Anyone have a link to a good guide for English legalese grammar?
Автор темы: Adieu
Adieu
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Sep 1, 2021

I got hired to review/verify a translation of a contract. Terminology use and accuracy are REALLY good (I'm shocked - this client usually sends out total crap for revision). Most of the few changes I'm tempted to make are grammatical.

However, I googled a few of those grammatically suspect strings and found lots of other instances of similar wording used. Hard to tell if it is just others repeating the same errors or a grammatical convention in legalese.

Please recommen
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I got hired to review/verify a translation of a contract. Terminology use and accuracy are REALLY good (I'm shocked - this client usually sends out total crap for revision). Most of the few changes I'm tempted to make are grammatical.

However, I googled a few of those grammatically suspect strings and found lots of other instances of similar wording used. Hard to tell if it is just others repeating the same errors or a grammatical convention in legalese.

Please recommend good guides on US English legalese or sources of highly polished examples of US English contracts that are beyond reproach. Thanks.
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Adieu
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Also Sep 1, 2021

Anything about key differences in UK and US English legalese would be much appreciated.

 
John Fossey
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Depends on the jurisdiction Sep 2, 2021

I suppose part of the problem with this is that every jurisdiction - every country and every province/state/region within a country - has its own legal customs and jargon.

neilmac
 
Adieu
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US English terminology Sep 2, 2021

It's for reference, the actual contract to be signed is in the source language

One of the problems I expect to run into is that the translator may have mixed terminology from different legal traditions, which wouldn't be immediately obvious without a good cheat sheet on US contract law

John Fossey wrote:

I suppose part of the problem with this is that every jurisdiction - every country and every province/state/region within a country - has its own legal customs and jargon.


[Edited at 2021-09-02 21:24 GMT]


 
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
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The big corps Sep 2, 2021

Adieu wrote:

Please recommend good guides on US English legalese or sources of highly polished examples of US English contracts that are beyond reproach. Thanks.

Can't help with the former, but if you can get copies of contracts from mega US corporations like Google, Apple, Facebook and Disney, those have been looked over by an army or two of experienced and well-paid lawyers so they're as close to "highly polished" as anything can get.

Example: https://corporate.findlaw.com/contracts/compensation/employment-agreement-the-walt-disney-co-and-robert-a-iger.html


neilmac
Tony Keily
 
Andreas Baranowski
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Caution! Sep 3, 2021

Firstly, given that there a zillions of volumes out there on contract drafting, I doubt your search will be successful.
Secondly, there is a difference between legalese and ungrammatical writing.
If you trust your grip on grammar, by all means fix what is clearly and incontrovertibly ungrammatical.
But I would recommend against changing anything else. If you are challenged to make your case for any of your changes, “I found it on the Internet” won’t wash. When reviewing
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Firstly, given that there a zillions of volumes out there on contract drafting, I doubt your search will be successful.
Secondly, there is a difference between legalese and ungrammatical writing.
If you trust your grip on grammar, by all means fix what is clearly and incontrovertibly ungrammatical.
But I would recommend against changing anything else. If you are challenged to make your case for any of your changes, “I found it on the Internet” won’t wash. When reviewing legal documents, let caution be your best friend.

As an afterthought, I take it that you are not performing a legal review in the capacity of a lawyer. An assessment of the appropriateness of the terminology used would be a lawyer's job.

[Edited at 2021-09-03 03:20 GMT]
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Inga Petkelyte
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Tony Keily
 
Adieu
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Never mind Sep 3, 2021

I found the template/master file this thing was made from. All the grammar oddities are from the original "source of the source".

Looks like I just need to carefully read 100 pages for deviations from the source material and check for correct back-translation thereof.

Thank G-d for multiple monitors.


 
neilmac
neilmac
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Is there a difference? Sep 12, 2021

I don't know whether there is a specific grammar for legal texts, but I've always just assumed that general English grammar rules would prevail. There is a certain flexibility to most grammar rules anyway. However, if there are any differences that are actually grammatical, it would be interesting to see some examples.

Christopher Schröder
 
Adieu
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A bit Sep 12, 2021

The combination of odd vocabulary and habitually ignored rules makes for some VERY wrong-looking staple phrases.

neilmac wrote:

I don't know whether there is a specific grammar for legal texts, but I've always just assumed that general English grammar rules would prevail. There is a certain flexibility to most grammar rules anyway. However, if there are any differences that are actually grammatical, it would be interesting to see some examples.


 
Christopher Schröder
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Bad writing is bad writing Sep 13, 2021

Many lawyers, like estate agents, have a language and a grammar of their own, but this just marks them down as second-rate and is not to be emulated. Hence things like the Plain English campaign.

neilmac
AnnaSCHTR
 


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Anyone have a link to a good guide for English legalese grammar?







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