Courses and Offerings: Master Legal English

EMPOWERING YOUR LEGAL CAREER WITH AFFORDABLE EXCELLENCE

At OnLex Legal English, we're dedicated to providing exceptional legal education that's both accessible and impactful. We understand that investing in your professional growth is a significant decision, and we're here to support you every step of the way.

TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR ACCESSIBILITY

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with esteemed organizations committed to legal education and professional development. Through these collaborations, we have secured funding that allows us to offer our courses, individual lessons, and workshops at subsidized, more affordable rates. This initiative ensures that financial constraints don't hinder your pursuit of excellence in legal English.

WHAT YOU GET WITH ONLEX

A comprehensive lesson plan
Video lectures with Karen that include full explanations, examples and guidance
Exercises and activities for each module
Key vocabulary and terminology for the themes presented in each module
Additional optional homework suggestions
Monthly group coaching meeting about bonus topics
Access to group discussion board and Facebook page for conversations outside of course
Add-on of personal corrections of written assignments
Add-on of discounted personal classes with Karen
Lifetime access to the course modules and materials

COURSES

LEGAL WRITING 101

$99

MASTER LEGAL ENGLISH AND JUMP START YOUR CAREER

Writing is the core skill that all attorneys need, whether they do trial work in the courtroom or transactional work. The Legal Writing 101 course will help you develop and hone your writing skills and draft effective, concise, and clear messages in English.

COURSE MODULES:

JUST THE BASICS: FOUNDATIONS OF GOOD LEGAL WRITING

This is a foundational module that introduces the basics of legal writing. We will explore, examine, and analyze examples of good and bad legal writing so you can deepen your mastery of writing principles.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE

This module also provides foundational information that details how US attorneys write about the law and what documents they use to communicate with the court, clients and opposing parties. We will analyze sample documents, learn about the most important formats and documents, and do writing and other exercises and activities that put into practice what you’ve learn.

FORMATTING, PARAGRAPHS AND PUNCTUATIONS

While legal terminology is important, never underestimate the importance of details such as commas, semi-colons and paragraphs. Using punctuation incorrectly can change the meaning of your writing and undermine the integrity of the content. Sentence structure, punctuation and grammar change greatly from language to language, so it is critical that English follow English rules, especially for professionals. Samples and exercises will give you the chance to put into practice what you’ve learned.

WHAT'S YOUR GOAL? PERSUASIVE AND PREDICTIVE WRITING

One of the characteristics of good legal writing is keeping both the reader and the goal in mind. Legal writing also requires understanding the difference between predictive and persuasive writing styles and when and how to apply these styles. We will examine writings and explore what makes writing predictive and persuasive and engage in activities and exercises that allow you to practice both styles.

ENROLL TODAY

LLM LEGAL BOOTCAMP

$99

NECESSARY PREP FOR ANYONE STARTING A LLM PROGRAM

Are you thinking about an LL.M. degree? Have you already applied and been accepted? If so, the LL.M. Bootcamp is the course for you. This course will provide you with information you need to succeed in an LL.M. program.

COURSE MODULES:

JUST THE BASICS: US LEGAL EDUCATION

Like so many other things, law school and legal education change from country to country and culture to culture. In this unit, you will learn the basic yet essential information about how law school operates in the United States, from the Socratic method to class participation, office hours, OCI, and exams.

LEGAL WRITING BASICS IN THE US

Legal writing is a big and important part of the law school experience, and therefore requires a second Module. In it, you will learn about IRAC and CREAC, two of the most common structures that we use in the US for legal writing. You will spend a lot of time in your LLM talking about IRAC and to help you prepare for that, we will examine sample documents – the kind that law students write – and learn skills that will help you “think like a lawyer.”

READING IN LAW SCHOOL: LEARNING TO READ LIKE A LAWYER

The readings that law school students do during law school are overwhelming even for native speakers, let alone second language learners like most LL.M. students. But there are tips and strategies, which you will learn about, that make it easier. In this module you’ll practice important strategies that allow you to read more effectively and efficiently.

EXAMS, CASE BRIEFS AND OUTLINES

One of the biggest stress inducers for law students is exams. Like other aspects of law school, exams are also different in the States than they are in other countries. Knowing what to expect and how to prepare for exams will help you with your mid-term and final exams. In this module we will learn about two very important topics that will better prepare you for exams and make them less stressful: case briefs and outlining.

THE LEGAL COMMUNITY AND LAW SCHOOL LIFE

An L.L.M program is more than just about academics. It’s also a cultural and personal experience that includes being involved in the law school and the greater legal community at large! Having this experience gives you the opportunity to better understand cultural characteristics of the United States, network, practice informational interviews, and so much more. You’ll learn about these things in the last module of the course!

