On 30 October 2021, PT Trimars Abadi Perkasa (Investindo) was invited as a guest to a webinar titled “Introduction to Legal English: An Essential Skill for Law Students,” an event that the Business Law Society of the Law Faculty of Universitas Indonesia (BLS FHUI) held.
Investindo, represented by four of its members, became the main guest speaker at the event. The first guest speaker to be introduced was Mrs. Meidini Hutagalung, the current director/legal reviewer of Investindo. Introduced as the second guest speaker was Mrs. Yenny Zulmadjdi. Mrs. Zulmadjdi served as another legal reviewer of Investindo, specializing in English to Bahasa Indonesia translations.
Curiosity and excitement filled the air even before the webinar started, which was joined by 50 law students from Universitas Indonesia. Then, precisely at 14.30 WIB, the committee opened the webinar with an all-inclusive greeting and was continued with a brief introduction by the Master of the Ceremony (MC) and the speakers for the day.
“Some people think legal English is English where the grammar is structured in a way that is different from ordinary English,” Mrs. Zulmadjdi began. “However, the exact definition of legal English is simple: it is good, proper, flowing English used in legal documents and nothing else. There is the term ‘legalese,’ but it is different from legal English as we currently know it. We prefer to avoid it because it uses an ancient rule of writing and will make it difficult for us to ascertain the content of the document.”
The ‘legalese’ referred to here means a traditional writing style that most people – save for those practicing law – could not comprehend easily. This style of writing has been the subject of arguments among law practitioners themselves, with detractors arguing that “writing style, especially legal writing, must not vary; lawyers must be able to produce a Clear, Correct, Concise, and Complete writing.”
Mrs. Hutagalung closed the discourse with a simple yet important tip that must always be remembered. “While the use of legal English might sound too archaic and confusing at first sight, it is essentially simple provided you are willing to learn the specialized terms used in legal writing.” BLSFHUI, the premier organization for students of Universitas Indonesia interested in business law, strives to better the aspiring legal practitioners’ understanding of legal English. This seminar they held was one of the many ways they tried to realize that idea, and Investindo is proud to be the main guest speaker for the event.
