Business law 2: Key nouns CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR LAW

CHECK YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR LAW

Business law 2: Key nouns

Look at the dictionary definitions below, decide what each one is describing, then write your answers in the table on the next page. The first and last letters of each word have already been put into the table for you. If you complete the table correctly, you will reveal a word in the shaded vertical strip that can be used to complete the sentence in the box at the bottom of the next page. 1 A person who is appointed to deal with financial or other matters on behalf of another person. 2 A licence to trade using a brand name and paying a royalty for it. 3 An official who investigates complaints by the public against government departments or other large organisations (especially banks, travel companies, and electricity, gas, water and telecommunications providers). 4 Somebody who gives a guarantee. 5 A failure to carry out the terms of an agreement, a contract, etc. 6 One of the main conditions of a contract, where one party agrees to what is proposed by the other party. Also the act of signing a bill of exchange to show that you agree to pay for it. 7 The notifiable offence of telling lies when you have made an oath to say what is true in court. 8 Somebody who has committed a civil wrong to somebody, entitling the victim to claim damages. 9 A payment made by a person or company to cover the cost of damage or hardship which he / she / it has caused. 10 An attempt by a third party to make the two sides in an argument agree. 11 A document in which a company acknowledges it owes a debt and gives the company's assets as security. 12 The closing of a company and the selling of its assets. 13 Money claimed by a claimant from a defendant because of harm or damage done, or money awarded by a court to a claimant as a result of harm suffered by the claimant (Clue: this word has already appeared elsewhere in this exercise). 14 The legal responsibility for paying someone for loss or damage incurred. 15 A failure to give proper care to something, especially a duty or responsibility, with the result that a person or property is harmed. 16 The good reputation of a business and its contacts with its customers (for example, the name of the product it sells or its popular appeal to customers). 17 A court order telling a person or a company to stop doing something, or telling them not to do it in the first place. Use the word in the shaded vertical strip to complete this paragraph. The company promised us that they would send us the goods by March 31st, but since then we have discovered that they knew they couldn't get them to us until the end of May. We lost a lot of money as a result, so we are going to sue them for __________. Familiarise yourself with the words in this exercise by using them in some of your own sentences. Don't forget to record any new words and expressions you learn (there is a vocabulary record sheet on page 64 which you can photocopy as many times as you like and use to build your own vocabulary 'bank').

 

ANSWER KEY

Business law 2: Key nouns (pages 4 – 5) 1. nominee (from the verb to nominate. Nominee can precede words such as account and shareholder: a nominee account; a nominee shareholder) 2. franchise (a franchisee is a person who runs a franchise, a franchiser / franchisor is somebody who licenses a franchise. The act of selling a licence to trade as a franchise is franchising: He runs his sandwichmaking chain as a franchising operation) 3. ombudsman 4. guarantor (sometimes used in the expression to # stand guarantor for somebody, meaning to pay or promise to pay someone's debts) 5. breach (common collocations of this word include: a breach of confidence, a breach of contract, a breach of promise, a breach of the peace, a breach of trust, a breach of warranty. It is also used with in + of: We are in breach of Community law; The defendant is in breach of his statutory duty, etc) 6. acceptance (someone who accepts an offer is an acceptor) 7. perjury (also used as a reflexive verb: to perjure yourself) 8. tortfeasor (from tort, a civil wrong. A case by a claimant who alleges he or she has suffered damage or harm is called action in tort) 9. compensation (from the verb to compensate. Compensation in this context is sometimes called compensatory damages) 10. mediation (from the verb to mediate. A person who mediates is a mediator) 11. debenture (collocations of this word include: debenture register, debenture bond, debenture capital, debenture holder, debenture issue) 12. liquidation (from the verb to liquidate. Often used in the expression to go into liquidation: The company went into liquidation when it was declared insolvent) 13. damages (a person or a company can bring an action for damages against another person or company) 14. liability (you can accept, admit or refuse liability for something. A company's articles of association should include a liability clause, which states that the liability of its members is limited. The liability of an employer for acts committed by an employee during the course of work is called vicarious liability) 15. negligence (from the verb to neglect. The adjective is negligent) 16. goodwill (for example, She paid £10,000 for the goodwill of the shop, and £4,000 for the stock. Goodwill is one of a company's intangible assets, and so is not shown in the company's accounts, unless it figures as part of the purchase price paid when acquiring another company) 17. injunction (note that some injunctions are granted temporarily until the case comes up in court. These are called temporary or interlocutory injunctions) The word in the shaded vertical strip is misrepresentation.