ENROLL TODAY

EMPLOYMENT LAW

$99

NECESSARY PREP FOR ANYONE STARTING A LLM PROGRAM

Whether you are practicing in the field of employment law or not, this course will add valuable information and insight to your knowledge base and enhance your legal English. We use employment law as a vehicle to learn about English and legal English terminology and to improve your writing, reading, and oral comprehension skills. Each module contains a video lecture and practical learning activities regarding such things as litigation, written attorney correspondences, and contracts.

As with other OnLex courses, two written submissions will be given a personal review and edited by Karen, and you’ll have the option to participate in the monthly group classes.

COURSE MODULES:

THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP & EMPLOYMENT AT WILL

In this module, you will learn the building blocks of employment law in the United States and study employment at will, a fundamental principle of US employment law. You will also learn about the main relationships in employment. Your readings will introduce you to some primary sources such as statutes and case law, while your vocabulary activity will examine tricky words in English – homophones. You will also have a podcast listening comprehension activity.

HIRING AND FIRING

You will learn about the beginning and end of the employment relationship – hiring and firing – and the laws that employers must follow. We will take another look at the employment at will doctrine and consider exceptions to it. You will study an example hiring or offer letter (usually not an employment contract!) often used in the States to begin an employment relationship, and a waiver and release agreement, often used at the end of one. You’ll learn about different vocabulary and formality levels used in hiring and firing and engage in a podcast listening comprehension activity.

EMPLOYMENT LAW AND FEDERALISM

We will look at employment law within the context of federalism. The United States has a federal system, and that means that we have federal laws, state laws from 50 different states and even local ordinances that regulate and legislate the employment relationship. While this can be very confusing, especially for foreign attorneys unfamiliar with the system, we will navigate these laws so that you gain a much clearer understanding of this fascinating aspect of the US legal system.

EMPLOYMENT LAW, PREEMPTION AND CHECKS AND BALANCES

You will continue to learn about the US constitutional structure, a constitutional doctrine called preemption and the US system of checks and balances. Through practical learning activities, you will read portions from the US Supreme Court, see how checks and balances work in a federal system, and study state statutes to learn about preemption. Vocabulary and listening comprehension activities will further immerse you in these topics.

DISCRIMINATION

One of the most important topics within employment law is discrimination, which includes harassment. We will revisit federalism in the United States legal system because both the federal and state government regulates and legislates discrimination in employment. Practical learning activities will give you an opportunity to read and examine real-life court documents submitted in a lawsuit. A vocabulary activity will draw on vocabulary included in that filing, and a podcast listening activity will teach you about the legislative process in the United States.

PRIVACY IN THE WORKPLACE AND TECHNOLOGY

Employment has changed with advancements in technology, such as cell phones, GPS, monitoring devices, and artificial intelligence, especially since the Covid pandemic. You will be introduced to the issues of privacy in the workplace and with technology. Practical learning will include an Irish statute that gives workers in that country the right to disconnect (this does not exist in the States), and an excerpt from a US court case about privacy – which will also serve as your vocabulary activity. A listening activity will allow you to compare English accents and listen to Irish attorneys talk about the right to disconnect.

STATUTES ABOUT LEAVE IN THE US

Aspects of employment law in the US, including employment at will, may surprise those from other countries. The topic for this module may elicit even greater surprise: statutes about leave – parental, sick, vacation and medical – in the United States. A practical learning activity will present the language used to communicate difficult information, and the podcast and vocabulary activities will test your terminology acumen.

EMPLOYMENT-RELATED CONTRACTS

Employment contracts in the US are uncommon, but one type the US does have is a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This is an agreement between a union, which represents a group of employees, and an employer. In this module we will examine the language and elements of a contract and draft a contract provision. We will also examine a non-compete agreement, a common agreement in the US that employers ask their employees to sign. The podcast and listening comprehension activity will shed light on union-busting – when an employer attempts to stop employees from forming a union.

ENROLL TODAY

CONTRACT DRAFTING

$99

ENHANCE YOUR ENGLISH THROUGH CONTRACTS

Do you do transactional work? If so, contracts are likely a key component of what you do: drafting, revising, and negotiating. The Contract Drafting course will introduce you to the important elements and provisions of contracts.

COURSE MODULES:

AN OVERVIEW OF US CONTRACT LAW

This course will provide a fundamental understanding of US contract law, which is essential when considering contract drafting and legal contracts in general. We will take a close look at contract formation, other types of contracts, and a doctrine known as The Statute of Frauds that determines which contracts must be written to be enforceable.

DRAFTING A CONTRACT’S PARTS: PREAMBLE, RECITALS AND WORDS OF AGREEMENT

In this module we will go deeper into the beginning of the contract: the preamble, the recitals, and the words of agreement. We will return to some of the legal doctrines important for United States and common-law contract law as well, such as consideration. You will have a chance to draft and receive feedback on a sample provision that you’ve studied and drafted.

THE ACTIONS OF THE CONTRACT

This module focuses on the obligations of the parties to a contract: what they must do to fulfill their contractual promises and not breach the contract. Of the action provisions, we will focus on those that are most common, most litigated and most important: what the parties are contracting about (subject matter performance provision), payment terms, the length or term of the contract, and contract termination.

BOILERPLATE PROVISIONS

We will look at some of the most overlooked and even ignored parts of a contract: the boilerplate provisions, or those provisions that are labeled “Miscellaneous” and which are often unread because the information is presumed to be unimportant and satisfactory. We will discuss why this content is important and the consequences of overlooking it. We will also look at the use of numbers in contracts, and how to avoid confusion when using them.

ETHICS AND CONTRACT DRAFTING

In this last module on contract drafting, we will look at a topic that vital for all attorneys to be aware of: ethics and the rules of professional responsibility. In the US there are rules that attorneys must follow. You will have a unique opportunity to compare the rules attorneys in the United States must adhere to with the rules you and your fellow attorneys follow. We will also look at case law and ABA rules of professional conduct.

ENROLL TODAY

Legal Writing 101

LLM Legal Bootcamp

Employment Law

Contract Drafting

OFFERINGS

TAILORED EXCELLENCE: ONE-ON-ONE LEGAL ENGLISH LESSONS WITH A MISSION

At OnLex Legal English, we're not just about teaching – we're about creating a transformative learning experience that's accessible, inclusive, and profoundly impactful. This is why Karen, a licensed and practicing attorney, offers personalized one-on-one lessons for attorneys, law students, and legal professionals eager to deepen their understanding of legal English, legal vocabulary, and the intricacies of the US legal system or the legal frameworks in their own countries.

Karen's approach is more than just academic; it's a blend of her passion for law, languages, and her extensive experience in business and employment law. She leverages a wealth of resources, including case law, statutes, and international legal systems, to craft lessons that are not just informative but are a gateway to a richer understanding of the global legal landscape.

In alignment with our mission to make legal English education as accessible as possible, we've structured our pricing to reflect our commitment to inclusivity. Lessons are available via Zoom in convenient 30 or 60-minute sessions, scheduled to accommodate your unique lifestyle and commitments.

Understanding that investment in education is a significant decision, we offer these personalized sessions at $50 USD per hour, affirming our commitment to providing value-driven education. Plus, in the spirit of supporting your continuous learning journey, we offer a 10% discount when you purchase a package of 10 lessons in advance.

Embark on a learning journey with OnLex, where every lesson is a step toward global legal proficiency, and every interaction is underscored by our mission to bridge legal language barriers across the world.

Contact Karen to inquire about scheduling a one-on-lessons or to schedule a free lesson to talk more about your needs, interests and how she can help.

ENROLL TODAY

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS

You may be too busy to commit to an eight-week course, or to sign up for one-on-one lessons. Work, family, and other commitments often leave us with little time for other endeavors that you’d like to pursue, like improving your legal English skills. Recognizing this, OnLex offers intensive weekend workshops, designed to be concise yet impactful, allowing you to brush up, hone in on, and work on specific skills within a short time frame.

Thanks to our partnerships with esteemed organizations committed to legal education, we are thrilled to make these workshops more accessible and affordable. We believe that financial constraints should not impede your professional growth. With subsidized costs, these workshops are tailored to fit into not only your busy schedule but also your budget. We offer our weekend workshops on a regular basis and cover a variety of topics, ensuring that there's something beneficial for every legal professional keen on enhancing their legal English prowess:

Persuasive legal English

Contract drafting

Recent court decisions

Legal writing

Correspondence and document drafting

Continued professional development

And many others!

Mock Client Meetings and Negotiations

One of Karen’s main goals when teaching law in a classroom is to create as much of a real-life experience as possible. One way she does this is with mock client meetings and mock negotiations, often using Zoom or a similar program, in which students act as attorneys and interview “the client” (an actor playing the role) or negotiate with another student to hammer out a business deal.

Karen now offers these same activities for the students of OnLex, providing you with exciting and challenging new ways to improve your English, develop your communication skills, and meet new people.

Karen provides the opportunity for OnLex students to have a mock client meeting. In a one-hour Zoom meeting, students will meet with a potential client of their law firm – an English-speaking client who wants to open a new business in their home country. During the potential client meeting, the student-attorney will pose questions to the potential client to learn about their business, their plans, and the legal assistance that they need, just like we do in real life when meeting with a potential client.

The client is played by a professional actor who has prepared for the meeting and learned detailed information about the business plans of the potential client. The student-attorney will receive limited information about the potential client through a client intake form, just as we would in real life after a client calls our law firm.

