See http://ec.hku.hk/lawvocab/ for sample legal usage presentations
Example 1: Presenting a legal-academic term
Sample annotated 6-slide Student PowerPoint
Presentation
of a legal term selected for research
in the Legal Vocabulary database and Concordancer
April, 2006
- This offers a basic idea of what students should aim at
Legal English Usage Research:
- pruden* -
Prudent
Meaning:
Example:
(adjective)
Open with a “profile” of the target
term, use an authentic case example &
cite the case name – as below….
careful, cautious, sensible
“RBC were under no obligation to
adopt a higher standard of care than
that appropriate to the reasonably
prudent parent and, on the facts,
were not in breach of their duty.”
(Simkiss v Rhondda BC)
Noun form:
Prudence
Adverb form: Prudently
Antonym:
Imprudent
i.e. opposite
….….etc.
First, find out WHO is usually required to “be prudent” [adj. + noun]
Word after collocations: man, employer, owner
• The test is what precautions would the ordinary,
reasonable and prudent man take?
– Paris v Stepney Borough
• it is often impossible to adduce evidence of what care
an ordinarily prudent employer would take – Paris v
Stepney Borough
• The ordinarily prudent owner of a dog does not keep
his dog always on a lead on a country highway for
fear it may cause injury to a passing motor cyclist –
Bolton v Stone
The “frequency” tells us
which forms are more
common & so useful to learn
Word before collocations:
- show how prudent collocates in tort
• an ordinarily prudent person
[9 matches]
vs
• the ordinary prudent person
[5 matches]
Similarly…
• a reasonably prudent person
• a reasonable prudent man
[3 matches]
[3 matches]
but notice….
• a reasonable and prudent man
[10 matches]
- so “reasonable” ≠ “prudent”,
& these are more commonly found in combination
Perhaps show how your got the “10
matches”
Standard of care + prudent man/employer
“would” – for both principle & application
Principle: from Paris v Stepney Borough (1951)
• The standard of care which the law demands is the
care which an ordinarily prudent employer would take
in all the circumstances
– Paris v Stepney Borough
Application: from Paris v Stepney Borough (1951)
• In the present case the question is whether an
ordinarily prudent employer would supply goggles to
a one-eyed workman whose job was to knock bolts
out of a chassis with a steel hammer while… etc
Prudence & other
forms
Offering the noun form adds
nothing - it’s less common &
the meaning does not emerge
from the examples
Contributory Negligence:
• As in England so in Hong Kong a man of ordinary
prudence travelling in a motor car would take the
precaution of wearing a seat-belt where one is
available – Ho Wing Cheung
• Are we prepared to say that a man of ordinary
prudence in Hong Kong would act differently, in
relation to the wearing of seat belts, to his counterpart
in England? – Ho Wing Cheung