I was recently interviewed by legal translator Fernando Cuñado for the Traducción Jurídica channel that he and Ruth Gámez have on Youtube. We discussed many aspects of legal translation and learning Legal English, and particularly about how nonlawyer legal translators can become proficient in both Spanish and Anglo-American law. I explained my personal method for learning Spanish law, which involved studying Spanish law school textbooks, taking notes as if I were a student enrolled in courses in the 15 major legal disciplines, and then searching for possible English translations. The results were subsequently published in my Léxico temático de terminología jurídica español-inglés (Tirant lo Blanch, 2015). Here you can view the full 32-page table of contents.

But what about learning US law or the law of England and Wales? For legal translators, American or British law school textbooks may not always be the best choice, since they mainly focus on caselaw and don’t really provide a concise source for the legal concepts and terminology that translators require. In the interview with Fernando, I reviewed what for me are some of the “tools of the trade” that helped me learn the fundamental concepts and terminology of US and UK law. Here are some of the basics (I’ve provided links to the newer editions; mine are definitely not the latest!):

1) Bilingual legal dictionaries

I own a ton of Spanish-English/English-Spanish law dictionaries. I won’t list them all here, but now that we have Internet (yes, it was possible to be a legal translator before Google), I’ll list them by author/publisher* below for those who may be interested in examining some of them. Over time, I’ve found that I basically use only two. Tom West’s Spanish-English Dictionary of Law and Business (Intermark Language Publications, 2^nd edition, 2012) is my go-to bilingual dictionary for two reasons: it provides renderings for many complete phrases (rather than the single-word noun entries that seem to dominate many bilingual sources), and West gives context, indicating the Spanish-speaking country where the term is most likely to appear. I also use the Alcaraz/Hughes Diccionario de términos jurídicos (Ariel, 11^th edition, 2012). Having also bought one of the first editions in addition to two of the newer ones, it’s easy to see that the present work has been greatly expanded and improved.

 2) Monolingual legal dictionaries

(English Law):

• Johnathan Law and Elizabeth A. Martin. A Dictionary of Law (Oxford University Press, 9^th edition, 2018).
• G. Woodley, ed. Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary (Sweet &Maxwell, 12^th edition, 2013).
• H. Richards and L. B. Curzon. The Longman Dictionary of Law (Pearson, 8^th edition, 2011).
  
• Julian Webb, ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Law (Penguin Books, 2009).

 (US Law):

• Black’s Law Dictionary, Bryan Garner, Editor-in-Chief (Thompson West, 11^th edition, 2019); for me, an imprescindible; I look up something in Black’s every day. I’ve put it under “US Law” but it’s really an international legal dictionary that includes lots of terms marked “English law,” “Civil law,” “Roman law,” “Spanish law,” “French law,” etc., as well as an extensive appendix of legal maxims in Latin.
• Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law . (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2016). A standard US law dictionary in a useful trade paperback format.

 3) Legal Usage Dictionaries

These are entertaining as well as educational, since they give examples of how lawyers, judges and other legal professionals use, misuse, and abuse Legal English. These are the two “must-haves:”

• Bryan Garner. Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage. Oxford University Press (3^rd edition), 2011.
• David Mellinkoff. Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage. (West Publishing, 1992). May be hard to find, but well worth the search.

3) Monographs on Legal English

• Peter M. Tiersma. Legal Language (University of Chicago Press, 1999). Peter Tiersma was one of the world’s foremost experts on language and law. His Legal Language is a classic and his website (LANGUAGEandLAW.org) (maintained after his death by Loyola Law School in Los Angeles) is also a treasure trove of information on Legal English
• David Mellinkoff. The Language of the Law (originally published by Little Brown in 1963). This classic combines a detailed history of the development of Legal English with criticism of modern legal language as often being “wordy, unclear, pompous and dull.”

4) Overviews of English and American Law

There are dozens of good overviews of English and American law to choose from, but here are the newer editions of the ones the ones that I used to learn about Anglo-American law so many years ago:

(English Law):

• Martin Partington. Introduction to the English Legal System. (Oxford University Press, 14^th edition, 2019-20).
• David L. A. Barker. Law Made Simple (Routledge, 14^th edition, 2020).

(US Law):

• Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden. American Law: An Introduction (Oxford University Press, 3^rd edition, 2017), also available in ebook.
• Jay M. Feinman. Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System (Oxford University Press, 5^th edition, 2018).
• Alan B. Morrison, ed., Fundamentals of American Law (Oxford University Press, 2000).

5) Overviews of Specific Areas of Law

To understand the basic concepts and learn the vocabulary of specific areas of law, I worked with a series of “study aids” or “exam study guides” designed for law school students. Here are some of the most readily available:

(English Law):

• The “Concentrate” Series Study & Revision Guides (Oxford University Press), includes “Contract Law Concentrate,” “Tort Law Concentrate,” “Criminal Law Concentrate,” “Land Law Concentrate,” “Family Law Concentrate,” etc.
• Routledge-Cavendish Lawcards are “pocket-sized guides to the key examinable areas of law.” I’ve used the ones on contracts, commercial law, intellectual property and employment law. They may not be updated to reflect the latest changes in English law, but they’re still good sources for concepts and terminology.

(US Law):

• West Academic Publishing’s Nutshell Series includes summaries of every area of law imaginable, and I found the ones on civil procedure, criminal law, criminal procedure, intellectual property, and comparative legal traditions to be quite useful. West likewise has a similar “Acing” series, and Sweet & Maxwell also appears to publish its own Nutshells for English law.
• Permacharts are plastic-laminated charts on many areas of US (and Canadian) law that cram an incredible number of legal concepts and terms onto just a few pages. I found them easy to tuck into a bag to read them in my spare time while on the bus or in the Madrid Metro.

 6) Legal English books for non-native speakers of English: There are many excellent ones, and I own about a dozen. They’re a good place to start, but may not provide the depth of concepts and terminology that seasoned legal translators may ultimately require. Below is an author list** of the ones I found most useful, for those who want to take a look.

Well, that’s about it. There are, of course, hundreds more print resources available, and legal translators may perhaps now find enough in-depth works on Internet to meet their needs for self-training in law. But, as I tell my students, “I still believe in books,” and I’m sure that the ones listed above can provide translators with a solid foundation in Anglo-American law and legal terminology.

 

*Becerra, Javier; Bodoutchian-Saiz, Veronique; Bossini; Francisco R.; Butterworth’s; Cabanellas, Guillermo; Cassells’; Collin’s; Dahl’s; Espasa; Kaplan, Steven M.; Mazzucco, Patricia; McGraw-Hill; Ramírez, Antonio; Robb, Louis A.; Romanach, Jr., Julio; Tena Calvo, José Ángel; Tomasi’s; West’s; Wiley’s (only lists the first author of co-authored bilingual dictionaries)

**Brieger, Nick; Brostoff, Teresa Kissane; Brown, Gillian D.; Bruno-Linder, Amy; Chartrand, Marcella; Gubby, Helen; Haigh, Rupert; Krois-Lindner, Amy; Lee, Debra S.; Mason, Catherine; McKay, William R.; Riley, Alison; Riley, David (only lists the first author of co-authored Legal English books)