ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN LAW
Dr. S.K. Bose
Language makes or breaks Career
Language can make or break a career. Why do you think law firms gladly hire law students like
you at a much higher salary than any other entry level job in the country?” It is your command
over the language that makes you eligible. People with good command over English are valuable
to law firms. Knowledge of English works like an entry barrier, you cannot join the big league
unless how you speak and write is really up to the marks.
Flawless English is a Must
And it is not just law firms; it is pretty much anything you may do as a lawyer. Those with good
command on English will do better than the rest. You are disadvantaged if your English is not
good enough. People will even assume that you have low levels of intellectual ability. No matter
how wrong they are, it will restrict your professional success. That’s how it works here, from
interviews to get into college societies to job applications – you are slaughtered for less than
perfect English.
Writing correct Eng is more important than speaking flawless English.
As far as a law student is concerned, usually writing perfect English is way more important than
speaking. Making a mistake while speaking is still one thing, but making the same mistakes in
writing is going to kill your reputation. It is extremely important to write error free English if you
want to excel as a legal professional
Everyone has their pet mistakes that they think are correct usage. Friends do not point it out of
politeness, and strangers judge. One of the most important tools I had used to get rid of the
mistakes was lists of Frequently Made Mistakes – which I found in English textbooks and the
Internet. Till date, I cannot say that I make no mistakes, but even if I do, those mistakes will be
very, very rare and I always try to eliminate them.
Bad English will kill your reputation, and no one will take you seriously. People get distracted by
errors, such as grammatical or spelling errors (even if they make the same mistakes themselves)
or wrong usage of words and phrases. It can cost you a lot, so please pay attention. Identify and
