THE REGISTER OF LETTER WRITING

Unit 1B / Higher
Exercise 1
Diana Williams has received this letter from a student at the school where she gave her talk.
The words that have been underlined are too informal. Complete the same letter on the next page by
choosing a better word or phrase from those in the box.

6 The Gate
Chatsworth
CH15 2MM
Miss Diana Williams 24 April 20XX
Chester and Pelton, Solicitors
227 Gallowgate
Chatsworth
CH1 4NG

Dear Miss Williams

Your talk at Chatsworth Hill School last week

Thank you very much for the talk that you gave to our class on Tuesday. It was very
interesting. I am thinking very seriously about becoming a lawyer and I hope that you
can answer some questions about one or two things that were not included in your talk.

(a) In the first place, I am a little worried about the process of (b) using the civil court to
start off a legal process. I am thinking of getting a claim form and some leaflets to try to
find out more. If I go to the County Court in Chatsworth, will I be allowed to pick up a
claim form just to look at? Also, could you tell me a little more about (c) writing more
complicated legal documents such as contracts? I am very nervous about this part of
the work. My mother and father bought a new house recently and the solicitor who did
the (d) real estate transfer of ownership seemed to do a lot of very difficult paperwork.
What happens if I make a mistake? Can the client (e) start a case in the court if I give
them (f) wrong advice?

Also, you said that in the future there is going to be a lot of (g) discussing problems
with someone who can help find an agreement between clients instead of going to
court so often. This worries me a little. Does it mean that there will be less work for
lawyers and some firms may think about making people (h) out of work?

(i) Last, you said that lawyers usually work in partnership and are rarely (j) lawyers who
work alone. What will happen if I join a partnership about (k) getting the usual pay from
my law firm when I am ill, or when I have a baby and I need to take (l) some time away
from work to look after him or her?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Yours sincerely

Emma Soame

© Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007 31

Unit 1B / Higher

l mediation l sick pay l Firstly l redundant

l drafting l Finally l negligent l issuing a claim
l maternity leave l conveyancing l sue l sole practitioners

6 The Gate
Chatsworth
CH15 2MM
24 April 20XX
Miss Diana Williams
Chester and Pelton, Solicitors
227 Gallowgate
Chatsworth
CH1 4NG

Dear Miss Williams

Your talk at Chatsworth Hill School last week

Thank you very much for the talk that you gave to our class on Tuesday. It was very
interesting. I am thinking very seriously about becoming a lawyer and I hope that you
can answer some questions about one or two things that were not included in your talk.

(a) , I am a little worried about the process of (b) .

I am thinking of getting a claim form and some leaflets to try to find out more. If I go
to the County Court in Chatsworth, will I be allowed to pick up a claim form just to
look at? Also, could you tell me a little more about (c) more
complicated legal documents such as contracts? I am very nervous about this part
of the work. My mother and father bought a new house recently and the solicitor who
did the (d) seemed to do a lot of very difficult paperwork. What
happens if I make a mistake? Can the client (e) if I give them
(f) advice?

Also, you said that in the future there is going to be a lot of (g)
between clients instead of going to court so often. This worries me a little. Does it
mean that there will be less work for lawyers and some firms may think about making
people (h) ?

(i) , you said that lawyers usually work in partnership and are rarely
(j) . What will happen if I join a partnership about
(k) , or when I have a baby and I need to take (l) ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Yours sincerely

Emma Soame

32 © Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007

 LISTENING

Unit 1B / Higher

Exercise 1
Listen to this trainee lawyer speaking about his experience of working for a major law firm in London.
Some words are missing from the text. Listen carefully and write the missing words in the box below.

‘My name is Rob Jones and I am a trainee with a law firm. I’ve always wanted to be a
(a) and I can’t imagine doing any other job. I started working here at Taylor
Wallis a year ago. Taylor Wallis is a global law firm with its headquarters in the City of London. I
studied law at Manchester University but I wanted to do my training contract in London because I
am interested in (b) law and banking and I think the best positions with the
top law firms are here. I think my parents were disappointed that I didn’t become a (c)
and work in chambers and wear a wig in court but I wasn’t interested in that at all!

With this law firm the two-year training contract is divided into four periods. Each six-month period
is called a ‘seat’. My first seat was in the (d) department. That really just
means dealing with companies and businesses. I was involved in meeting clients, (e)
documents and took part in some very high value deals. Of course, I had lots of support from the
experienced people working on my team (we call them the principals) but I was surprised at how
much responsibility they gave me.

My second seat was in the Property department. This involved (f) for clients
who were buying and selling domestic and commercial property, much of it office buildings here in
London. I was able to get some experience of (g) as well as a little landlord
and (h) law when we dealt with rentals.

Next I will be moving into the (i) Property department. I’m really pleased about
that as it covers quite a few different areas of law and can involve famous clients. At the moment
the department is dealing with a breach of copyright case for a famous musician.

I hope to stay with Taylor Wallis when I (j) as a lawyer next year. In fact, I’m
looking forward to being based in London for most of my legal career.’

a f

b g

c h

d i

e j

© Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007 33

 USING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Unit 1B / Higher

1 Collocation review
Complete these sentences with a collocation that you have seen.

a You are 50 years old now Mr Johnson, you should really think about a will.

b If you do not honour your side of the agreement that you have signed, I’m afraid I will have to sue
you for of contract.

c I have spent the last few hours a business partnership agreement for two new clients.

d I finished my training contract and started work two years ago, so I’m fairly new to the legal
profession. When did you as a lawyer?

e I am thinking of a new business and I need some advice about how to start.

f She has been her own business for several years now and she has been very
successful.

g There are two separate professions who are allowed to law in England but in the
USA they don’t make this division.

h I’m afraid my client a very serious loss due to your client’s actions.

i We are starting proceedings immediately and we will be claiming of £10,000.

j I am going to my law exams in June next year.

