Every so often I come across someone else in the Netherlands who is also quite experienced in assisting Dutch legal professionals and also quite confident of their positions on legal terminology, grammar, good legal style, and so on. They may not have the same qualifications or background that I do, but they have obviously considered some of these issues carefully… Read more
English-speaking legal-writing experts agree that the use of “shall” by English-speaking lawyers is a mess. They also agree that the irregular, inconsistent and unclear use of “shall” is leading to misunderstanding and unnecessary litigation. Despite their agreement about the nature of the problem, the experts are divided on what to do about it. Some (including Bryan Garner, Peter Butt and… Read more
In an earlier post, I wrote about the necessity and importance of making mistakes as an essential part of the process of improving your ability to practise law in English. I pointed out how ironic it was that making mistakes was the way to stop making mistakes, but how this puts Dutch lawyers in a difficult position because lawyers are “not allowed” to make… Read more
Great care should be taken in translating time-related prepositions (voorzetsels) like vanaf, tot en met and per. It doesn’t help that some of the English expressions are not clear at all. For example, “as of” (like its British cousin “as at”) is used all the time by English speakers — but in various, often unclear ways. On 24 March 2014, there was… Read more
“Clichés should generally be used sparingly in any writing, but especially in legal writing”, writes Bryan Garner in Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. Similar warnings are given to Dutch writers. Garner lists dozens of clichés in his legal style guides. Almost all English style guides have a section on the subject (including The Economist’s). The Oxford blog has a good… Read more
Let’s take a close look at another problematic clause from a Dutch contract drafted in English. Here is a typical limitation-of-liability clause (exoneratieclausule), taken at random from a Dutch judgment: Except in the case of gross negligence or wilful misconduct from X, the liability of X in respect of loss or damage to Y products shall be limited (…) to… Read more
An English-speaking lawyer working with Dutch legal professionals soon notices that certain English words tend to be overused and used in ways that do not seem conventional. One of those words is “legalise” or “legalisation”. (Some would spell this as “legalize” and “legalization”, especially in the US.) Legalise = to make lawful In everyday English, “legalise” means to make something… Read more
On 29 January 2014, there was an article on BBC.co.uk with this headline: “Netherlands court orders end to Pirate Bay ban”. Later in the article, the court is referred to as “a Dutch court” and “the Hague Appeals Court”. Googling around, I found an Associated Press story that also used “Dutch appeals court”. The name of this court of appeal in… Read more
What’s wrong with this sentence? In the legal procedure we are going to use the statement of the former advisor and we will request him to testify. Actually, there are a few issues in this sentence. The one that leaps out at the reader is the use of “legal procedure” instead of “legal proceedings” or just “proceedings”. The word is… Read more
The best approach is to try to become an “autonomous learner”, that is, a professional able and willing to proactively take charge of his or her own language development. Just as we are ultimately our own career managers, we are also responsible for developing our own language skills. When it comes to working in English, every Dutch lawyer has a… Read more
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