I wrote a whole screen on how you should choose a book as carefully as you choose your toothpaste, but I suspect people want concrete advice. That follows in a later entry.

Here’s the general waffle:

Books to learn legal English /Bücher zur englischen Rechtssprache
This topic came up in the comments recently.

The question was, ‘Which books can be recommended?’, but the first question has to be ‘What do I want to learn?’

What do I want to learn?
Listen, speak, read write?
English law? U.S. law? Other?
Terminology?
A broad introduction or specific areas of law?
The court system?

How do I prefer to learn?
Reading? Reading a collection of texts or a continuous text? Find explanations of words in the book or in a dictionary? in English or German?
Doing exercises? Do I need a key to the solutions?

Why did the publisher publish this book?
Be suspicious about publishers’ adverts for books. They may say the book is for law students AND translators AND interpreters AND trainee translators and interpreters AND practising lawyers, but who is it really for?
They may say the book teaches British and American English, but does it really?
And don’t be taken in by a catchy title – look at the contents (conversely, a Denglish title may be the work of the publisher, not the author)

Can I find a course?
If you can find a legal English course at your university or elsewhere, that is probably the way to learn about legal English with the least friction. You will probably have a textbook and an incentive to read in advance and review afterwards, and to talk in English about what you read.

What type of book is available?
Books in German on English or US law, giving the English terminology, sometimes with a language index
Books in English on English or US law, sometimes intended for readers from other legal systems
Course books for law students in non-English-speaking countries: some have a German bias and some German translations, some are for a wider audience. Contents often contain comprehension texts and language exercises.
Reference works in English
Books on legal terminology
Don’t forget you can find all kinds of materials on the Internet, including legal weblogs, podcasts, videoclips at Court TV (and presumably on Youtube too).

On Cobwebs of Petty Inquisitiveness I read that when you see a Shakespeare quotation in someone else’s blog, you have to post one in yours.

Here’s mine:

Lady Macbeth: What, in our house?

Macbeth, Act 2 scene 3

The various uses of the word counsel are confusing enough to those new to common-law countries without Allen & Overy creating a new definition.

In England and Wales, counsel means a barrister (two counsel – no s on the plural – means two barristers). In the USA too, the term applies to a lawyer in court. But the words of counsel after a lawyer’s name mean something different: that the lawyer is a consultant to the firm, for example, or assisted in a matter without being the main lawyer in the case.

But at Allen & Overy, according to RollOnFriday:

The track to partnership stays the same, but an alternative role of “counsel” will be available to a very limited number of senior associates. They can expect to earn between £150,000 and £230,000 basic, again with a bonus of up to £50,000 on top.

Another term new to me is PSL or professional support lawyer. Here is a definition from the mysteriously named British Law site:

The role of Professional Support Lawyer (PSL) was established more than 10 years ago and utilised the skills of lawyers looking for reduced hours (often female lawyers). Support work is now a career in its own right, and PSL’s may even achieve partnership in law firms. Most PSL’s play a part in a firm-wide support function, while others join specialist departments such as corporate and commercial property. New areas of work now include support for IT projects.

Thomas Klotz of RA-Blog has offered me a meme, so here goes, before it’s too late.

Was bedeutet Ostern für dich?
Nichts besonderes. Ich darf nicht vergessen, dass Ostern ein wichtigeres Fest für Christen als Weihnachten ist.

Feierst du Ostern bei dir zu Hause?
Feiern nicht direkt. Ich muss arbeiten, es gibt auch keine störenden Anrufe von Kunden. Ich übersetze einen Domführer, also da ist schon etwas Religiöses. Ich habe vergessen, den Papst im Fernsehen zu schauen, tue das aber manchmal.

Was gibt es an den Feiertagen zu essen?
Nichts besonderes. Ich habe am Karfreitag Lachs gegessen, eine schlechte Idee, weil es das letzte Stück Lachs in Fürth war und Dill war überall ausverkauft.

Versteckst du noch Osternester?
Was heißt hier ‘noch’? Ich habe noch nie im Leben ein Osternest versteckt. Ich weiß auch nicht genau, was ein Osternest ist.

Bemalst du selbst die Eier?
Niemand bemalt hier Eier.

Welche Technik verwendest du?
Wofür?

Hast du eine bestimmte Osterhasen-Schokoladen-Marke?
Eventuell Gubor, die waren aber alle weg.

Wer macht das Osterfrühstück?
Ich, natürlich.

Bekommen die Kinder noch etwas anderes geschenkt außer Süßes?
Wenn es welche gäbe, nein.

Hältst du Fastentage?
Nein.

stud.iur. Martin Malkus links to three German students’ law journals – written by students in the American law review style – available online, one from Hamburg, one from Bremen and one from Freiburg. Some of the articles are in English. (Unfortunately, some – but not all – articles on German law written in English are very hard to read because the author or translator has not found a natural English sentence flow. English versions of academic articles are a real problem, and professional translation is not feasible in view of the amount of research that would sometimes be needed).

For obvious reasons, I’ve been trying to remember Brumas’s name. I remember going to see him when he was the most famous animal in Britain. I didn’t realize he was female, though.

Brumas: Brumas was the first Polar Bear to be born at the ZSL London Zoo (1949?). “He” was said to be a male, but it was later confirmed that she was in fact a female. However, the public was not informed of this “sex-change” for several months. Brumas was named after the two keepers, BRUce and SAM. Attendance at the zoo soared as a result of “his” appearance, and in his first year reached 3,000,000—a figure that has yet to be topped.