Legal Terminology and Intensive English

What you will learn

• Recognize, pronounce and accurately use the essential terms of U.S. law, area by area, with their English definitions from NAFA's Blue Book.
• Build your own legal glossary, from A to Z, with the terms of each topic.
• Arrive at NAFA's other courses with their basic terminology: constitutional, immigration, business, credit and compliance, intellectual property and human rights.
• Explain in English, in general terms, how the U.S. legal system is organized: courts, sources of law and procedure.
• Read a case and prepare a structured case brief.
• Recognize frequently used Latin legal terms, such as habeas corpus, certiorari and amicus curiae.
• Complete the reading, writing, listening and speaking tasks of the current TOEFL iBT format.
• Write professional communications in English: emails, short essays and contributions to a discussion.
• Introduce yourself and handle a job interview in English for a position at a U.S. law firm.

Before you start

There are no prerequisites: the course serves lawyers and law students at any level of English. At the start you take diagnostic tests to find your level in each section of the TOEFL. It helps to know the basics of the virtual classroom (Moodle).

Syllabus

Tap each week to see its topics.

1. Week 1The U.S. legal system · Reading: what the TOEFL is

   Terminology: state and federal courts, sources of law, jurisdiction (the foundation of American Law). English: the TOEFL iBT format and a reading diagnostic.

2. Week 2Reading a case · Reading: Complete the Words

   Terminology: parties, procedural posture, rule, holding and precedent; the first case brief, with United States v. Brignoni-Ponce. English: vocabulary in context. First essay.

3. Week 3Lawyers, documents and legal Latin · Reading: everyday and academic texts

   Terminology: roles in law firms, companies and government; complaint, motion and affidavit; Latin terms. English: Read in Daily Life and Read an Academic Passage.

4. Week 4Civil law, criminal law and procedure · Writing: building sentences

   Terminology: substantive and procedural law, the stages of a trial and the burdens of proof. English: Build a Sentence. Seminar discussion in the forum.

5. Week 5How U.S. law reasons · Writing: the professional email

   Terminology: rules, tests and the IRAC method, with a torts case. English: Write an Email that explains a rule to a client.

6. Week 6Contracts and business · Writing: the academic discussion

   Terminology: contracts, business entities and liability (the foundation of Business and Corporate Law). English: Write for an Academic Discussion. Second essay.

7. Week 7Constitutional law · Listening: short responses

   Terminology: judicial review, due process, equal protection and federalism (the foundation of Constitutional Law). English: Listen and Choose a Response.

8. Week 8Immigration law · Listening: conversations and announcements

   Terminology: visas, status, admission and agency procedures (the foundation of Immigration Law 1 and 2). English: Listen to a Conversation and Listen to an Announcement. Seminar discussion in the forum.

9. Week 9International law and human rights · Listening: lectures and oral arguments

   Terminology: treaties, sovereignty and fundamental rights (the foundation of Human Rights). English: Listen to an Academic Talk and the oral arguments in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino.

10. Week 10Credit and consumer protection · Speaking: listen and repeat

    Terminology: credit reports, disputes and compliance (the foundation of Credit Repair and Compliance). English: Listen and Repeat and the pronunciation of legal terms. Third essay.

11. Week 11Intellectual property · Speaking: the interview

    Terminology: trademarks, patents and copyright (the foundation of Intellectual Property and Patents). English: Take an Interview.

12. Week 12Final project: a mock job interview

    An interview in English for a client intake assistant position at a Miami law firm, and a final review of your glossary.

Materials

• Required text: Humphrey Pachecker, NAFA's Blue Book: Legal Terminology, Commentaries, Tables and Useful Information (Xlibris, 2010), in the virtual classroom in PDF and Word.
• Recommended: Stephen H. Kaplan, Wiley's English-Spanish and Spanish-English Legal Dictionary (John Wiley & Sons).
• TOEFL iBT practice in the format in effect since January 2026: exercises and diagnostic tests in the virtual classroom, with guides for each task type.
• Cases and audio: United States v. Brignoni-Ponce (1975) and the oral arguments in Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino, courtesy of Oyez.
• Grammar support: the English for Everyone series.
• Recordings of every class, in the virtual classroom.

How you are assessed

The course is graded pass/fail, with no letter grade. What counts: attendance at the live classes, the weekly terminology and English exercises in the virtual classroom, a written assignment every two weeks (an essay or a forum discussion, in the style of a law seminar) and the final interview project. At the start you receive the syllabus, with the weight of each part and what you need to pass.

When you pass the course, you receive a NAFA certificate of completion.