Text с legal education: a call to the bar*

In English-speaking countries, the Bar is a term for the legal profession itself, while a bar association is the association which regulates the profession. A person who qualifies to practise law is admitted to the Bar; on the other hand, to disbar a lawyer is to make him or her unable to practise law.

Studying law in the uk

In the UK, a legal education usually begins with the completion of a bachelor degree in law, known as an LLB, which usually takes three years. It is the first academic stage, which provides a general theoretical introduction to the law. In the subsequent* vocational stage, a person who wishes to become a barrister joins one of the Inns of Court before beginning the Bar Vocational Course. The completion of this stage is marked by a ceremony – the call to the Bar. A third stage, known as pupillage, is a year-long apprenticeship*, usually at a set of barristers’ chambers, which customarily consists of groups of 20 – 60 barristers. Similarly, a person wishing to become a solicitor must also complete three stages: the first stage involves gaining a law degree; the second stage requires passing a one-year Legal Practice Course (LPC); and the final stage entails working for two years as a trainee solicitor with a firm of solicitors or in the legal department of a local authority or large company.

Studying law in the usa

In the USA, a legal education comprises four years of undergraduate study followed by three years of law school. A law-school graduate receives the degree of juris doctor* (J. D.) In order to qualify as a lawyer, a law-school graduate must pass the bar examination.

Note that in British English, the noun is spelled practice and the verb practise; in American English both the noun and the verb are spelled practise.

a call to the bar – прийом до адвокатури

subsequent – наступний

apprenticeship – учнівство

juris doctor (J. D.) – ступінь бакалавра права

Exercise 12 Find terms with the word BAR in text C which match these definitions. Translate them.

1) a lawyer who is qualified to plead on behalf of clients;

2) in the UK, a training course which enables people who wish to become barristers and who have registered with the Inns of Court to acquire the skills and knowledge to prepare them for the specialised training of the pupilage;

3) a ceremony held at the end of this training course, when a candidate enters the profession;

4) organisation regulating the legal profession;

5) in the USA, an important test taken by law-school graduates which, when passed, qualifies a person to practise law;

6) granted entrance to the legal profession;

7) to compel a lawyer to stop practising law due to an offence committed.

Exercise 13 The legal training for solicitors (who provide general legal advice to clients) and barristers (who present cases in the upper courts) is different. The following short texts describe the stages in legal training, but the steps are mixed up. Put the steps into the correct category and order and translate them in writing.

1 PRACTICE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

The next stage is to obtain a “tenancy”*: becoming an assistant to a practising barrister.

2 GETTING THE QUALIFICATIONS

The next step is to acquire some legal training specific to the work of a barrister.

3 DEVELOPING PRACTICAL SKILLS

Next the intending solicitor has to enter a two-year training contract with a firm of solicitors to gain practical experience in a variety of areas of law.

4 GETTING THE TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: PUPILLAGE

This is the “apprenticeship” served by trainee barristers, who are known as pupils. It usually takes a year and consists of a mixture of assisting and observing experienced barristers, as well as more practical experience.

5 GETTING THE ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

The quickest and most common route to qualification is by means of a qualifying law degree.

6 GETTING THE VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

They will have to undertake the Legal Practice Course, which is the professional training for solicitors. The course teaches the practical application of the law to the needs of clients.

7 GETTING THE ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

The first part of training to become a barrister is known as the academic stage, which provides a general theoretical introduction to the law.

I Training for solicitors			II Training for barristers
5

tenancy – оренда

Writing task B: 1) write whether legal education in our country is more similar to the UK or the US model; 2) describe the necessary stages of legal training in Ukraine.

Exercise 14 Read the text below and answer these questions. Give it a headline.

1 Which courses do law students in the UK have to take?

2 Which optional courses might a student who wants to work in a big law firm take?

3 Which core courses are typical in our country?

4 How long does it take to complete a law degree in Ukraine?

TEXT D

The study of law is intellectually stimulating and challenging, and can lead to a variety of interesting careers.

In the UK and the USA, law degree programmes usually take three years. In the UK, these programmes typically include core (compulsory) subjects such as criminal law, contract law, tort* law, land law, equity* and trusts*, administrative law and constitutional law. In addition, students often take courses covering skills such as legal writing and legal research.

There is also a variety of optional (elective) courses available. Since many law students go on to become lawyers, students often take courses that will be useful to them during their future careers. Someone wishing to run a small partnership* or to work alone as a sole practitioner* in a small town may decide to take subjects such as family law, employment law and housing law. Those wishing to work in a large law practice will consider subjects such as company law, commercial law and litigation and arbitration.

Many universities also offer courses on legal practice. Courses like this give students the opportunity to experience the work of a lawyer before deciding on a career in the law. Another way of finding out more about law in practice is to get involved with a voluntary advice centre or law clinic. These clinics offer free legal assistance to the local community and provide a useful introduction to some of the day-to-day work of a lawyer.

For students wishing to work in a commercial practice, knowledge of foreign languages is essential. When law firms hire new recruits, they generally look at four things: education, personality, work experience and language ability. Since English is the language of the international legal community, law firms increasingly expect graduates to have a good command of English.

tort – цивільне правопорушення, делікт, цивільно-правовий делікт

equity – право справедливості

trusts – довірча власність, майно, яким управляють за дорученням, довірчі майнові відносини

partnership – товариство, партнерство

practitioner – адвокат (юрист), який займається практикою

Exercise 15 Read the text again and decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones.

1 A course in family law is usually included among the core subjects at law schools in the UK.

2 Some law degree programmes offer courses in some of the important skills that lawyers need in order to do their work, such as legal writing or legal English.

3 Law clinics give law students the opportunity to learn about the legal problems of the medical profession.

4 Today, commercial law firms expect recruits to be completely fluent in English.

Exercise 18 When you record vocabulary, you should write down not only single words, but also collocations. How many collocations with the words “legal” (e.g. legal writing) and “law” (e. g. law firm) can you find in text D?

Exercise 19 Complete these sentences by inserting either “law” or “legal”. Translate them.

1 Instruction in legal English is becoming compulsory in a growing number of law faculties all over the world.

2 After university, my work as a trainee solicitor gave me useful experience in commercial litigation, and I was offered a good position in a large firm.

3 During my studies, I volunteered at a local clinic, where I provided free assistance to people who could not afford to pay for a lawyer.

4 Some of the most important courses a student completes during his studies of the law are skills courses, such as courses in  writing and research.

Listening task: listen to the discussion and tick what each speaker says he / she did on his / her legal English course. Analyse your legal English.

Most universities now offer language courses for lawyers, and in some countries these courses are compulsory. Some courses in legal English focus on the study of Anglo-American legal systems and associated terminology. Others offer a more practical introduction to the language skills lawyers will need during their future careers.

You are going to hear a discussion between two law students, Heidi from Germany and Pavlo from Ukraine. They are each spending a semester studying law in England and are discussing the English courses they were required to take as part of the law degree programmes in their respective countries.

	Heidi’s course (Speaker 1)	Pavlo’s course (Speaker 2)	Your English course
worked on writing skills for lawyers
practised legal research skills
learned about other legal systems
studied terminology
gave presentations
practised speaking about own legal system

Listen to the conversation again and then discuss with a partner which course (Heidi’s or Pavlo’s) most resembles your experience of legal English so far.

Speaking task B: