COMMON MISTAKES IN LEGAL ENGLISH

Consequent vs Subsequent
Perhaps because of the logical fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this),
consequent is frequently misused for subsequent. Although both a consequent event and a subsequent
event occur after a prior event, subsequent merely indicates something that follows an event or occurs at a
later time. Consequent, however, indicates something which follows as a result of the earlier event.
Council vs Counsel
Though the terms, counsel and council share similar pronunciations, they have distinctly different meanings.
The term council is a noun only and most commonly means a group of persons brought together to
deliberate on a particular issue; or a body of people elected or appointed to serve as administrators,
legislators or advisors.
Members of the council are appointed for a period of three years.
The term counsel can be used as a noun or a verb. The noun denotes a legal advisor or advisors who
commonly conduct(s) a case in court (the noun can be used in both the singular and plural forms). The verb
means to give advice to someone (for example, a lawyer to a client).
A counsel was appointed for the defendant by the court.
The lawyer counseled her client on the matter brought to her attention.
Counterpart vs Counterparty
The terms counterpart and counterparty are commonly used in the law but have very different meanings
and it is important to distinguish between them.
A counterpart is a duplicate or copy of a legal document. If a contract is entered into by two parties, for
example, two originals are often signed so that each party has in its possession one original, signed version
of the contract:
This agreement has been signed in two original, identical counterparts of which each party has received
one.
A counterparty, on the other hand, is one of the parties to a contract, transaction, trade, etc. In the above
example, therefore, there are two counterparties:
Both of the counterparties are required to sign the contract in order for it to be valid.
Disqualified vs Unqualified
The term disqualified means to be made ineligible, or deprived of legal rights or powers, including by a law
or rule. So, for example, a company director may be disqualified from acting as a director for a period of
time if he or she is in breach of particular legislation or rules regarding the conduct of a director.
A person is unqualified if he or she lacks the requisite standard or is unfit for the role. So, if a person is
deemed unqualified for a job, it means he or she is ineligible for it due to a lack of the required
qualifications.
Damage vs Damages
Damage and damages are often confused. The term damage describes harm or injury to property or a
person.
The damage incurred by the claimant was estimated to be 100,000.
On the other hand, damages denotes monetary compensation awarded by a court for the damage which has
been suffered.
The damages sought were in excess of one million dollars.

Deposit vs Deposition
In legal English, a deposit is either (1) money placed in a bank account or (2) something given as security or
part payment for a cost or debt.
The purchaser was required to pay a deposit of 10% of the price of the property.
The term deposit is also used as a verb.
She deposited all of her salary into her bank account.
The legal term deposition is the testimony of a witness, under oath that is written down or recorded for use
in court at a later date.
In many countries depositions are given in courtrooms, but in the United States they are usually taken
elsewhere.
Ensure vs Insure
To ensure that something will be done means to make it certain to happen.
When amending the contract, the lawyer ensured that her client received a better deal.
To insure someone or something means to protect the person or object against risk by regularly paying an
insurance company a sum of money. In the event the person is injured or killed or the object is damaged or
lost, the insurance company will then pay out a sum of money to cover the injury or loss.
The company was insured against accidents in the workplace.
Effective vs Efficient
Effective and efficient both mean generally having effect but specifically, effective meanings having a
high degree of effect, e.g. The court fashioned an effective remedy., while efficient means competent to
perform a task, e.g. The court clerk is extremely efficient at scheduling cases.
Immunity vs Impunity
Immunity and impunity are similar, but not identical, in both meaning and spelling. Immunity relates to
protection from punishment, duty, liability or illness.
Telecommunications companies have been granted legal immunity for cooperating in
warrantless domestic wiretapping because it was ordered by the president.
Impunity is narrower and refers only to protection from punishment.
For decades, the cartels operated with impunity, unchallenged by corrupt cops.
Infer vs Imply
The terms infer and imply are often confused. A writer or speaker implies something, meaning that it is
indicated or suggested without being explicitly stated:
When the CEO stated that the company would not rule out paying a dividend to shareholders this year, she
implied that a dividend may be paid.
Conversely, a reader or listener infers (or draws an inference) from something by drawing conclusions that
are not explicit in what is said:
When the CEO stated that she would not rule out paying a dividend to shareholders this year, the
shareholders inferred that the board of directors had recently rethought the issue of dividend payments,
since they were not in favour of a payment a month ago.
Lease vs let
There is sometimes confusion over who leases and who lets a property, and what the terms actually mean.
Both terms are commonly used in the context of property law.
1. Both the landlord/lessor and the tenant/lessee can lease the property.

