Đăng ký Đăng nhập
Trang chủ Ngoại ngữ Anh văn thương mại Express series: english for legal professionals (oxford business english)...

Tài liệu Express series: english for legal professionals (oxford business english)

.PDF
97
378
104

Mô tả:

.: ' :ri€-... . +.-t OXfORD AC I( N O\1 'L E D C IJ M IJ N T S t \ I \ Lt s tI 1 l , l ( I \ \ Crelt Cl.r r t n c l o nS r r 0 e t(.) x 1 i) r ((l) x2 6 r ) p O x f brrllr n j v e r s i t Yl ' r e s \i s i ( l e l) a r tr n cnot fth c' tln ive r sity0 l Oxlb r d . It ti.rfthcrsthr t inivcrsitt,s objcrtivc of exccllcncein rescarth. st lrolarship, rncl ccluc.ttiortbr' 1;ublishingwot'lclwicle in Oxlirrd \crv \brk r\ uc k lan dC a p e T o w nD a r e sSa la a mHo n g Ko n g Ka r a ch i Kr.rala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi New Delhi ShanghaiTaipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Creece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Ponugal Singapore Sor.rthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam are registeredtrade marks of oxFoRDand oxFoRD ENGLTSH Oxford University Pressin the UK and in certain other countrres @Oxford University Press2oo9 Adapted fronr EnglishforLegalProfesionals by Andrew Frost @Cornelsen Verlag GmbH & Co. OHG, Berlin zoo8 The moral rights ofthe author have been asserted Databaseright Oxford University Press(maker) First published2oo9 2073 2012 2011 2O7O 709876 5 4 3 2 No unauthorized photocopying All rights reserved.No pan ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expresslypermitted by law, or under terms agreedwith the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scopeofthe above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press,at the addressabove You must not circulatethis book in any other binding or cover and you nust imposethis samecondition on any acquirer Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addressesare provided by Oxford University Pressfor information only. Oxford University Pressdisclaims any responsibility for the content rs BN:978o 1 94 5 7 9 1 6z Printed in China l'r-cp(r''c'd.lbr OtlPi'v:Srar{ishDrsigt, Editorial:rndProjectManagenre nt l.rd. (rn{ll )rrl rl tshrr l l hosrrl i o hrryrqi rorl L',j ri ssi r)r i hc (nrthor-s trrrgni l L'/ilirr I(, i i 'l )rrl l rccl ht'.l i rl |rs i l l ! frl rl l .l si l I(i rl ri rl l l {l l i o,ts ofa()|\'n.glDltl l l l dIi Lti p25 : i /rr l intr's1ti Mal'ch200:l"'f ie cascthLowsclresscodcsinto confirsion' col 'l rcl i rnes/NSI yndi crti ontpp72.,76i l l r.si ndss l -dl r'D eniK s ecnan& S rr;th ItichesBUSINESS LAW 7th edition, O Pe:lrsontducation Limite(I,200.1: p36 'lhel irnesSJune 2004" l;lour power and contract law" O fhr,'l rnrcs/ NI Syndicationlpp38,42, 92 contractcl:rusesO Dr Albert Kitzler; pp72. 77 songwdting agreementCultural Foundation/Peter Bell amended for the purposeofthe exerciseby kind permissionofCultural Foundation www.cultfound.org; p46 TheTimes26March 2008 'J.K. Rowling determined to block RDRBooks' Harry Potter'rip-off"' @The Times/NISyndication: p47 TheTimes18 October 2007 "Why businesses should be wary ofgoing after eBayfakes" O Gill Grassie;p56 Letter of Intent @Beck'sches Formularbuch Zivil, Wirtschafis-und Unternehmensrecht herausgegbenvon Roben Walz (erschienen2007 im Verlag C.H. Beck, Munchen): p57 "Regarding FairnessOpinions ProsAsk, What's Faii?" Mergers6 Acquisitions Joumal,January 2008; p61 contract clauses @Beck'sches FormularbuchZivil-, Wirtschafts- und Untentchmensrecht herausgegbenvon Robert Walz (erschienen2007 im Verlag C.H. Beck, Munchen): pp65,67 "Creditors - order ofpriority" and tVAsGuide for Creditors: wrvwberr.govuk/R.eproducedunder the terms of the Click-UseLicence;p67 Thr'Times 29 December2006 'Lenderswlite offa record € 1.4bn ofI\A debt" @TTie Times/Nl Syndication Althoaghr1'cr1t'n)ll h(rsbccnnlodeto troceand contoctcopyightholders beforepultlictttion, thishdsnot br,enpossibie in somecases. Weapologise for any apparent infringementoJcoptright and. ifnotified, the publisherwillbe plcased to rectifyand en'orsor omissions .rt the eorlLest opportunity. Thepublisherwouldlike to thank the followingfor their kind permissionto photographs reproduce and othercopyrightmateial: istock ppS (lawyer/ Nicolay Suslov),(law books/SeanNel), 7 (mature woman/Justin Horrocks), (young man/Ben Blankenburg). (young woman/Jacob (matureman/JacobWackerhausen), Wackerhausen), (Asianwoman/ emilyzK),13 (projectorpresentation/Sean Locke),16 (matureGerman man/DuncanWalker),(maturewoman/PaulKline),(youngwoman/ Dmitriy Shironosov),(medium-agedman/lan McDonnell),(ltalian man/ lzabelaHabur),(medium-agedwoman/MichaelDeleon),18 (intervieW SeanLocke),22 (woman/SeanLocke),23 (contract/Nielslaan), 25 (formal/informal couple/Dmitry Sagalaev),26 ($oup meeting/Marcus Clackson),33 (digital camera/JakubSemeniuk), 37 (perfume/PaliRao), (chocolate/Pederk),(pills/Yin Yang),(leaning tower of Pisa/JimTardio Photogaphy), 48 (young man/Peter Finnie). (old man/Justin Horrocks), (young woman/jacob Wackerhausen),(medium-agedman/JasonYork), (CEOon phone/Mario13).58 (businessmanfillicole 49 (CEO/Mario13), Waring), 61 (businesswoman/Acilo),65 (businessman/FrancisBlack). nlustrationsW : Stephen May a MultiROM Engtlshfur Legal Prohssionalsis accompaniedby a MuttiROMwhich has a numberof features. lnteracdyeqxerclsesto practiseuseful phrases,vocabulary, and communication throughyour computer. Listeningextracts.Theseare in enhancedaudio formatthat can be playedon a conventionalCD-player or throughthe audio playeron your computer. lf you haveany problems,pleasecheckthe technicat supportsectionof the readmefi[e on the MuttiROM. l3 Tableof contents TOPtCS USEFUTtAilGUAGEAlID SKItts SeftinElup a business typesof business the rightbusiness choosing type tiabitity company givingadvice m a k i n gr e c o m m e n d a t i o n s e n u m e r a t i n rge a s o n s explainingstepsof a procedure tro,"r.ngpeople employment contracts amendments to contracts letter of resignation referring t o l e g a ld o c u m e n t s statingrightsand obligations reportingoutcomes writingformallettersand emails 26 Buyin$ and selling Eoods and scrviees preambles commoncontractterminoLogy i n t e r a c t i nw g itha client agreements andcontracts of sale contractual disputes a d v i s i n go n a c o u r s eo f a c t i o n commonlegaltermsandconditions 37 Protectingl intellectual property copyright,patent,trademark landmarklP cases rightsagreement lP rightson the internet negotiatingan agreement a m e n d i n ga n a g r e e m e n t l i n k i n gi d e a si n w r i t i n g 48 Merglers and acquisitions planning anacquisition M & A procedure articlesof association financinga takeover lettersof intent(LOl) c o m p a r i n ga n d c o n t r a s t i n lge g a l structures vocabularyof companyprocedures languageof meetings expressions usedin takeovers 58 Risk management and insolvency legaIrisk insolvency terminologv assessing of insolvencye m p h a s i z i nag p o i n t causesandimplications insolvencyprocedures h y p o t h e s i z i nagb o u tp a s ta c t i o n s creditors'rights personalinsolvency PAGE APPENDIX 68 7o 75 Test yourself! Partner files Partner A Partner liles Partner B 8o a7 Transcripts Answer key PA6E U]IIT t6 I 4l About the book Englishfor LegalProfessionals hasbeendesigned to provide anyonewhoneedsto speakaboutthe lawin a business environment withthe language theyneedto be ableto operatewithconfidence. Thesixunitscoverselectedbasicareasof Commercial Law:companylaw,employment [aw,contract patent law, andcopyrightlaw,mergersandtakeovers, riskmanagement, andbankruptcy law. pointsof lawdesigned Eachunithasits ownstoryline whichthrowsup interesting to placethe experienced legalprofessional in a position to adviseclientson suitablecourses of legalactionin English. A clientis givenadviceon startingup a company in Unitr, employees arehiredandcontracts of employment negotiated in Unitz, andcontracts withpartners arefinalized in Unit3. Successful protecttheirproducts companies in Unit4; somearein a position to takeoversmallerfirmsin Unit5; perhaps othershaveto takea closerlookat theirtiabilities, because theyareon the brinkof progression bankruptcy, in Unit6. Atthoughthereis a logicaI fromstart-upto bankruptcy, the units canbeapproached in anyorder. Eachunitbeginswitha Starter.a \riarm-Lp activitythatintroduces thethemeof the unitand the studentto refresh encourages existirgxro'.'rledge. Newoccupational vocabulary is acquired by ThereareVocabulary analyzing authentic documents. Assistants for manyexercises, whichprovide definitions of important wordsandphrases. Ne,,.figuresof speecharepractised in listening and speaking exercises. Language boxesprovideadviceon the correctusageoflegalandgeneral Engtish you language structures, whilethe Did know?boxesintegrate usefulprofessionaland linguistic information for English-speaking legaIexperts. role-plays Realistic usedwithrole-play cardsfromthe PartnerFitesallowstudents to practise what theyhavelearntin authentic legalsituations. An Outputcloseseveryunitwitha demanding and authentic textfromthetradepressandstudents pointsofview areencouraged to takepersonaI throughthe accompanying Overto you discussions. TheMuttiROMcontainsall the Listeningextractsfromthe book.Thesecanbe ptayedthroughthe audioplayeron yourcomputer, or througha conventional CDplayer.In orderto giveyourselfextra practice, listening listento it in yourcar.TheInteractive exercises let you reviewyourlearningby doingUsefuIphrases, VocabularyandCommunication exercises on yourcomputer. Thiswittbe particularly valuableif youareusingthe bookfor self-study. Thereis alsoan A-Z wordlistwith a[]the keywordsthat appearin Engtishfor LegalProfessionals, as wellas a glossaryof UsefuIphrasesand Thewordlistincludesa columnof phonetics vocabulary. anda spacefor youto writethe translations of the wordsin yourown language. ls Settin€ up a business Lawyersoften haveto use these terms when talking about businesslaw. Howmanyof them are you familiar wlth? Canyou explain any of them? r soletraderr articlesof association capital. tangible assets. equity/ company . unlimited companies liability registerof Forfurtherhelp,lookat the termsin the text below. t for the firm's Deborah Eyans, a solicitorin