Introduction
in this lesson I’m going to teach you 14common legal English terms to give yourprofessional English vocabulary a realboost but first of all what is legalEnglish well legal English is thatspecialized language that we use to talkabout laws rules and responsibilitiesterms like liability non-disclosureagreement or breach of contract at theend of the lesson I’m also going toshare some really useful idiomsconnected to rules and laws so make sureyou stick around for that hi there I’mDerek and this is English forprofessionals the best place to improveyour English communication skills forwork before we get started with thelesson I just want to tell you about myprofessional English phrase booster itcontains over 300 phrases to help youwith presentations meetings emailsprojects negotiations and more and it’scompletely free for you to downloadyou’ll find Link in the descriptionbelow and now let’s get started with the
Confidentiality agreement
lesson so first up we haveconfidentiality agreement now that firstword has a lot of syllables it can betricky to pronounceconfidentiality confidentialityagreement and the confidentialityagreement is a contract that stopssomeone from sharing private informationlet’s take a look at a a couple ofexamples new employees sign aconfidentiality agreement to protectcompany Secrets say it with me newemployees sign a confidentialityagreement to protect company Secretssecond example the researcher signed aconfidentiality agreement beforestarting the project say it with me theresearcher signed a confidentialityagreement before starting the projectyou may also hear the term confidentialinformation at times this term is moreGeneral as it just means importantprivate information that should not beshared with others take a moment tothink about the types of confidentialinformation you handle at work but don’tworry I’m not going to ask you to sharethem with
Liability and liable
me next up we have liability liabilitywhich means to be le legally responsiblefor something like debts or damagesunderstanding liability helps businessesmanage potential risks ensuring thatthey follow the law and protectthemselves from Financial harm ourexamples by signing the contract thesupplier took on liability for anydefects in the delivered Goods say itwith me by signing the contract thesupplier took on liability for anydefects in the delivered Goods secondexample to limit liability thepartnership agreement included specificterms about financialresponsibility to limit liability thepartnership agreement included specificterms about financialresponsibility the adjective liable isused to describe someone or somethingthat is legally responsible for aparticular situation it often indicatespotential legal obligations or risksexamples as a business owner you areliable for any injuries caused by yourproducts or Services as a business owneryou are liable for any injuries causedby your products or Services secondexample after the incident the companywas found liable for the environmentaldamage after the incident the companywas found liable for the environmentaldamage being liable means you may haveto compensate for damage dages orfulfills certain legalobligations understanding when and howyou or your company could be liable iscrucial for risk management and legal
Compliance
compliance next up we have compliancecompliance which means following ruleslaws or standards set up by governmentsorganizations or Industries complianceensures that a company or an individualbehaves in a legal and ethical way ourfirst example the HR manager ensurescompliance with labor laws say it withme the HR manager ensures compliancewith labor laws this means that the HRmanager makes sure the company followsthe rules about working conditions payand employee rights our second examplethe finance department checks forcompliance with tax regulations say itwith methe finance department checks forcompliance with taxregulations here we mean that thefinance department makes sure thecompany pays taxes correctly and followsthe rules about financial
Follow protocol
reporting our next term is to followprotocol follow protocol which means tofollow set rules or proceduresespecially those set up by a company ororganization to ensure safetyconsistency and compliance first examplethe IT specialist always followsprotocol when installing new softwaresay it with me the IT specialist alwaysfollows protocol when installing newsoftware second example duringemergencies it’s crucial for the safetyofficer to follow protocol say it withme during emergencies it’s crucial forthe safety officer to follow
NDA (Non-disclosure agreement)
protocol next up we have NDA NDA whichmeans a nondisclosure agreementnondisclosure agreement and this is acontract where someone Promises to Keepinformation private now you may bewondering how is this different from thefirst term we looked at theconfidentiality agreement well they areessentially the same as both are legalcontracts used to keep sensitiveinformation private the term NDA isoften used for more specific businessdeals while confidentiality Agreementsare more generally used in employment orcompany policies our first example afterthe two companies discussed merging theysigned an NDA to keep their financialinformation secret say it with me afterthe two companies discussed merging theysigned an NDA to keep their financialinformationsecret second example the suppliersigned an NDA to prevent leaking newproduct details say it with me thesupplier signed an NDA to preventleaking new product details can youthink of a scenario in your job whereyou might need to use a non-disclosureagreement if so share it in the
Breach of contract
comments the next term we’re going tolook at is breach of contract breach ofcontract which basically means not doingwhat is agreed in a contract a commonexample of a breach of contract is whenthe supplier fails to deliver Goods onan agreed delivery date for example thesupplier was fined for breach ofcontract for late delivery say it withme the supplier was fined for breach ofcontract for late delivery secondexample the employees disclosure ofcompany Secrets was considered a breachof contra contract say it with me theemployees disclosure of company Secretswas considered a breach of
Dispute
contract next up we have dispute disputeand this is a disagreement or argumentbetween people or groups for example twoemployees could have a dispute on whoshould handle specific tasks or anotherexample could be a company having adispute with a supplier over the thequality of delivered Goods the noundispute is often used together with theverb resolve for example the mediatorhelped resolve the dispute between thetwo companies say it with me themediator helped resolve the disputebetween the two companies second examplethe team members found themselves in adispute but the team leader managed toresolve it the team members foundthemselves in a dispute but the teamleader managed to resolve
