Business English. A Robin Widdowson. MARKET. LEADER. Business Law.
Widdowson. Business Law. MARKET LEADER ...
Business Law
Business Law Business Law
Business Law is one of a range of new specialist titles designed for use on its own or with the Market Leader series. Ideal for students who need to learn the language of more specialised areas of business English, the book focuses on the reading skills and vocabulary development required for business law.
MARKET LEADER
MARKET LEADER
It includes: • authentic reading texts from the Financial Times© and other sources • a glossary of specialised language We recommend the Longman Business English Dictionary to accompany the course.
• two ‘Check Tests’ designed to help assess progress Other titles in this series include: • Accounting and Finance
MARKET LEADER
• Marketing • Human Resources
Business English
• Logistics Management
A Robin Widdowson
• Working Across Cultures For more information on the Market Leader series go to: www.market-leader.net Widdowson
B1-C1 www.pearsonlongman.com
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Contents Introduction to business law 1 Business and the law
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2 In-house lawyers
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3 Handling international disputes
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4 Different countries, different legal systems
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Operating globally 5 Bollywood needs lawyers!
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6 Practising diversity
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7 International mergers and acquisitions
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8 Cybercrime – a worldwide threat
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Business law challenges 9 Protecting intellectual property
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10 New ways of dealing with fraud
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11 The costs of pollution
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12 A safe workplace?
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Contracts in the business world 13 Contract law
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14 Terms and conditions: the language of contracts
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15 A case law report
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Business law and finance 16 How tax laws can create business
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17 Insider dealing
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18 Sharia law and international finance
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Check Tests
76
Answer key
80
Glossary
89
Useful websites
96
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unit
3
Handling international disputes This unit considers different ways of settling cross-border disputes between multinational companies. Instead of going to court, the companies can choose the arbitration process – a specially appointed person or panel decides how the matter should be resolved. before you read Discuss these questions. 1 A cross-borderdispute means a serious commercial disagreement between organisations based in different countries. What kind of disputes do you think are likely to affect multinationals? 2 W hat are the disadvantages of litigation between companies from different countries? Are there any advantages? 3 Why is arbitration sometimes thought to be better than going to court?
reading A
Understanding the main points Read the article on the opposite page and answer these questions. 1 Where does all the information about corporate lawyers’ preferences come from? 2 Is cost a main factor in preferring the arbitration process to litigation? 3 Do the majority of lawyers questioned prefer international arbitration or international litigation?
B
Understanding details Read the article again and answer these questions. 1 Name three key reasons for in-house general counsel to favour arbitration. 2 In which specific area are arbitration costs said to be at least the same as those for litigation? 3 How do lawyers feel about the idea of being able to appeal against arbitration decisions? 4 How does the article describe the general business environment at the time the report appears? 5 A re arbitration procedures becoming more common or less common? Provide some evidence to back up your answer. 6 Give details of the companies represented in the study. 7 Give details of the findings of the study. 8 What three reasons do lawyers give for avoiding litigation? 9 Are arbitration decisions always accepted without question? 10 Which reason was given as a cause for concern for both arbitration and litigation procedures?
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Unit 3 •• HAnDling internAtionAl Disputes
Arbitration preferred in cross-border disputes 45
E
50
55
60
F
by Nikki Tait A Three out of four top lawyers at multinational companies would prefer to settle cross-border commercial disputes by arbitration rather than litigation, 5 because of the unpredictability of decisions made by local courts. Key reasons put forward in favour of international arbitration include: more flexible procedures; the lack of publi10 city surrounding hearings; and the better chances of enforcing any awards made by an arbitration panel. B But many in-house general counsel say international arbitration is at least 15 as expensive as litigation, particularly for fairly small disputes. Most also reject the idea of introducing an appeal system for arbitration decisions – appeals could help to remove 20 some of the legal inconsistencies that
exist between individual judgments, but they would inevitably add time and cost to the process. C The findings are the result of a 25 study commissioned by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), with research done by Queen Mary’s School of International Arbitration at the University of London. The report comes 30 as more companies invest abroad, and the complexity of cross-border disputes multiplies. As a result, there has been visible growth in the use of arbitration and other ADR (alternative 35 dispute resolution) procedures – for example, the International Chamber of Commerce’s dispute resolution service has seen more than 500 requests for arbitration annually in recent years. 40 Many big law firms have also been increasing their capacity in this area. D The study itself centres on the
65
G 70
75
H
80
responses of more than 100 in-house general counsel at multinational corporations. About half of these were in Europe, 30 per cent in Asia, and 15 per cent in the Americas. Most had annual sales of at least $500m. According to the findings, 73 per cent of those questioned preferred to use international arbitration, either on its own or in conjunction with other dispute resolution mechanisms, such as mediation. By contrast, cross-border litigation was favoured by only 11 per cent. Gerry Lagerberg, PwC partner, said that this smaller group that still preferred litigation generally used very specialised courts – for example, patent courts – or operated mainly in countries with well-regarded court systems. The most commonly cited reason for the remainder to avoid litigation was ‘anxiety about litigating under a foreign law before a court far from home’ – although the cost and time involved and concern about lack of confidentiality were also mentioned. However, half the respondents also said cost was their main concern about arbitration. Surprisingly, two-thirds of the in-house lawyers believed this was more expensive than cross-border litigation, and another 23 per cent thought costs at least comparable. In spite of growing challenges to arbitration awards, 91 per cent of respondents rejected the idea of including an appeal mechanism in international arbitration, saying obtaining a final decision was more important.
