reading →

We are discussing the translation of certificates tomorrow at the monthly meeting of the translators’ association, provided the temperature drops below 35°C. Germany has sworn translators, but each of the 16 Länder / states does it slightly differently. I was thinking about the concrete problem of how to bind multi-page documents together. We are supposed to bind them together so they can’t be separated without it being obvious they have been tampered with. Some translators in Bavaria use white gummy star seals and an elaborate arrangement of notarial string (you can get it in blue and white for Bavaria). My own knowledge of sewing and cords goes back to English solicitors’ practices, however. So here are a few links showing pictures of lawyers’ paraphernalia. As for what sworn translators do, I hope to illustrate that with pictures shortly. Continue reading →

Differences between British and U.S. usage: In English law, a brief is a document by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to represent a client in court.

There is a definition in the Oxford Dictionary of Law, edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, ISBN 0 19 860399 1, a paperback that has not much increased in size since it used to be called the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Law. Here’s the complete quote via xrefer:

brief
A document by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to appear as an advocate in court. Unless the client is receiving legal aid, the brief must be marked with a fee that is paid to counsel whether he is successful or not. A brief usually comprises a backsheet, typed on large brief-size paper giving the title of the case and including the solicitor’s instructions, which is wrapped around the other papers relevant to the case. The whole bundle is tied up with red tape in the case of a private client and white tape if the brief is from the Crown.
Dictionary of Law, Oxford University Press © Market House Books Ltd 1997

(So the Oxford Dictionary of Law can be consulted online, together with a number of other sources).

‘Brief-size paper’ is rather a circular definition. It used to be paper twice as wide as the normal foolscap, typed on on a huge typewriter. We used to call the red tape ‘pink tape’ (see entry on stationery). A vague idea can be obtained from the picture at the mysterious Virtual Chambers site. Continue reading →

Differences between British and U.S. usage: In English law, a brief is a document by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to represent a client in court.

There is a definition in the Oxford Dictionary of Law, edited by Elizabeth A. Martin, ISBN 0 19 860399 1, a paperback that has not much increased in size since it used to be called the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Law. Here’s the complete quote via xrefer:

bq. brief
A document by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to appear as an advocate in court. Unless the client is receiving legal aid, the brief must be marked with a fee that is paid to counsel whether he is successful or not. A brief usually comprises a backsheet, typed on large brief-size paper giving the title of the case and including the solicitor’s instructions, which is wrapped around the other papers relevant to the case. The whole bundle is tied up with red tape in the case of a private client and white tape if the brief is from the Crown.
Dictionary of Law, Oxford University Press © Market House Books Ltd 1997

(So the Oxford Dictionary of Law can be consulted online, together with a number of other sources).

‘Brief-size paper’ is rather a circular definition. It used to be paper twice as wide as the normal foolscap, typed on on a huge typewriter. We used to call the red tape ‘pink tape’ (see entry on stationery). A vague idea can be obtained from the picture at the mysterious Virtual Chambers site. Continue reading →

An article in The Lawyer, Worldly Wise, by Professor Peter Jones, of Nottingham University, and Jill Janney, of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, discusses a new form of training they are developing to help young lawyers understand how their counterparts abroad understand the law
(via excited utterances).