the lawflrm GarfleldBrown,is writinga brochure clientsaboutthe differentbuslnessstructuresin the UnitedKingdom.Fill the gapswith the wordssuppliedbelow. INFORMATION FORINVESTORS AND ENTREPRENEURS FROMABROAD in theUnitedKingdom Legalstructures i :. :::l :.:1,: ' :.. . . caSt.: t',.debtsr onyourown . owners. agreement .,'.pr9fitsr publicly. separate. shareholding personaflyliable Workingfor yourself as a sotetrader.Youdo not andaredescribed lf youworkfor yoursellyou areself-employed you your the start tradingandmanage business in order to set it up: simpty haveto register makesa certainamountof onceyourbusiness business '. However, year, you authority. As a sote trader,thereis no limitto the mustregisterwiththe tax moneyevery buton theotherhand,youhaveunlimited amountof capitalyoucantakeout of the business, your for tiability 6 | UNIT1 Settingup a business Partnerships Therearetwo maintypesof partnership partnership. in the U.K.Theotdestis thegeneral This business vehicledoesnot havea separatelegalidentityfromthe peoplewho formit. This I withoutlimitfor thedebtsof thefirm. meansthatthe partners are a A writtenpartnership is recommended but is notrequired by taw. partnership A generaI private. cankeepits partnership agreement andits financial information Partners do not haveto provide a minimum amountof equityby lawbuttheyusuallyagreeto paycapitalintothefirmwhentheyjointhe partnership. Thesecondtypeof partnership in the partnership (LLP). U.K.is the timitedliabitity partnership, Untikea general the partners are I of the business, calledmembers. Thevarestillthe buttheirliabitity for the debtsof the firmis timited.However, everyLLPmustpublishregularfinancialinformation aboutitself. Limitedcompanies Thesebusiness mustbe registered structures on the Register of Companies andhavea b legalidentity. Thismeansthe members areonlytiabteto payfortheir z in thecompany. lt is the company thatis liabteto its creditors. Whena is formed,its ownerswillnormally putcapitaIintoit. However, company thiscompany capital 8- tangibleassetse.g.machinery doesnot haveto consistentirelvof canalsobe contributed. Limitedcompanies mustalsohavea writtenagreement - calledthe articlesof association. Thetwo maintypesof limitedcompanyarethe privatecompany(which hasLimitedor Ltd in its name)andthe publiccompany, or plc. plc A is often- but not always- a companywhosesharesaretraded i.e.anyoneis allowedto buythem.Forthesecompanies thereis a minimum amountof capital andtherearedifferentrequirements procedures. regarding directorsandaccounting DtDYOUrlOW? TheBritishandAmerican Engtish termsfor business structures vary.Theestablished in the structures UnitedKingdom aresoletraders,generalpartnerships, andtimitedcompanies. Soletradersand partnerships areoften(butnotalways)smallbusinesses. Limitedcompanies areusedby businesses of all sizes,fromtheverysmallto the verylarge.Thesmalleronesareoftenprivatecompanies andhave Ltdor Limitedin theirname.Largerlimitedcompanies oftenchooseto be publiccompanies andhaveptc in theirname.Sincezoorin the U.K.,a fourthbusiness structure, the limitedliabititypartnership or LLP, hasexisted. ln the U.S.,the abbreviations lnc andCorpareverycommon,buttheyarejustthe abbreviations acceptabte in attU.S.statesfor a company that hasregistered itselfas a separate legalidentity. TheU.S. limitedliabititycompany or l[C is a differenttypeof company whichcombines thetaxflexibitity of a partnership withthe personal liabitityprotection of a corporation. Besureto checkandusethe correcttermin the rightjurisdiction: exercise 1 on pages5-6 witl helpyou do t his . U N I T1 2 S e t t i n gu p a b u s i n e s s| 7 Hereare somepoints of view about dlfferent legal aspectsof the companytypes presented above.What do you think? A limited liability partnershipis a reallygood ideo nowadays. Youcan't expectlaw firms, orchitects,tox advisersand so on to acceptunlimitedliability in traditionalpartnerships.lf a big contractgoeswrong,it cancosttensof millions. It's veryimportantfor a public companyto haveminimumequitytHowcan onyone haveconfidence in a companyof thissort if it doesn'thoveony capitalof its own? I can't see why the law in the U.K.requiresa company to registeritself beforeit startstrading,but doesn't requirea sole traderor a partnershipto registerat that paint. They'reall businesses,aren't they? I feel verysorryfor entrepreneurswho form a limited company. Theideabehindthistypeof companyis that yourpersonal as soonos the ownersgo to assetsshouldn'tbe at risk.However, the bonkfor stort-upcapital,the banksecuresany loonsit makes ossets- usuallytheirhome. againstthe owners'personal AUDIO g\ v} 3 DeborahFlynnhas a meetingwith her client Miya Osborne,a fapanesewomantiving in the U.K. andanswerthequestions. Partr: Listento the firstpartof the meeting r Whendid sheformhercompany? business? z Whatis the natureof MivaOsborne's doesshenowwantto moveintoandwhy? 3 Whatareaof business 4 Whatplansdoesshehavefor oneor two of hercolteagues? advicefromDeborah? 5 Whatotherreasondoesshehavefor seeking 8 | uNlTl' Settingup a business AUDIO a Partz: ListenandcompleteDeborahFlynn'swrittennotesfromthe meeting. 