2 Vocabulary review
Complete these sentences with a word that you have seen.

a A person who pays rent to a landlord is a ___________.

b He has worked for that company for 20 years but business isn’t good at the moment and they might
have to make him ___________.

c They went into __________ last year, which means they own and run the business together.

d She is an expert in ____________ procedures. She deals with companies that don’t have enough
money to pay their debts.

e She deals with ________________. It concerns the buying and selling of land and houses and making
sure the ownership of them is legally transferred.

f The process of two people talking about their legal problem with an independent person to help
them agree on a solution is called ______________.

g If you want to sue someone who hasn’t been careful enough, the grounds for your case would
probably be _______________.

34 © Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007

h The type of lawyer who works in chambers and pleads cases (usually in the higher courts) is known

Unit 1B / Higher
as a ________________.

i Things that are produced in order to be sold are called _____________.

j A lawyer in the USA is usually known by the general name of _____________.

3 Preposition review
Complete these sentences with the correct preposition.

a I am working ____________ a very interesting merger project at the moment.

b A landlord is a person who receives rent ____________ someone.

c I’m afraid that this firm does not deal ____________ criminal law.

d I am based ____________ Stockholm at the moment.

e In your claim form you have made some very serious allegations ____________ my client.

f She imports goods ____________ Germany from China.

g Which judge is presiding ____________ this case?

h We will lend you the money subject ____________ confirmation of the amount of your salary.

i Please send a cheque ____________ £20 to this address.

j Have you heard the news? Jennifer and Steven have gone ____________ partnership.

© Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007 35

 TOLES HIGHER EXAM PRACTICE
Unit 1B / Higher

Exercise 1
There is a word or phrase missing from the following sentences. For each sentence choose the word or
phrase which best fits into the space from the options provided. Put a circle around the correct answer
on the answer sheet.

Do not mark more than one answer for each sentence.

Example: If a person loses his or her job for a reason that is not valid it is called unfair (*) ___________.

1 Solicitors are allowed to (1) ___________ clients in court.

2 This is a criminal (2) ___________, so I will have to refer you to a colleague who deals with criminal law.

3 I studied some landlord and (3) ___________ law when I was at university but I don’t remember it now.

4 It is legal in England and America for some lawyers to work on a no win-no (4) ___________ basis.

5 I don’t think I will ever want to (5) ___________ as a judge because I enjoy my job as a solicitor.

6 I think it is fair that everyone gets (6) ___________ pay for doing the same job.

7 I have decided to specialise in land law so I expect to be doing a lot of (7) ___________.

8 My law firm has a good reputation for handling (8) ___________ property cases, especially if computer
software is copied without the designer’s permission.

9 If a lawyer is allowed to be heard in a particular court we say that he or she has right of (9) ___________.

10 If you want the judge to award you damages from the defendant you will have to prove to the court that
you have (10) ___________ a loss.

Answer Sheet

Example:(*) A firing B redundancy C dismissal D release

(1) A talk for B act for C speak for D advocate for

(2) A problem B topic C subject D matter

(3) A renter B occupier C tenant D resident

(4) A payment B fee C salary D money

(5) A sit B practise C arbitrate D rule

(6) A same B equivalent C alike D equal

(7) A transferring B assigning C relocating D conveyancing

(8) A invention B creative C intellectual D original

(9) A speaking B consultation C hearing D audience

(10) A suffered B experienced C had D endured

36 © Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007

 Unit 1B / Higher
Exercise 2
Read the text below and think of the word that best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.
Write your answers in the box below.

There is an example at the beginning (*).

Barristers at work
Life as a barrister is prestigious but it can also be extremely stressful. Julia de Burca is a barrister in
London. The first difficulty Julia had was to (*) ___________ as a barrister at all. Only 500 or so law
students manage to pass the Bar Vocational Course in England and Wales every year. In an average year
approximately 1,500 students begin the course, so many do not make it.

The Bar Vocational Course is described as a bridge between the academic study of law and having to
actually (1) ___________ law in the real world. Julia passed the course three years ago.

In a typical day Julia leaves her flat at 7.30am and arrives at (2) ___________, the special name for a
barrister’s office, at 8.30am. Julia shares a building with 14 other barristers. However, they are not
partners. Barristers are allowed to share office accommodation but they are not allowed to form
(3) ___________. Every barrister is self-(4) ___________.

If she is representing a client that day Julia travels directly to court. Speaking on behalf of a client in court
is called (5) ___________ a case. As a barrister, Julia has the right of audience in court at every level. She
is a confident (6) ___________, which means that she is skilled at speaking in court. Julia is very
successful in court, as she loves public speaking. She is also required to do a lot of research and a lot of
(7) ___________, which means writing legal documents. On days when Julia is not in court she spends her
time preparing cases and writing opinions. She usually leaves work at around 7.30 pm, taking any work
that is not finished with her. Julia often works long hours over the weekend.

Julia is a specialist in insolvency, so she advises clients who (8) ___________ money but for some reason
they cannot pay. All of Julia’s clients are companies. When a company has financial problems, Julia will
advise the company if it can legally continue trading. She sometimes has to defend clients in court when
legal (9) ___________ have been issued against them. If her client loses the case and the judge awards
(10) ___________ to the claimant then Julia will advise her client on what to do next.

Example (*) qualify

(1) (6)

(2) (7)

(3) (8)

(4) (9)

(5) (10)

© Catherine Mason & Rosemary Atkins 2007 37