Fine print
it next up we have fine print fine printand this is the small text in a contractthat contains important informationusually found at the bottom of thecontract it contains importantinformation that you might not notice ifyou don’t read it we always say don’tforget to read the fine print our firstexample always read the fine printbefore signing a lease say it with mealways read the fine print beforesigning a lease second example theaccountant check Define print for hiddenfees say it with me the accountant checkDefine print for hidden
To sue someone
fees the next term we’re going to lookat is to sue someone to sue someone andthis means to take legal action againstsomeone in court to seek compensation orto resolve a dispute to seekcompensation means to ask for money orsomething else to make up for losses ordamages suing an individual or suing acompany is often seen as a last resortwhen everything else has failed forexample the company decided to sue theirformer employee for breach of contractsay it with me the company decided tosue their former employee for breach ofcontract or the customer threatened tosue the manufacturer after their productcaused an injury the customer threatenedto sue the manufacturer after theirproduct caused an
Lawsuit
injury next up we have lawsuit lawsuitand this is a legal case brought tocourt to resolve a dispute or claimbetween different parties in law partiesmeans the people or groups involved in alegal case or agreement our firstexample the company decided to carry outa lawsuit against the former employeeforstealing say it with me the companydecided to carry out a lawsuit againstthe former employee for stealing secondexample she won her lawsuit against thelandlord for not fixing the plumbingissue in her shop say it with me she wonher lawsuit against the landlord for notfixing the plumbing issue in her
Legal Proceedings
shop our next term is legal proceedingslegal proceedings and this is theprocess of taking a case to court thishappens when there’s a disagreement thatcan’t be solved outside of court forexample if a contract isn’t followed orif there’s a dispute over money oneparty might start a legal proceeding toask a judge to make a decision legalproceedings cover all activitiesinvolved in any legal case includinglawsuits hearings trials negotiationsand any other legal steps taken in orderto resolve a legal matter our firstexample the company prepared for legalproceedings over the patent dispute sayit with me the company prepared forlegal proceedings over the patentdispute second examplelegal proceedings can be costly and timeconsuming legal proceedings can becostly and time
Whistle Blower
consuming next up we have whistleblowerwhistleblower and this is a person whotells authorities about illegal or wrongactions happening in a company ororganization our first Example TheWhistleblower reported the company’sillegal pollution practices to theenvironmental agency say it with me TheWhistleblower reported the company’sillegal pollution practices to theenvironmental agency second example shebecame a whistleblower when she foundout her company was lying about theirfinances she became a whistleblower whenshe found out her company was lyingabout their finances
Power of Attorney
the next term we’re going to look at ispower of attorney power of attorney andthis is legal permission for someone toact on someone else’s behalf example oneshe gave her lawyer power of attorney tomanage her finances say it with me shegave her lawyer power of attorney tomanage herfinances example two during his absencethe director granted power of attorneyto his Deputy say it with meduring his absence the director grantedpower of attorney to his
Void a Contract
Deputy next we have to void a contractvoid a contract which means to cancel acontract so it has no legal effect acontract might be voided when one partydoesn’t fulfill their obligation statedin the contract when there’s a mistakein the contract or the contract isagainst the law or public policy ourexamples the buyer decided to Avid thecontract due to defects in the productsay it with me the buyer decided to voidthe contract due to defects in theproduct second example you can void acontract if both parties agree you canvoid a contract if both partiesagree great so there we have 14 legalEnglish terms to give your professionalEnglish vocabulary a boost and now we’regoing to look at some really nice idiomsconnected to Legal English the first one
Above Board
is above board above board and thismeans open honest and legal our businesspractices are above board to ensure fullcompliance with the law say it with meour business practices are above boardto ensure full compliance with the lawsecond example there’s no need to worrythe deal was completely above board sayit with me there’s no need to worry thedeal was completely above board so thedeal was honest and legal next we have
by the book
by the book by the book and this meansfollowing the rules or officialprocedures exactly the ACC accountantmade sure everything was done by thebook to avoid any legal issues say withme the accountant made sure everythingwas done by the book to avoid any legalissues second example our new boss wantsus to do everything by the book say itwith me our new boss wants us to doeverything by the book our next idiom is
In hot Water
to be in hot water to be in hot waterand this means to be in trouble or in adifficult situation the CEO foundherself in hot water water after thecompany’s illegal activities wereexposed say it with me the CEO foundherself in hot water after the company’sillegal activities were exposed secondexample the employee was in hot waterfor leaking confidential information toa competitor say it with me the employeewas in hot water for leakingconfidential information to a
Throw the Book at Someone
competitor next we have to throw the Bat someone to throw the book at someoneand this means to punish someone as hardas possible the court decided to throwthe book at the company for breakingmultiple environmental laws so the courtpunished the company as hard as possiblesecond example the CEO promised to throwthe book at any employee caught leakingconfidential information say it with methe CEO promised to throw the book atany employee C Le confidentialinformation so which terms or idioms didyou already know and which ones were newfor you make sure to leave a commentbelow and let me know if you like thelesson give it a thumbs up and watch oneof these next.