7 lvltya Osborrtt u currextly ruvutivg her ivnport bwinus as a soletraobr and has 2 ernployu^r. Shz has fauvtd a possible v1r.wproperty to ure ar a shtp owd wants to yrwke aw ffir to buy tt imnediatdy. Rtskt We dow't Ww whether shc.wLu be oillav,led to chavge its we/rorn an ^ buildivg to a shtp. Ne*d to find o,tt tnore. She'sftwrved tUz bwLnzrsup ta wv,/wtvg the ! of tt^e bwirizss and satu&sawvEs.she has 3 rusow for formtvg ot coynpqnyww: 1. to rev'/ardthe loyalty of h", Z stdf by gtivtg thzm a thz bwivtzss ,Lw 2. otko toreNard thLym;trffi:tr-fuure bymakbs them 3. thz. bwLnzs.ryrxds to apand qnd thue b a possihlencw who wowtt share^sin thz bwirizrs She doerw't woM, to borrow monzyfrorn the bank becausethe bq* wiil qsk hr-r f the toawpersavuillyand that wtII put her htme at rirk qs thz laqyLwill be seturd ovt,her hnwe. 4 In prlncipte, lllya Osbornehas a potentiatly good ldea, but there are a lot of issues to consider. Work in smatl groupsand discussthese quest:ons. . ShouldMiyaOsbornegivesharesin the newcompanyto hertwo loyalemptoyees? Whatarethe risky? rewarding loyalty that are less other ways of for her? Are there any risks r Whatotherstructures Whydo youthinkDeborahdid not suggest for Miya'sbusiness? areavailable them? . lf youwereadvisingMiyain yourowncountry, wouldyouradvicebe the sameor differentfrom Why? Deborah's? Lookat Deborah'slist of issues.What should tlya do and why? Usethe following phrases: I would(wouldn't)adviseherto .... | (don't)thinksheshould.... oughtto .... She(realty) Shecouldalways.... UNITl 5 S e t t i n g u p a b u s i n e s| s9 A daylater DeborahFlynnsendstliya Osbornethe followingtetter. Putthe six paragraphsinto the correctorder. Dear Mrs Osborne New businessproposals a) Accordingly,I must stressthat a bank will usuallyask you to guaranteethe loan personally,which it might make to your companyand take your houseas security.This would mean that, if the companydefaultedon the loan, the bank would requireyou to repayit. If you could not afford to do so,the bank would take legalproceedingsto sellyour houseand recoverits money. b) I look forward to meetingyou againnext weekasarranged.Meanwhileif you haveany questions about the mattersI haveraisedin this letter,pleasedo not hesitateto contactme on my direct ling which is setout at the top of the page. c) Following our meetingthis morning, I write to summarizemy adviceand setout the stepswhich you shouldtake now. d) As you explained,your businesshas now reacheda point wheie it needsto expandand requires externalfunding to do this. Your choicesare betweendebt (that is, a bank loan) and equity (that ig financingthrough sharesbought by an investor).Bank loansareavailableto you asa soletrader and would also be availableif you wereto form a company.You explainedinitially that you were interestedin obtaining a bank loan to pay for someof the expansion,but that you wereworried about the effectthat this might haveon your personalassets,particularlyyour house. e) If you decideto incorporatethe businessas just described,then you will be under more legal obligationsthan you wereas a soletrader.Theseobligationsrelateto the waysin which you can take money out of the company,and the waysin which you make valid decisionson behalf of the company.I enclosea copy of our firm's booklet Runningyour newcompanywhich givessome examplesof theseobligationsand explainsa little about the constitution of the company. f) Turning to financingthroughshares, this option is not availableto soletradersor partnershipsand is only possibleif you form a company.Sincean externalinvestoris alreadyinterestedin investing in your business,I would advisethe formation of a privatecompanyasthe most practicaloption. The assetsof the businesswould be transferredfrom you astheir ownerto the companyand shares would be issuedto you and the other shareholders. Yours sincerely Deborah Flynn Solicitor A n s w e r sr I: z[ 3I rl \i 6I 10 | UNII1 O settingup a business Work In small groupsand discussthese questions. r Howdoesthis advicecomparewith the adviceyou gavein exercise 4? z WhatphrasedoesDeborahuseto meana bankloan'tWhatadvantages does anddisadvantages Deborah mentionin relation to thistypeof finance? Canyouaddanymorefromyourexperience? phrase What Deborah mean money raised does use to by sellingsharesin a company?What 3 advantages anddisadvantages doesDeborah mentionin relation to thistypeof finance? Canyou addanymore? letterwarnsthatrunninga company is morecomplicated thanbeinga soletrader.From 4 Deborah's yourexperience, canyousuggestwhyshesaysthis? 