Course Methodology

The course consists of group discussions as well as individual and team tasks. There will be writing practice throughout the exercises.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Apply a plain Arabic style of writing to all legal documents
• Recognize the need for legal clarity in different types of legal documents: legal letters, emails, memorandum and opinions
• Apply good legal writing practice
• Use best practice techniques to write contracts, letters, policies and company bylaws
• Correct common mistakes in legal writing 
• Address and deal with challenges and issues relating to the use of legal jargon
• Proofread effectively 

Target Audience

The course is suitable for Arabic speakers looking for a better understanding of how to write Arabic legal documents.  This course is for lawyers, legal secretaries, commercial managers, contract managers, HR executives and managers, purchasing managers, tender executives and anyone who must draft, amend or update contracts, legal letters and company policies and bylaws. 

Target Competencies

• Drafting letters, policies, company bylaws and contracts
• Proofreading
• Writing in plain Arabic
• Understanding legal terms
• Legal writing practice

Basic legal writing concepts and contract drafting

• The various types of legal documents
• Tips in writing bilingual legal documents
• Signs of a well drafted contract; the simple rules!
• The language of drafting
• Identifying the legal formalities for a binding contract
• Structure and formation of a commercial contract: following the formula
• The importance of Boilerplate clauses

Plain Arabic in legal correspondence and writing a legal letter

• Good legal writing practice
• Pitfalls and issues relating to the use of legal jargon in legal writing
• Writing different types of emails
• Layout of a letter
• Body of a letter
• Putting a letter together
• Typical sentences in legal letters
• The letter writing clinic: looking at the ten most common problems

Writing a legal policy or company bylaw and legal writing troubleshooting

• Layout of a policy or bylaw
• Body of a policy or bylaw
• How to write the best policy or bylaw
• Understanding the principles of legal interpretation
• The four defects that affect legal writing
• Use of consistent terminology
• Easily confused words
• How courts react to legal writing and what to expect