If the landlord/lessor leases the property, this means that he rents it out to the tenant/lessee:
It was agreed that the office be leased to the lessee for a term of 3 years.
If the tenant/lessee leases the property, this means that he rents it from the landlord/lessor:
The tenant is leasing the office from the landlord for a term of 3 years.
2. Only the landlord/lessor can let the property, meaning to rent it out to the tenant/lessee:
The landlord is letting the office to a local company.
She has a room to let in her house.
Murder, Manslaughter, Homicide
Murder is the crime of intentionally killing a person. In legal speak, the element of intention is referred to as
malice aforethought.
The gunman was charged with murder.
Manslaughter is the crime of killing a person by a person who e.g. did not intend to do it or cannot be held
responsible for his or her actions.
She was found guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
Homicide is the act of killing someone and does not necessarily denote a crime.
The carrying out of the death sentence is a homicide.
Precede vs Proceed
To precede is to go before:
Long negotiations preceded the signing of the agreement.
To proceed is to continue doing something:
The court allowed counsel to proceed.
Persecute vs Prosecute
To persecute someone is to treat them unfairly or in an oppressive way over a period of time because of their
race, religion or political beliefs.
Jews were persecuted in Nazi Germany during the 1930s.
To prosecute someone is to press criminal charges against someone in a court of law.
Illegal file sharers will be prosecuted under new Government plans.
Note: The nouns persecution and prosecution have the same meanings as above but in the noun form.
However, the term the prosecution refers to the group of lawyers in a trial representing the Government who
try to prove that the accused is guilty of the crime.
Qualify
Qualify has many meanings, including to provide with necessary skills, knowledge or credentials. In law
qualify means to certify as legally competent or to actions necessary to acquire legal power.
However, another important meaning of qualify is to limit or restrict. Thus it is said that one provision of a
statute qualifies or modifies another. And, notably, an unqualified legal opinion is one without exceptions or

limitations, not one written by a substandard lawyer.

Security
The term security in legal English has two important but very different meanings.
A security (plural: securities) is an investment instrument issued by a company, government, or other
organization which offers evidence of debt or equity, or to investments such as shares or bonds.
The legislation prohibits trading by brokers in certain types of securities.
The term security (note that no article is used) refers to the provision of rights against a persons assets
which are intended to enhance the probability of recovering a claim against him.
A mortgage was taken by the bank over the property as security for the loan.
Sanction
This word can have contradictory meanings and, as such, care should be taken as to its use.
1. As a verb it can mean to penalize and, as a noun, penalty, intended to ensure compliance:One of the
sanctions available to the European Commission for an infringement of EU rules is the imposition of fines.
Within this meaning, sanctions (in the plural) can also be a punitive or coercive measure adopted by a
country or group of countries acting together against a country in violation of international law: The UN
imposed economic sanctions on Iraq as punishment for its invasion of Kuwait.
2. It can also mean as a verb, to approve and, as a noun, approval: The board of directors sanctioned the
acquisition of the property.
Tax evasion vs Tax avoidance
Tax evasion is escaping payment of taxes by illegal means, for example by hiding the true state of one's
finances from tax authorities.
It is likely that he will go to prison if he is convicted of tax evasion.
Tax avoidance is escaping payment of taxes by legal means, such as by changing tax residence to a tax
haven or by making use of pension plans that postpone tax until retirement.
The law firm set up a scheme that was aimed primarily at tax avoidance."
What is the difference between a power of attorney and a proxy?
A power of attorney is authorisation to act on another persons behalf and in their name in a legal or
business matter. The person granting the power of attorney is known as the grantor and the person authorised
to act is the agent or attorney-in-fact. The power granted may be very wide in scope and may include the
power to sign documents on behalf of the grantor, deal with their financial affairs and property, etc.
A proxy commonly refers only to authorisation to vote on anothers behalf and is therefore more limited in
scope than a power of attorney. For example, a shareholder entitled to attend and vote at a company
meeting may appoint a proxy to attend and vote in their place or a British student backpacking around the
world may appoint his or her mother to vote in a general election on his or her behalf (note that a proxy is
also the person to whom authorisation is granted).