0tD:YOUlKr{tU? of a company consists of its memorandum of association, which r In the U.K.,the constitution givesinformation aboutthe locationof the company andits objectsor legalpurposes, and r its articlesof association, whichcontaininternalrulesabouthowthe companyis Boththe memorandum organized. andthe articlescanbe readby the publicat Companies House,the centralregister of companies. In the U.S.,the articlesof incorporationis the documentthat hasto be filed with the relevant state.Thisdocumentis requiredof incorporated firmsalike. andnon-incorporated 7 f n her letter DeborahFlynn uses some verb + noun pairs, e.g. to set out detoJls.The following yerb + noun pairs are commonwhen tettlng started in buslness.Try to makepalrs. VERB r register/ run z raise/ contribute 3 submit/ reject 4 drawup 5 impose 6 incur 7 view/inspect 8 obtain 9 issue/ hold 10 conduct 8 NOUN a restrictions b debts/ costs c the register of companies d business e capital f shares g acompany h a certificate of incorporation (forentryin a register) i an application j acontract/apartnershipagreement Hll In the gaps using the verb + noun pairs above.Youmay haveto modlfy the verb. r Inthe U.K.anymemberof the publicis allowedto Companies Houseto getinformation abouta particular company. z A plccanextendits equitybaseby a company shouldnotcommence tradinguntilit has 3 Undernormalcircumstances 4 A soletraderdoesnot needto registerhisor heractivitiesin orderto at UNITt S e t t i n g u p a b u s i n e s| s11 Housecan for registration if the proposedname 5 TheCompanies is too similarto a namethatalready of the company exists. partnership in a general to 6 Thelawdoesnotrequirepartners wouldrecommend this. but mostsolicitors triesto any , the bankofteninsistson securing 7 Whena company assetsof thecompany's owners. loanagainst the personal partnership, the partners bearpersonal tiability for any 8 In a general whichthe partnership might GIVIt{G ADVtCEA1lD tAr !il G RECO ll t{ E1{DAT|O1lS for givingadviceandmakingrecommendations requirea gerundandsomean infinitive. Someexpressions phrases whenspokenbut arenotappropriate NB:Some areappropriate in a formatwritten context. Gerund(-ing) lnfinitive I (would/wouldn't) suggest/recommendmoking an offer at this stage. How/What about talking to a prapertyexpert aboutthis?(spoken) lthink you should tell me a bit moreabout the business. I (strongly)odviseyou to talk to a propertyexpert about this. Youcouldalwaysmokean offerwhenyou knowa bit more.(spoken) Youought to make an offer whenyou know a bit more. (spoken) Whydon't you makean offerwhenyou knowa bit moreT(spoken) lf you arediscussing what NB:All the abovephrases canbe usedwhenyouareadvisingsomeone directly. he I she I they shoulddo, usethe phraseslistedin exercise4. lf you wouldliketo userecommendandsuggestfor a third party,the structureis as fotlows: I recommend /suggestthat he /she should+ infinitive 9 look at an ext]actfroma letter froma client whosepartnershlphasgot into difficulty,to their lawyer. De a r ... ... I formed an accountancypartnership with David B. five years a-eo. specializingin accountancy servicesand tax advice for small businesses. My partner has now informed me he wishesto leaveour firm in order to accept a partnership with a large firm specializingin accountancy for large corporations. My problem is that I do not think I can afford to buy him out right now. What is more, the new firm is not very far away.I mention this becauseour partnership agreementstatesthat if a partner leaves,he should not do businesswithin a S-mileradius of his old firm. I am. of course.worried that David B. misht take someof our existinsclientswith him to his new firm. ... 1 2 | U NIT l Se tting up ab us ines s tlatch the beginningsin A with the endingsin B to rebuild the lawyer'ssuggestionsbelow: AB Youcouldalways... ...worryaboutthecostof buyingyourpartneroutyet.Your partnership agreement statesthatthispayment wouldonlybe I suggest... year. dueat theendofthe nextfinancial Youreallyought... ...ascertain the precise valueof thefirm.Thenyouwil[know howmuchit wiltcostto buyyourpartnerout. I wouldn'tadviseyou... ...tryingto cometo a bindingagreement aboutexisting clients. Youwilllosesomeclients, but don'twantto losetoo many. 5 I don'tthinkyoushould... partnership ...to terminate theexisting withimmediate effect. 6 I don'trecommend... DavidB.is notgoingto actin yourfirm'sinterests anymore. ...bringing in a newpartnerstraightaway.Waitandseehow youhavebeforeyourushintosuchan muchbusiness imoortant decision. ...to invokethe five-mileradiusclause.lt's probablynot enforceable anyway. ls there any adviceyou don't agreewith? Doyou haveany other advicefor the client? . ..a..|:l ;4pefruunvrsSfrfr .,,,...i11 ascertainfind out binding (odj)whichmustbe obeyedbecauseit is acceptedin law buy s.o. out to poy s.o.for theirsharein a business,usuallyin orderto get controlof the businessyourself due owed,payable enforceable(odj)a clausewhichis enforceobleis one whichcanform the bosisof a court action,if the promisecontainedin the clauseis broken with immediateeffect ot once,immediatelv DtDYOUrlOW? Lawyeris a generaltermwhichwe useto referto someone who has learntthe lawandhasa licenceto practise. Inthe U.S.,lawyersare oftencalledattorneysor attorneys-at-law. In EnglandandWales,the legalprofession is not unified,so a distinction is drawnbetween solicitors,who haverightsof audience in onlysomecourts,and (i.e.the art of presenting barristers, whospecialize in advocacy cases in court)andwho havea rightof audience in all courts.Generally, a soticitor will consultwith hisor herclientandpreparea