The time pressures on a busy lawyer are enormous. But when it comes to working in English, these time pressures will affect the quality of your work. Try to find the time. There is no choice but to slow down and become more careful when practising law in English. It is frustrating at the start,… Read more
Which category do you belong in? The Crawlers. Some Dutch lawyers are only occasionally faced with the task of doing something in English. For the lawyers in this group, their skills are not really up to it. They do not work in English at all or do so only rarely. Lawyers in this group have… Read more
When it comes to working in English, every Dutch lawyer has a different history, different aptitudes, different interests and different skills—not even to mention a different area of law and different clients. Each of us has our own style. We enjoy learning in different ways, and we each experience language in different ways. This is… Read more
Reviewing a translated definition in a Dutch university’s employment conditions Many drafted clauses translated from Dutch to English retain their original Dutchness. When it comes to drafted text, lawyers and translators are sometimes reluctant to stray too far from the original Dutch wording. Also, some of these clauses are simply difficult to understand—despite the great… Read more
“Advice” is uncountable One of the most common mistakes made by Dutch lawyers is to forget that the noun “advice” is uncountable. This means that “advices” and “an advice” are always wrong. Reframe it as uncountable. Refer to “our advice” or “the advice”. You could also express adviezen as “letters of advice” or “advice letters”…. Read more
What’s wrong with this sentence? In this 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… Read more
Somen died two weeks ago (on 8 May 2015), not long after being diagnosed with an unexpected and devastating condition. His health had not been good in recent years, but this illness and his rapid demise came as complete shock. He was only 71. Somen started his career as a lawyer in South Africa. After… Read more
