Better Call Esther

NEUROLANGUAGE COA CHING®

B ETTERC ALL EST HER.ES

PREPARATION
& EXAMINATION
CENTRE ASTURIAS
60 second plan  
to master your legal English skills 
If you are here, you are aware that English is a MUST for lawyers. 

Research  shows  that  85%  of  candidates  applying  for  a  job  in  2022  will  be  required  to  have 
advanced English skills. However, there is something they are not telling you. 

When  you  look  at  a  job  offer  and  they  ask  for  candidates  with  an  advanced  level  of  English, the 
employer  does  not  care  about  how  much  vocabulary  you  know  about  sports,  holidays  and 
leisure  activities.  What  they  care  about  is  hiring  an  employee  who  will  be  able  to  manage 
situations where they require knowledge of legal English. 

It was quite hard to condense the whole essence of a learning system into a summary. 

Yet, here it is. 

In  the  following  checklist  you  will  learn  the  series  of  steps  you  need  to  go  through  in  order  to 
master legal English skills:

Try different methods to learn legal English vocabulary 

Don’t try to memorise legal vocabulary by heart (at least without context). 
Read in English about legal news in the areas of law you are interested in.  
Compare and contrast legal documents of other legal systems. 
Don’t try to translate literally. Instead, focus on finding equivalents. 
Avoid the use of archaic terms and expressions when writing. 
When writing, follow the guidelines of the ‘Plain English Campaign’. 
Explain legal terms with your own words. 

In  order  to  get  support  on  your  journey,  make  sure  you  join  the  Facebook  group:  Legal  English 
for  Legal  Eagles.  It  is  an  awesome  community  of  lawyers  and  translators  who  have  very  clear 
career goals, just like you. 

 
Before  we  dive  in  the  4  pillars  that  will  help  you  achieve  your  goaIs,  I  am  going  to  give  you  a 
background check to explain why you are in the right place.

   

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

I’m Esther,  
the Legal English Explainer 
I  have  mastered my legal English skills. However, my journey to the point where I am at today 
has not been easy.  

  I  am  not  going  to  lie,  for  me  learning  legal  English  was  one  of  the  hardest  things  I  have  ever 
done.  Some  people  say  that  they  are  not  ready  for  legal  English.  Let  me  tell  you  something: 
everyone  who  starts  learning,  starts  from  scratch.  They  know  zero  words  and  this  is exactly 
what happened to me.  
 
I  am  a  human  being,  with  emotions.  I  make  mistakes,  but  I  also  learn  from  them.  I  have  learnt 
English  just  like  you.  Spanish  is  my  first  language  and  I  can  tell  you  that  my  English  was  terrible 
until  I  was  16 years old, which means that if I have been able to master my legal English skills 
you can do it too. 

I  started  teaching  English  12  years  ago  while  I  was  still  at  university  studying  English,  linguistics 
and  literature.  By  the  time  I  finished  my  degree  I  decided  to  try  something  new  and  I  ended  up 
becoming a legal translator in 2012. 

I  have  combined my two passions since then: teaching and translation. In the past 6 years, I have 
spent  thousands  of hours researching, experimenting and testing everything myself and with my 
students  to  find  out  what  works  and  to  be  able  to  create  the  best  methodology to learn legal 
English. 

Because  I  wanted  to  help  as  many  people  as  possible,  I  registered  as  a TOLES centre in Asturias 
(Spain).  If  you  have  never  heard  of  it,  TOLES  stands  for  Test  of  legal  English  Skills.  It  was 
created  by  a  British  institution  that  partners  with  the  best  law  firms  around  the  world  and 
currently  this  is  the  only  test  you  can  take  to  obtain  a  certificate  that  shows  your  knowledge  of 
legal English. 

So,  here  I  am.  On  a  mission  to  help  you  meet  your  career  goals  by  providing  you  with  the 
steps to master your legal English skills. 

In  this  guide,  you  will  find  the  exact  methodology  that  has  helped  hundreds  lawyers  meet  their 
career goals in the past years. 

 
 
Better Call Esther 
NEUROLANGUAGE COACHING®
TOLES PREPARATION AND EXAMINATION
hello@bettercallesther.es
+34 606 82 43 26
 
 
 

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

 

Did you know…? 

Before  we  jump  into  the  4  pillars  that  will  help  you  master  your  legal  English  skills  there  is 
something you should know. 

I  am  going  to  explain  something  that  might  be  obvious,  yet many don’t really understand it. You 
might  be  surprised  to  find  out  that  in  fact,  you  don’t  learn  legal  English  in the same way you 
learnt general English. Are you shocked to hear that? 

However,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have a good command of general English (B1 or higher) to 

start  learning  Legal  English. What I have learnt from learning and teaching both English and legal 
English is that you need to work on different skills in a different way.  