brief.Thisbrief is thenpassedon to a barrister whowill oresentthe casein court. Successful anddistinguished barristers areofteninvitedto becomea Counsel. Suchbarristers alwaysuseQCaftertheirname. Queen's 1O A clientconsultsa lauryeraboutforminga company. Beforeyoubeginyourconsultations, agree the countryof jurisdictionwith yourpartner. P artnerA Fi l eor, p.7o PartnerB Fiteor, p.75 Uselanguagefor making recommendations and giving advicein your consultation. After you have finished the activitn telt the class what you agreedto do. U N ITl S etti ngupabusi ness | 13 ' GIVIl{G REASOTS ATD E)(PtAllAiloils It is oftenimportantto givereasons andexplainthingsstepby step. Note:Wordslikefirstlyandfirstof all aren'tusedin the sameway. reasons Enumerating ExplainingthestepsInvolvedin a procedure Firstly, the companyis investingwith minimum Firstof oll, we need to discussthe business relationship between ... Next, I wouldsuggestdepositing... Following that, it would be yourjob to persuade.... Lostof oll, we would notify the tax office... risk... Secondly,the investorreceives757oof any rent obovetheminimum. Thirdly,... Finolly,... NB.Becarefulwithat first.Weusethisto express the factthatwe thoughtsomething initiattyandthen c hanged ourmi n d s . Example:At first it seemeda good idea to form a company.Laterwe realizedthat this would be too expensiveand too complicated. tl Readthe extractsfroma presentation aboutbusinessformatsin the U.K.Gomplete the gaps with expressions for orderinganexplanation fromthe languageboxabove. on ' I'dliketo provideyouwith a bit of background formatsin this countrvandthe rationalebehindthesedifferent business formats. ', I'dliketo go on to lookin moredetailat the plc or to giveit its moreformalname,the publiccompany. I'dliketo lookat thetimescalefor converting a privatecompany intoa q,ld liketo discuss publiccompany. withyousome of listedplcs:oneswhichcanselltheirshareson globalstock examples exchanges. I....t ld liketo moveon nowto talkaboutthe plcin moredetail. t, youmightthinkthattherearen'tmanyadvantages to legislation becoming a plc.Butwhenyoureadcompany andthe rulesof the LondonStockExchange, therearethreeclearreasonsfor doingso. " it'sillegalto z, Investment Market the Alternative offersharesto the publicif youarenot a plc. (wheresharesin youngcompanies for more aretraded)is onlyopento plcs. ', is alsoonlyopento plc companies, the MainMarketof the London StockExchange established e,somemightsaythatbecoming And a ptcis goodfor marketing.' shares. t2 a plc in the U.K., Thespeakersaysin herpresentation that therearethreereasonsfor becoming but it is not a sultableformatfor everybusiness.Howslmilaris this situationto theiurisdlction In yourcountry? 1 4 | uN lT l t3 Se tting up ab us ines s Herels a comparlson tableshowingthe fourformsof businessstructurein the U.K.Comptete a-f In the tableuslngthe notesbelow. * Two - Snallbusiness 6anklaansor profrlaof bueiness * Ke1ianratlonfee. k1ietaalion formahties. documentsrequiredand muel beopento public. Canatibutional - Yes Unlimited Business structure Raising money Sole tnder ' Bankloansor profits of business Limitedcompany : (Ltd or ptc) LLP Generalpartnerchip Bankloansor profits of business Bankloans,profits of business or I sellingsharesin the j company NB:onlyplcscan selltheirshareson a largescale Suitablefor Anysizebusiness (largerbusinesses chooseplcs) Anysize Anysize Minimu mn um berof peopte O ne One Two C Minimumcapital requirement? No d Yes No Setup costsand formalities Noregistration fee. i Noformalities to set up.Noconstitutional required. i documents i Liabitity Limitedto capitaI contribution f No registration fee. No registration formalities. Constitutional not document required but if one is used,thereis no obligationto makeit opento public. Registration fees; administrative costsgreaterfor plcs.Registration formalities. Constitutional required documents andmustbeopento public. Limitedto capital contribution Unlimited Completethe advantagesand disadvantagesof eachbusinessstructure. ano havefewformalities but areliableto the debtsof the business withouttimit. 2 ano havelimitedtiabitity andbankloansmaybe easierto obtainbuttherearemoreformalities. t4 A lawyerglyesa cllentlnformationon forminga company. tYorkwith a partner. PartnerA Fiteoz, p.7o PartnerB File02, p.75 UNITl Settingup a business| L5 Readthese readers'letters to the editor of the law supplementof TheTlmesnewspaper. What advlcewould you give them? Letterr Dear Sir After I was made redundant from a job in a luxury hotel three years ago, I started doing some work with an ex-colleague.We agreed to work part-time for the businessbecauseboth of us were already working separately on other projects.We invested several thousand pounds each in our new business and agreed to divide the responsibilities between us. I dealt face-to-facewith customersand he worked mostly with our suppliers and did the paperwork. Things went smoothly at first, but when my colleague'sother projects started to do better, he just stopped doing any work for our business and handed everything back to me. I took over his