Name der Zeitschrift: Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric Jahrgang: 45 Heft: 1 Seiten: 253-263.

The paper deals with a practical approach to developing of law stu- dents’ communicative and professional competences within a one-term, optional, cross-curricular course. The author, whose principal occupation is teaching Le- gal English, was offered the opportunity to train a team of law students to take part in the national rounds of the International Client Consultation Com- petition. Since then, the author has been involved in coaching teams for law students’ competitions and the author’s three year work has resulted in (...) framing an experimental cross-curricular course “Client Consultation in English”. The background and necessity for the development of the course are outlined in the paper, along with a brief overview of teaching legal skills in Russia and general information about international competitions for law students. The basic ele- ments of the course are described, as well as the methods used by the author for training students’ teams. A similar framework is being used now for creating another cross-curricular course “Legal Negotiations in English”. (shrink)

Standards of professional legal education are developed by different organizations: in some countries these are governmental bodies, in others these are professional associations. Apart from a country these standards include Learning Outcomes which shape law schools’ curricula. Both American and European standards mention, to different extent, written and oral communication in the legal context, but a number and contents of subjects directed at developing and mastering professional communicative competency differ a lot. There are disciplines totally devoted to the competency named (...) as well as courses in which communicative skills are an integral constituent for their successful completion. The article goal is to find a place and role of a Legal English course in achieving learning outcomes connected with professional communicative competence. The methodology incorporated desk and field studies. The literature review is aimed at identifying current state of affairs in American law schools, as they provide first-class legal education recognized all over the world, and in Russian law schools, as the author works in this system and is interested in its development. A questionnaire was designed to explore Russian law school graduates’ assessment of practicality of subjects they had studied for their professional activities. The analysis of literature and Internet sources allowed to specify the ways of teaching written and oral communication in American law schools and to highlight the situation in Russian legal education. It shows that the Russian system is characterized by predominance of teaching theory of substantive and procedural rules of law and lack of curriculum disciplines aimed at cultivating skills and competencies. A survey of Russian law schools’ recent graduates indicates that most of communicative, in a broad sense, skills, which they use in their everyday work, were obtained within their LE classes. So, complementing a LE course with modules devoted to different aspects of legal writing and specific patterns of lawyer-client, lawyer-lawyer, lawyer-judge communication will definitely contribute to achieving learning outcomes which are put forward by legal education standards. (shrink)

Mediation in a legal sense is a means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Having evolved in the USA in the last half of 20th century the procedure is growing in popularity and proliferation all over the world. Many countries enacted particular legislation, and others included relevant articles into Civil and/or Criminal Procedure Codes. Howbeit, lawyers are to be aware of mediation and roles they may play within the process. Law school curriculum drafters face the challenge of including a new up-to-date (...) course in mediation into busy and very full academic programmes. Analysis of existing instructing practice showed that in Anglo-American law schools mediation teaching is a part of clinical legal education. As for European countries, there is a broad range of scenarios and no established experience. Recognition of communicative skills as key skills for mediators prompts the use of a CLIL approach in structuring such a course. Listening, reframing, summarising, questioning are skills to be mastered by law-students both in a foreign language and their mother tongue. Language teachers are in charge of this part of the course while law teachers can work out text contents built on the branches of law mediators deal with more often (family law, employment law, contracts, etc.). Moreover, some texts may cover mediation law in a home country and abroad. Another important factor to take into account is a career path chosen by a law-student – if s/he is going to become a mediator or a lawyer securing clients in mediation. Role plays and scenarios are an integral part of the course. Moreover, the course developed can serve as an introduction to internship in a law clinic. (shrink)