ΠΕΡΙΓΡΑΦΗ

Course Description

Legal English is a specialised language, i.e. it has specialised expressions, specialised syntax and structure. The proper usage of English legal language is essential for the proper drafting of contracts, letters, emails (legal content) and many other legal documents. This specialisation of English legal language also creates the need for training in this field.

TOLES means ‘Test of Legal English Skills’. The TOLES programme consists of a structured course of legal English training materials supported by three levels of professional exams. The exam levels are progressive steps towards reaching the standard of legal English required by employers such as international commercial law firms, in-house legal teams in private companies and top-class translators. TOLES legal English training materials and exams have been developed following the advice of experienced commercial lawyers. The top requirements of employers are excellent drafting skills, first-class negotiating skills and a strong sense of commercial awareness. As members of the International Division of the Law Society of England and Wales we are in an excellent position to support international legal professionals in achieving these goals.

The European Legal Training Center has been accredited by TOLES to help students prepare for the TOLES exam - the test of legal English recognised by the Law Society in England.

TOLES are members of the International Division of the Law Society of England and Wales and our training materials and exams are very well-known among law firms and very highly valued by them.

Please note that TOLES is intended to assist working lawyers and there are other legal English courses and exams which are more academic, more fluency based, and therefore more suitable for international law graduates who plan to take an LLM or a PhD in law.

Law firms and organizations that have already entered candidates for the TOLES exams include:

The Law Society of England and Wales

Linklaters Oppenhoff and Radler

Allen&Overy LLP

Baker and McKenzie

PricewaterhouseCoopers

KPMG

Sony Ericsson

Daimler Chrysler

European Court of Justice

European Central Bank

Deutsche Bundesbank

Qatar Steel Company

Qatar Petrochemical Corporation

DuPont

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Siemens

The Foundation Course

The Foundation Exam is the recommended starting point in legal English training for international law students. For more experienced lawyers, this may be the correct starting point for those who wish to begin training in professional legal English while continuing to develop English skills in general.

The exam has one paper: legal reading and writing. The focus of the exam is on testing the absolute linguistic accuracy required of lawyers in a modern international office. This means accuracy in two main areas: technical legal vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary from commercial deals, company documents, commercial contracts, intellectual property agreements, financial documents and forms of business are tested, as well as legal terminology from other areas.

LEVEL OF GENERAL ENGLISH

The level of English needed for this exam is elementary level. The priority at this stage is to make sure that a genuinely strong foundation of legal English is in place in order to allow learners to progress successfully to the next level. This strong foundation includes consolidating basic grammar before moving on to more complicated language structures. The exam is based on absolute accuracy in written English, not fluency. This means that when learners answer questions we expect their use of English to be very good and they will lose points for imperfect grammar as well as for vocabulary mistakes.

ΣΕ ΠΟΙΟΥΣ ΑΠΕΥΘΥΝΕΤΑΙ

Legal advisors, registered lawyers, corporate professionals/administrators and other professionals who work in the legal and financial sectors.

ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΕΣ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΕΣ

Course Content

Unit 1: The language of the legal Profession

Unit 2: The Language of banking

Unit 3: The language of contract law

Unit 4: The language of employment law

Unit 5: The language of tort law

Unit 6: Understanding contract language (1)

Unit 7: The language of business law

Unit 8: Writing letters

Unit 9: The language of company law

Unit 10: understanding contract language (2)

Course Methodology

Live distance learning via Zoom. This method enables the instructor to continuously assess the receptivity of the trainees and to be constantly updated accordingly. During the training, appropriate techniques will be developed and assist the subject of training. The lecture and the regular discussion challenge are the main pillar of the training techniques in this program.