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Unit 3 •• HAnDling internAtionAl Disputes
vocabulary A
Understanding expressions Choose the best explanation for each of these words and phrases from the text. 1 ‘… to settle cross-border commercial disputes ...’ (lines 2–3)
a) argue your position in a dispute b) agree a solution to the dispute
2 ‘… the lack of publicity surrounding hearings …’ (lines 9–10)
a) court cases b) judges’ decisions
3 ‘… between individual judgments …’ (line 21)
a) court cases b) judges’ decisions
4 ‘ … other ADR (alternativedisputeresolution) procedures …’ (lines 34–35)
a) different kinds of dispute can be heard in a law court b) disputes are settled by an independent person or body, instead of in a law court
5 ‘… for example, patentcourts …’ (lines 59–60)
a) courts dealing with rights relating to inventions b) courts dealing with rights relating to trademarks
6 ‘… mainly in countries with well-regardedcourtsystems.’ (lines 60–61)
a) famous court systems b) court systems which are thought to be good
7 ‘The mostcommonlycited reason for …’ (lines 62–63)
a) criticised most frequently b) mentioned most often
8 ‘… litigating under a foreign law …’ (lines 64–65)
a) bringing or defending a lawsuit b) enforcing legal regulations
9 ‘… rejected the idea of including anappealmechanism …’ (lines 78–79)
a) an automatic appeal system b) a system allowing appeals
10 ‘… obtaining afinaldecision …’ (lines 80–81)
B
a) an official decision that can be appealed against b) an official decision with no appeal allowed
Word partnerships Match the verbs (1–5) with the nouns (a–e) to form common word partnerships often found in business law. Some verbs can be matched to more than one noun. 1 to settle
a) costs
2 to enforce
b) a case
3 to reject
c) a dispute
4 to add
d) a law
5 to cite
e) an argument
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Unit 3 •• HAnDling internAtionAl Disputes
C
A
Sentence completions Use the word partnerships from Exercise B to complete these sentences. 1 It is often advisable to
B
instead of taking another company to court.
2 The lawyer advised that obtaining a technical report was unnecessary, and would simply 3 The judge
the
4 In court, counsel
C D
.
put forward by the defence counsel, saying there was no clear evidence.
5 That new speeding
D E
supporting his view that the transaction was not fraudulent.
will not be effective if it is not
!
Word families Use the words below the text to form one word that fits in each numbered gap.
D
Alternative dispute resolution in the context of electronic commerce
F 5
10
E-commerce makes it possible 1 for consumers to transact with companies or other individuals without regard to geographic location, but it also raises the question of how 2 disputes will be , especially when the buyer and seller are physically distant. While the buying public are
by the laws generally of their jurisdictions, and commercial sellers are also 4 subject to legal in the countries in which they are located, cost and other factors 5 may make it difficult for to obtain a satisfactory solution in cross-border disputes. Alternative dispute resolution 3
15
20
1 transaction
5 consumption
2 resolution
6 representative
3 protective
7 retention
25
(ADR) can be very helpful to both parties in electronic transactions, especially in cross-border complaints. At the same time, consumers and 6 those who their interests 7 must the right to use the courts of the consumers’ countries if necessary.
4 oversee
e
Prepositions Complete these sentences using the correct prepositions, then check your answers in the text in Exercise D. 1 It is possible
consumers to do business more easily. (lines 1–2)
2 Companies can transact
other companies. (lines 2–3)
3 Individuals are protected
the laws of their own countries. (line 11)
4 Sales of goods are made subject 5 ADR can be helpful 6 He still has the right
many legal requirements. (line 14)
all parties involved. (line 21) take another person to court. (line 27)
over to you 1 Take notes of the key fi ndings from the article, so you can give a short presentation about the PwC study. 2 D o some research to fi nd out about different kinds of ADR, then write a report (about 300 words) summarising the topic.
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