Learn Legal English Terms To Understand Law TV Series

You know when adults ask kids what they would like to be when they grow up? Well, I knew exactly the answer to this question.

As a child, I used to say I would to go to Law School and then become a diplomat. It turned out, I did neither of those things, but I have an unexplained passion for Law TV series.

For the last couple of months, I've been watching a TV series called The Good Wife and I can't get enough of it. Each episode is better than the previous one.

Knowing English is not enough to understand everything being said in this series, there are many legal terms you absolutely must know in order to be able to comprehend every detail of all the complicated cases they have to solve, so  I thought it would be useful to create a guide of legal English terms to understand law TV series or if you intend to go to law school in an English speaking country.


Legal English Terms Guide

• to sue -  to take legal action against a person or organization, especially by making a legal claim for money because of some harm that they have caused you.
• counselor -  used to address a lawyer:
• prosecutor - a legal official who accuses someone of committing a crime, especially in a law court
• Your Honor - the way to address or refer to a judge
• objection -  an objection to certain questions or testimony during a trial 
• overrule -  to reject an attorney's objection to a question to a witness
• sustain - to accept an attorney's objection to a question to a witness
• affidavit - a written statement that someone makes after promising officially, to tell the truth. An affidavit can be used as proof in a law court.
• alimony - a regular amount of money that a law court orders a person to pay to his or her partner after a divorce.
• defendant - a person in a law case who is accused of having done something illegal
• witness - a person who sees an event happening, especially a crime or an accident:
• leading the witness - asking a question during a trial or deposition which puts words in the mouth of the witness or suggests the answer, which is improper questioning

To keep things real, I created a video with 7 scenes in which legal English terms are used in films, series or the news. Hope you like it!