“Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers” Wins the 2023 GLS Book Award

Natasha Costello and Louise Kulbicki have won the 2023 Global Legal Skills Book Award for their book, Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers: Improving Your Legal English.” The book was published in 2023 by Routledge (London and New York). The award was presented during the closing plenary session of the Global Legal Skills Conference held July 30 to August 1, 2023 at Nottingham Trent University.

The 354-page book on Practical Legal English Skills includes chapters on networking, telephoning and conference calls, client meetings, presentations, social media marketing, and job applications and interviews. There are also short chapters with advice on legal writing, contract negotiation and drafting, advocacy, and alternative dispute resolution. Appendices in the book include questions for self-assessment and peer-assessment, a short chart with examples of how to convert legalese to plain English, transcripts of conversations, and a useful glossary of legal terms.  

Natasha Costello is a non-practicing English solicitor and a former senior lecturer in law at Manchester Metropolitan University in England. She is currenting working as an independent teacher in Paris, where she teaches legal English to practicing French lawyers and to law students at various universities in the Paris area.

Louise Kulbicki is a legal English teacher and the founder of Study Legal English, which provides online legal English resources to learners in more than 140 countries. She gained practical experience in the field of international environmental law before turning to teaching legal English.

Both Natasha and Louise have served on the board of EULETA, the European Legal English Teachers’ Association. EULETA was also recognized with a Global Legal Skills Award during the 2023 GLS Conference in Nottingham.

Pictured here (from left to right) are Natasha Costello, Professor David Austin (California Western School of Law and member of the GLS-15 Planning Committee), Louise Kulbicki, and Mark E. Wojcik (University of Illinois Chicago School of Law and founder of the Global Legal Skills Conference Series).

The next Global Legal Skills Conference will be held June 4-6, 2024 at the University of Bari in Southern Italy.

(mew)