responsibilities, but it was too much for one person to manage. As a result I lost two major customers and had to wind the business up, losing all of my capital investment. Can you advise? Yours faithfully Simon Braithwaite Letter z Dear Sir My husband and I were partners in a small manufacturing business until our retirement, The business is still going strong in the hands of the remaining two partners, but we have not had any involvement in it, financially or managerially, for over a year. We have now found out that a claim is being made against the firm in relation to a debt incurred just after the date of our retirement. We have been named in the claim along with the other two partners, because our narnes were not taken off the firm's letter head until two months after we retired, even though we repeatedly asked for this to be done earlier. 'vVhatdo you advise? Yours faithfully Ann Richardson Nowgo to page96 andreadat the bottomthe repliesto theselettersthatwerewrittenby experts. . Doyouthinkthe lawis beingfairto thetwo peoplewhowrotethe letters? o Arethereanydifferences in the two repliesandthe legal betweenthe legatpositionas exptained positionin yourownjurisdiction? 16 I Employingpeople Thesepeopleare talking about different aspectsof their contractsof employment. Workwith a partner and makea list of the points they are sure or unsureabout. If I want to earnsome moneyon the side doing call centre work at the weekendsor workingin a baf there'snothingmy employercan do to stop me. As far as l'm awore,my employerhas no controloverwho I go to work for if I leavethe company. lf I wantedto leavethe company,I would haveto tell my employera month in advance.Or is it two I alwoysmanageto months? use up all my holiday by the end ofthe year,so I don't know what I actuallycan't happensif you'vegot somedaysleft rememberif my contractsaysanything over.I imagineyoujust carrythem about componysecrets,taking documentshomeand oll that kind of thing. I supposeit does though. p rl lf I work overtime, I try to take that extratime off beforethe end of the yeor.Otherwise,I lose it. ldon't have any right to be paid for overtimethat I have worked. l{owlookat yourlist again.What,in yourexperience, doesa standardcontractof employment usuallysayaboutthesepoints?Discuss thiswith othermembers of thegroup. DrDYOUKI{OW? followed A commercial contractusuatlystartswith its owndescription, for example, THISAGREEMENI, by the partiesandthe date.Nextusuallycomethe definitions of wordsusedrepeatedty in the contract, andthenrecitals,givingdetailsofthe historyor purposeofthe contract. Theoperativepart (theterms of the contract) thenfottows. An employment contractcontainsinformation on salaryor pay.Theheadingfor this partof the contract (BE) (AE). or clauseis usuallycalledRemuneration or Compensation (BE) (AE) A severance or separabitity/ severability clauseis verycommon.lt ensuresthat the contract as a wholeremains validevenif oneor two clausesin it becomeinvatid. Thetwo partiesaresimply quickly possible. required to renegotiate the invalidclausesas as U N I T 2 E m p l o y i npge o p l e| 1 7 t Beloware someclauseheadingstaken from a standardcontractof employment. tlatch them with the correctclauses.Oneheadingdoes not fit anywhere. Absence. jpplieabterl'aw'. Competitiono Confidentialityo Durationof contract/ o Dutiesr Leaveentitlement . Severance . Workinghours Termofemployment Clauses I The Employeeshallnot makeknown to any third party any informationin respectof patents,know-how,trade secretsor other confidentialmatterswhich relateto the Companyor its clientsor its suppliersor its co-operationpartners.The originalsof any documents relating to such information are to be surrenderedto the Company immediatelyupon terminationof employment. For the durationof this contractof employmentand for a period of two yearsthereafter the Employeeundertakesnot to be employedin any way eitherby firms which compete with theCompanyor conductsimilarbusiness to that of theCompanyor by firmswhich with suchfirms without the consentof the Company. areconnectedto or associated The Employee'sservicewith the Companycommences on April I't 20... and continues for an unlimited period of time, but until no laterthan the statutoryretirementage. Shouldthe Employeebe unableto work on accountof certificatedillness,full pay will continue accordingto the length of servicescalesset forth in the attachedStaff Handbook.Irrespective of thelengthof service, thereis a minimumfull payentitlement of 30 days. The Employeeis entitledto 30days'paidleavein thecalendaryearpluspublicholidays. In arrangingthedatesof this leave,the Employeeshallgiveproperconsideration to the needsof the Company. The Employeeshall,as ExternalProjectCoordinator,managethe Company'sprojects with externalpartnersin the field of telecommunications softwaredevelopment. Applicable law The construction,validity and performanceof this contractshall be governedin all respects by Englishlaw. The invalidity or unenforceability of individual provisionsdoes not affect the validity or enforceability of the contract as a whole. In lieu of any such inoperative provisions, agreement shall be reached by the parties on replacement provisions which approximate as closely as possibleto the stated commercial intentions of the partres. 