No  one  would  ever  think  about  driving  a  fire  engine  with  their  regular  car  license,  right?  One 
might  think  that  first  you  need  to  obtain  a  car  licence  and  after  you  have mastered your driving 
skills  you  can  obtain  a  fire  engine  license.  But  driving  fire  engines  is  serious  business  and 
requires different skills. It turns out there is no logical progression.  

So,  what  happens  when  you  decide  to  move  on  to  legal  English?    You  have  to  do  it  with  a 
purpose,  and  think  about  the  reason  why  you  want  to  do  so.  It  doesn’t  matter  if  it’s 
communicating  with  a  client,  reading  legislation  or  other  legal  documents,  research  or 
translation.  

I  will  also  tell  you  one  ugly  truth:  when  you  first  come  into  contact  with  legal  English  on  your 
own  or  with  some  type  of  guidance,  you  need  to  spend  a  lot  of  time  reading  and  doing 
terminology research.  

   

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

 

4 Pillars  
to Master your legal English Skills
 
PILLAR #1: VOCABULARY ACQUISITION
Learning  vocabulary  is  key  when  it  comes  to  improving  your  language  skills  in  order  to 
understand legal texts. 
 
In  order  to  succeed,  I  highly  recommend  that  you  find  a  good  method  to  learn  vocabulary. 
Each  individual  should find the learning method that works best for him or her.  As a teacher, my 
duty is to help my students find the method that works best for them, not imposing one. 
 
For  example,  I  don’t  do my best if I have to write down lists of words and memorise them. This is 
something  I  used  to  do  at  school.  At  the  beginning  I  had  the  feeling  I  was  learning,  but  I  was 
wrong: when I woke up the next day I wouldn’t remember anything.  
 
 

Do you want to find out more about learning  

legal English vocabulary without memorising? 
Check the LIVE training in the Facebook group. 

 
 
You will reach a certain point where you realise that there are many polysemic terms in legal 
English. Knowing those terms that appear in different contexts with different meanings will be 
extremely helpful when it comes to interpreting legal texts. 
 
Moreover, you need to understand that having great knowledge of legalese is not enough. 
Vocabulary alone is useless. 

“Now, I understand legal terms, documents and contracts 

that used to be di cult to understand in the past.  
There is a lot of vocabulary that I won’t forget easily”.  
-Clara Soto- 
   

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

 

4 Pillars  
to Master your legal English Skills
 
PILLAR #2: AN APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE LAW 
Once  you  learn legal English vocabulary you realise that there are concepts that may not exist 
in  your  legal  system  and  vice  versa.  This  is  why  it  is  of  great  importance  to  have  a  clear 
understanding of how the Common Law system works. 
 
Everytime  you  learn  about  terms  or  you  go  deeper  into  proceedings  and  other  particulars  you 
should be asking yourself how they are similar or different in your legal system.  
 
When  I  started  my  legal  translation  studies  I  was  quite  confused  because  my  knowledge  of  the 
different  law  systems  was  very  limited.  Once  I  started  translating  I  learnt  that  there  are  some 
legal  terms  that  cannot  be  translated.  Instead,  it  is  necessary  to  find  the  equivalent  or  even 
to give a short explanation. 
 
Being  familiar  with  the  similarities  and  differences  of  two  legal  systems  will  help  you  do  your 
best  when  it  comes  to  working  with foreign clients that live in your country or collaborating with 
foreign partners. 

“It’s  interesting  to  learn  about  how  other  systems  work.  I  have 
learnt  about  making  claims  this  week.  I  also  learnt  the  steps  of 
making  a  claim  in  the  civil  court  in  the  UK.  I  think  I  could 
explain  this  process  to  a  foreign  client  because  it  is  similar  to 
the Spanish one. I don’t hink I could have done it a week ago”.  
-Beloke Alea- 

Up  to  now,  you  have  learnt  that  the  starting  point  to  master  your  legal English skills is acquiring 
vocabulary,  but  at  the  same  time  you  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  Common  law  system  might 
be different from yours.   
 
From  this  time  on,  you  have  to  find  a  way  to practice everything to learn. That is the reason why 
it is crucial that you take a look at the next two pillars. 
   

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

4 Pillars  
to Master your legal English Skills
 
PILLAR #3: UPGRADE YOUR COMMUNICATION 
SKILLS (SPEAKING)
Many  people  find  difficulties  when  it  comes  to  speaking  (thinking  in  Spanish,  pronunciation, 
grammar).  This  is  something  that  you  should  definitely  work  on.  However,  there  is 
something else that you should be paying attention to: getting your message through.  
 
You  are  most  likely  learning legal English because you are required to use it at work. Part of your 
daily  routine  might  be  speaking  to  clients or colleagues face to face, on the phone or conference 
calls. When you do so, you want to be confident in order to communicate effectively. 
 
This  is  where  you  are  going  to  apply  what  you  learnt  in  pillars  #1  and #2. You have to gather 
your knowledge of vocabulary and other legal systems in order to give clear explanations.  
 

