For several years now, the International Summer Language School (ISLS) has been offering a special course in Legal English for law students, ‘trainees,’ and practicing attorneys. This special course is part of the school which has been held annually since 1990 by the University of West Bohemia [ZČU] in Plzeň, the Czech Republic.
 

• The Legal English course is designed to improve both language ability and basic legal knowledge of the Anglo-American system. Since we mainly use the American legal system to illustrate the use of language, we use American Legal English, 2nd ed. (2007 Lee, Hall, and Barone, 2007) as our basic text that will be provided to the students as part of the course fee.
• We will also be working with new modules created for the innovative, multimedia e-course Language4Law that is being developed by experts in both language and law from several European universities with the support of the U.S. Department of State.
• The instructors are Americans with years of experience in the legal field or legal education.
  

If you are a student, attorney, or legal English instructor who might be interested in joining us this summer, visit the ISLS course page for general information about the school and applications for the Legal English course.

The school is really an exciting adventure as almost 700 people from the entire world learn English, Spanish, French, German Russian, Portuguese, TEFL, and of course Czech! During the ISLS, the city opens its doors to us and makes everyone feel at home.

Since English is the common language, you will have many chances to interact with native speakers, fluent non-native speakers, and of course, many at all levels of English from countries all over the world. Additionally, you can even practice your other languages in the dorms, pubs, and restaurants in Plzeň, which are filled with the international participants.

For illustrative purposes only, we are listing last year's prices. The prices for 2009 will be published soon. There  is always a special price for Czech university and secondary school students. In 2008 that price was  5,900 Kč, which does not include housing or meals; the normal price for the all-day course is 6,900 Kč. Housing in the University dorms where the international participants will be staying can be arranged for a very reasonable price. Living in the dorms is very enjoyable for the many opportunities it offers for informal communication in English .

You can contact me with questions (charleshall@rocketmail.com), but you might want to contact the Coordinator for those working or studying in the Czech Republic directly at ZČU:

Ms Hana Sochorová     tel.: +420 37 763 57 67        e-mail: sochorov@rek.zcu.cz

We look forward to meeting you in Plzeň.

Charles Hall, Ph.D., dr.h.c.  charleshall@rocketmail.com
Senior English Language Fellow
CEELI Institute, Havličkový sady 58, 120 00 Prague, the Czech Republic

Co-author, American Legal English and Co-coordinator, Language4Law e-course