FOR AN EXTRA FEE:

For an extra fee the meeting will be recorded. After the meeting, Karen will watch the meeting and provide the student with feedback on matters such as grammar and pronunciation, vocabulary, and register (i.e. formality level for a client meeting).

The student can also write a follow-up letter to the client, summarizing and thanking them for the meeting and for choosing their firm, providing information in the letter that the student-attorney did not have in the meeting, and laying out the next steps of the representation. Karen will also present revisions and corrections to this follow-up letter.

MOCK CLIENT MEETINGS ARE FOR STUDENTS:

With at least an intermediate level of English
Who are familiar with their country’s business and corporate law
Who wants to practice explaining their country’s laws to a foreign client
Who wants to practice interviewing a client before having an actual meeting
Who are already good at thinking on their feet and going with the flow or who want to develop these skills
Who are willing to test their creativity, skills and comfort level by meeting with a stranger, in English.

DRAFTING A CONTRACT’S PARTS: OVERVIEW

Like the mock client meetings, the mock negotiation activity that OnLex offers are aimed at students who are familiar with or practice business or corporate law in their country. Students who want to do a mock negotiation will:

Be paired with another OnLex student, from another country, who will be opposing counsel
Be given the fact pattern of the negotiations, with general information available to both student-attorneys as well as confidential information available to just one side
Engage with the opposing counsel via email about some specific and limited issues

MOCK NEGOTIATIONS ARE GEARED TOWARD:

Student attorneys who practice business or corporate law
Highly motivated students who have the time and motivation to engage with another student via email before the negotiation, then attend a scheduled 60 to 90-minute Zoom negotiation
Students who are willing to test their creativity, skills and comfort level by negotiating a business deal with a stranger, in English.

Legal Editing and Translations
(Italian to English)

If you need professional assistance with your English regarding presentations, important written pieces, your CV, or legal and general translation, OnLex can help you.

Regardless of the type of legal writing we do, it ultimately represents you and your firm and is oftentimes the first (or last) impression we get to make. For this reason, it is critical that documents follow the rules of English and are delivered clearly, appropriately and properly. As an author of a textbook on legal writing and with decades of experience writing, teaching, and working with English, Karen can help you perfect your written work. She revises, proofreads, and edits any type of legal document.

Customized Courses and Workshops

Why offer a customized course to your employees, students, or members? Here are just some of the reasons for hiring Karen to develop a customized course or workshop:

You want your employees, students, or members to have the skills they need to compete in today’s globalized and interconnected world.
You want your employees, students, or members to learn and improve their legal English but can’t find an experienced teacher in your home country.
Your law firm wants to expand its clientele and work with international clients, but your attorneys need to become more proficient at communicating in legal English.
Your employees, students, or members have asked for training and courses in legal English.
Because legal English and “regular” English are so different, you want your law firm, law students or bar association to learn the difference via courses tailored to their needs.

One-on-ones

weekend workshops

Customized

mock meetings and negotiations

Legal Editing and Transltions

EMPOWERING YOUR LEGAL CAREER WITH AFFORDABLE EXCELLENCE

TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR ACCESSIBILITY

WHAT YOU GET WITH ONLEX

COURSES

LEGAL WRITING 101

$99

MASTER LEGAL ENGLISH AND JUMP START YOUR CAREER

COURSE MODULES:

JUST THE BASICS: FOUNDATIONS OF GOOD LEGAL WRITING

LLM LEGAL BOOTCAMP

$99

NECESSARY PREP FOR ANYONE STARTING A LLM PROGRAM

COURSE MODULES:

JUST THE BASICS: US LEGAL EDUCATION

EMPLOYMENT LAW

$99

NECESSARY PREP FOR ANYONE STARTING A LLM PROGRAM

COURSE MODULES:

THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP & EMPLOYMENT AT WILL

CONTRACT DRAFTING

$99

ENHANCE YOUR ENGLISH THROUGH CONTRACTS

COURSE MODULES:

AN OVERVIEW OF US CONTRACT LAW

OFFERINGS

TAILORED EXCELLENCE: ONE-ON-ONE LEGAL ENGLISH LESSONS WITH A MISSION

Contact Karen to inquire about scheduling a one-on-lessons or to schedule a free lesson to talk more about your needs, interests and how she can help.

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS

Sign up for our mailing list to receive notice of when a new workshop is being offered.

Mock Client Meetings and Negotiations

FOR AN EXTRA FEE:

MOCK CLIENT MEETINGS ARE FOR STUDENTS:

Legal Editing and Translations (Italian to English)

Customized Courses and Workshops

CONTACT US

Start Perfecting Your Legal English Today!

Legal Editing and Translations
(Italian to English)