Do you want to start speaking English confidently  

without fear of making a fool of yourself?   
Check the LIVE training in the Facebook group. 

 
 
Bear  in  mind  that  your  clients  seek  help  because  they want you to solve their problems. Most of 
the time, you will not be using legal terminology with them. Instead, you will have to give detailed 
explanations in plain English to make them understand a particular situation or documentation. 
 
A  last  tip:  practice  makes  perfect.  Prepare  short  speeches,  practice  in  front  of  the  mirror, 
explain  legal concepts to your colleagues and ask them if it makes sense. You will be surprised to 
find out that they also struggle with this. 
 
Even if speaking is what most fear, you also need to work on your writing skills. 

“I have never had the opportunity to learn 

anything like this in the typical English class” 
-Deborah Escobar- 

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

4 Pillars  
to Master your legal English Skills
 
PILLAR #3: UPGRADE YOUR COMMUNICATION 
SKILLS (WRITING) 
At  this  point  you  are  aware  of  how important having good communication skills is. You will need 
to  communicate  with  foreign  clients  and  other  colleagues on a daily basis, so it is likely you have 
to send dozens of emails every day and you want to do it effectively. 
 
Wouldn’t  it  be  great  to  sit  in  front  of  the  computer  and  get  your  emails  written  in  half  the 
time?  Knowing  exactly  the  structure  of  your  emails,  the  style  and  the  appropriate  tone  of  your 
writing  takes  off  a  lot  of  pressure.  Of  course,  you  want  to  be  professional  without  being  too 
formal, not too informal.  
 
You  should  have  your  reader  in  mind  every  time  you  write,  but  also  the  purpose  of  your 
message.  Be  clear  and  straightforward,  which  means  you  should  avoid  the  use  of  archaic 
vocabulary  and  difficult  grammar  structures.  Include  relevant  information  and  the  right 
amount of detail. 
 
Last,  proofread  your  writings  in order to fix any spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes. You 
definitely  don’t  want  the  recipient  to  have  difficulties  understanding  your  message.  As  a  legal 
professional, part of your credibility lies in communicating clearly. 
 
Don’t  give  up.  Mastering  your  legal  writing  skills  will  take  effort  and  practice.  Investing  your 
time is completely worth it.  
   

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ

Do you need  
further guidance? 
You  should  be  aware that the only way you will get results is by following a process. I can tell you 
that this process works with the right guidance. 
 
Join  my  Facebook  group:  Legal  English  for  Legal  Eagles  with  over  2.2K  top  lawyers.  There  are 
LIVE  trainings  every  week  in  which  I  will  be  sharing  with  you  ways  in  which  you  can  improve 
your legal English fast. I highly recommend you participate actively and make the most of it.  
 
Also,  in  the  following  days  you  will  receive  valuable  information  and  tips in your email. So, keep 
an eye on your inbox. 
 
Maybe  you  feel  like  you  are  ready  to  move  on  and  you  have  decided  you  don’t  want  to waste 
your time learning on your own. In that case you should continue reading. 
 
The  good  news  for  you  today  is  that  you  can  have  an  expert  guide  you,  holding  your  hand 
through your learning process, so that you can finally master your Legal English skills. 
 
I  have  used  my  methodology  with  dozens  of  students  in  the  past  6  months  and  it  is  a  proven 
process.  This  way  you  will  be  completely  focused  on  your  learning  and  you  won’t  have  to guess 
what  are  your  next  steps  because  you  will  always  know  what  to  do  and  you  will  start  to  see 
progress in no time. 
 
If you follow the steps I tell you, you will be successful.  
 
“I can remember the first day when I tried to explain 
myself but I couldn't find the right words. It was very 
frustrating. I feel that I have improved dramatically.” 
- Amaia Martínez - 
 
Because  I  truly  believe  in what I do, I want to give you the opportunity to talk to me. I need to get 
to  know  you  first  before  I  can  even  say  if  you  are  a  good  fit  for  this  process.  I  don’t  work  with 
students if I’m not 100% sure I can help them. So, there is nothing for you to lose.  
 
You can book a call with me here: https://calendarhero.to/legalenglishinfo  
 
I  would  dare  to  say  that  this  opportunity  is  unique.  You  rarely  have  the  chance  to  go  to  a 
language  school,  institution  or  university  and  ask  to  talk  to  the  teacher  you  are  going  to  have. 
Isn’t  that  amazing?  At  least,  I  have  never  had  that  opportunity  and  I  really  wish  I  had  it  in 
the past.  

Even  if  we  don’t  end  up  working  together  you  will  get  more  clarity  on  your  goals  and  I  will 
make sure I point you in the right direction. I am here to help. 

60 SECOND PLAN TO MASTER YOUR LEGAL ENGLISH SKILLS ESTHER FERNÁNDEZ