An introduction to this project and would you like to contribute?

As many Italian lawyers know, having a knowledge of English is becoming essential to the practice of law in Italy. Indeed, in Milan it can be difficult to find a job as a lawyer unless you know English and/or other languages.

I recommend that you look at the list of links on the right, as you will already find some essential resources.

If you want to know when new articles are added to this blog, subscribe to the RSS system here: Post (Atom)

If you would like to become a contributor to this blog and you are an Italian or foreign lawyer working in Italy, or dealing with Italian legal issues, then email me at: lawblog at englishisin dot com. I would prefer articles in English, but I will also accept posts in Italian if I consider that they reflect the character of this site.

If you do write in English, I will correct any mistakes you may make, so you can improve your writing skills. If you want me to, that is.

Anyone can now leave comments on this blog, so please do.
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Showing posts with label Italian lawyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian lawyers. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 July 2007

TransLegal

One of the links on the right will take you to TransLegal, which is a service that specialises in training non-mother tongue lawyers to use English. TransLegal also has a very interesting newsletter, the TransLegal Digest which you do have to pay for, but it is very well worth the money.

There are even some discounts available:
• European Law Students Association (ELSA): 50% discount on the student price (GBP 11.55)
• International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA): 25% discount on the regular price (GBP 24.75)
• International Bar Association (IBA): 25% discount on the regular price (GBP 24.75)
• European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA): free to ECLA members as part of the services provided by TransLegal to ECLA members via the ECLA website

And group discounts are also available:

TransLegal provides the following discounts to law firms and companies that buy multiple annual subscriptions to the Digest:

• 2-9 subscriptions: GBP 26.50 per subscription
• 10-24 subscriptions: GBP 23.00 per subscription
• 25-49 subscriptions: GBP 21.50 per subscription
• 50-99 subscriptions: GBP 20.00 per subscription
• 99+ subscriptions: please contact TransLegal at digest.editor@translegal.com for information

If you are serious about a career in law, then investing in TransLegal's digest will certainly help you to achieve your ambitions.

Englsh/Italian Law Dictionaries - Giuffrè editore's Dizionario Giuridico

The only English/Italian, Italian/English law dictionaries I know are Giuffrè editore's Dizionario Giuridico. There are two volumes, one is Italian/English and the other, as you might expect, is the English/Italian version.

These, literally, weighty tomes are both translation dictionaries and guides to British/American legal systems and principles. You could also say that they can act as something of a comparative law guide too.

It is slightly inaccurate to call them English/Italian, Italian/English law dictionaries, seeing as the definitions/explanations provided are mainly in Italian. This, of course, makes them highly useful for Italian lawyers, but not much use for non-Italian speaking lawyers who want to understand Italian legal terms.

However, if you are an Italian lawyer, either look around your offices for these dictionaries or buy them. The cost is around €180 for both. If you are a law student, try to find these dictionaries in your law faculty library - or convince someone in your family to buy you a copy.

PS I have both volumes.

CISG - Contracts for the International Sale of Goods Law - How to search for cases

The picture on the left shows you the screen you will see if you click on it.

To find Italian cases, just enter 'Italy' next to the word 'Term'. You can also change the 'Select Field to Display as Headline' to 'Jurisdiction'.

You do not need to worry about the 'Enter maximum number of hits to retrieve' field because there are only around 40 Italian cases at present.

Then click on 'Submit Query' and you will be presented with a list of Italian cases.

Look at the case abstract (case summary) to see whether the case deals with an area of law that interests you.

You will also find a link to the original text of the case in Italian. You can use both the English and Italian versions to help you develop a knowledge of commonly used legal expressions used in English.

This is a very valuable resource for those dealing with Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.