18 | UNIT2 Emplo yi ngpeople 2 ilatch the words or expressionshighlighted in the contracton page1Z(columnA) with wordsor expressionsthat havea similar meaningin plain English(cotumnB). A contractvocabulary 1 SUrrenoer z duration 3 undertake 4 COnSenr 5 COmmence 6 leave 7 be entitledto 8 provisions 9 in lieuof 10 inoperative B a b c d e f g h i i ptainEngtish agreement hotiday havethe rightto terms promise in placeof tength(oftime) invalid giveback begin AUDIO a 4 3 Twodays ago CathyO'Brienfrom Dublin, lreland was offeredthe position of softwaredeveloper company.Todayshe has a meeting at Softline l,td, the U.K.subsidiaryof a Luxembourg-based with the Headof HumanResources,Thierry Schwarz,to go over someof the details of her contract.Listento the conversationand decideif the statementsbeloware true or false. assumethinkthat somethingis correctwithouthaving checked clarify makecleor explain draft a rough written versionof somethingnot yet in its final form entitlementa legalright to haveor do something to that effect a phraseusedto showthatyouaregiving thegeneralmeaningof somethingheardor read,and not using the exactwordswhichthe speakeror writer used u n T n According Schwarz, the normalworkingweekisn'tMondayto Friday. to Thierry nowandthen. Cathyis prepared to workweekends ? year. Thierry statesthatit is unusual to carryoverannualleaveintothefollowing prepared pay might to accept extra in compensation for annual leave. be unused 4 Cathy As a seniormemberof staff,Cathywitl not be entitledto receiveanypayfor overtime. in hercontract 6 Cathywantssomething thatentitlesherto be paidfor anyovertime doneif herlinemanager agrees. Thierry tetlsCathythatit wil[be possible to change theovertime ctausein the contract. 1 2 T I T OID:YOOKf,OU? Thewordsclause,section,andparographcanoftenbe confusing.Contracts and agreements consistof clauses,subclouses,andparagraphs.Sections,subsections,andparagraphsare used In eachcase,youcanusethe generalwordprovisionto to referto partsof nationallegislation. describewhatsomethingin the documentsays.Forexample,Sectionj subsection4 paragraph a [writtens.f (+)(a)]of theAct containsa provisionaboutdirectors'remuneration. U N I T 2 E m p t o y i npge o p l e| 1 9 TOA LEG AT DO CUM EI { T REFERRIT{G The followingexpressionsare usefuIwhen referringto a legaIdocumentor explainingits content. It says in clouse3 thot ... Theterminationclauseclearlystotes/ stipulatesthot ... 4 Accordingto clause5 the employeemust ... It mys here ... Thissimply meansthot ... Workwith a partnerto discusssomeproblemsrelatingto a contractof employment. PartnerA Partner B 5 Fite 03, p. 70-71 tile q, p.75-76 Thierry speaksEnglishvery wel[, but has difficulty finding the right tone in letters and emails. Hewould like to write his email in a friendly but formal style. Fill the gapswith the words below. contactingo discuss r gettingin touchwith o got back . hereare,. I am attachingr lapologise.3just o pleasso prettt o reasonablyo resolve: returned. sort out r sorrV o talk about ' unfortunatelyo yy"n, . wish . you see !l ro: catrv.obrk [email protected] Subject: amendments to contract = DearMrs.O'Brien Regardingour meetinglastweek, 3,our solicitorwas in courtfor mostof lastweekand only 5 the amendmentsto yourcontractas suggestedby him. I thinkyou'llfindthatoverallthey 6 the issuesyou raisedwith me last Couldyou havea look at them and let me knowme by the end of the weekat the latestif thereare !? | canthentry to have the contract ready for signing by the middle of next week. In the meantime, if there are any other matters where I can be of help. give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best regards Thierry Schwaa people 20 | UNIT2 Employing 6 ThierrySchwarz sentanddiscusswith a partnerthe two questionsbelow. Readthe attachment to Cathy OoBrien'scontract Suggested amendments of employment Pteasenote: the suggestedamendmentsto the contract havebeen added in italics. 1.2 Working Hours The length of the standard working week will be 38 hours. Weekendwork will be necessaryfrom time to time. 6.2 Leare Entitlemeot The Emplol'ee has an entitlement to compensationfor up to and no more than l5 days of unusedleavebasedon the basic salary amount as defined in 4.1. Unused annual leavemay be carried over into the following year, up to a maximum of sevendavs Anl'leave carried over must be taken before lst March. 4.5 Remuneration There is no claim tofinancial comp€nsationfor overtimg weekendor holiday work or other work performedin addition to the qorking hours as set out in 1.2.Overtime worked may be taken as time off in lieu at the discretion of the line manager. 1 2 Onwhatpoint(s)hasCathygot whatshewanted? Onwhatpoint(s)hasshegot lessthanshewanted? g!!i+ir:.:-:; consistentwith (adi) in agreementwith detrimentalto (adDharmfulto express clearlyand openlysoid or written down (in controcts,the oppositeof implied)
- Xem thêm -

Tài liệu liên quan