Shall - a horrible little word, legally speaking.

The word 'shall' is often used in legal documentation. Or, I should say that the word 'shall' is often misused in legal documents.

'Shall' means 'have a duty', an obligation to do something. But in legal documents the real meaning of the word 'shall' can become confusing. In various court cases 'shall' has been held to mean: may, must, will and is (Source: Legal Writing in Plain English, Bryan A Garner).

When you draft a legal document, avoid 'shall'. Do not use this misleading word. Use, instead, 'must' for obligation and 'may' to indicate that someone can decide to act or not. Note that in contractual documents, 'will' is more often used than 'must' to express obligation. (Although 'must' is much clearer, in my considered opinion.)

You have been warned. You shall obey.

Words lawyers adore

From my previous career, I learnt that 'probably' was a word that lawyers loved to use.

Example: The judge will probably hold that X can claim damages for non-performance.

Another word that is commonly used by lawyers is 'probably's' sister, and it is 'probable'.

Example: It is probable that the action will be successful.

These words are often preceded by the adverb 'highly' - 'altamente' in Italian.

Then there are two other words beloved of lawyers: 'may' and 'might'. And guess what? Yes, they imply probability. They are also very similar.

Example: The court might not decide in our favour. They may agree to the modification of Clause 1b of the contract.

I could probably provide you with many more examples. But I might bore you. In fact, it is highly probable that I will. So, I will not.

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.