Lesson_14

27th November

Unit 8 _ Litigation and Arbitration

Focus on language: How do you say that … in Italian?

• Disputing parties
• Litigation
• Settlement
• Hearing
• Pleading
• Out –of-court settlement
• Binding decision
• Legal fees
• To settle a dispute
• To reach a settlement
• To enforce/deliver judgment
• To save money on
• To threaten to sue
• To face court proceedings/litigation costs
• To deny accusations
• To pursue a claim
• In connection with

Examples of disputes:• Dispute over people's behaviour may involve conflict between neighbours over anti-social behaviour (loud parties or verbal abuse)
• Business disputes can involve different interpretation of the terms of a contract, or questions over whether a contract has been breached, and what remedies/damages are appropriate.
• Planning disputes include situations where, for example, a property owner plans to construct a new building, or improve an existing building. (ie planning permissions)
• Environmental disputes include disputes over resources and questions over who has the right to exploit those resources, and at what cost to the environment. 

ADR: Alternative Dispute Resolution:

• negotiation: participation is voluntary and there is no third party who facilitates the resolution process or imposes a resolution
• arbitration:participation is typically voluntary, and there is a third party who, as a private judge, imposes a resolution. Arbitrations often occur because parties to contracts agree that any future dispute concerning the agreement will be resolved by arbitration.
• mediation:there is a third party, a mediator, who facilitates the resolution process (and may even suggest a resolution, typically known as a "mediator's proposal"), but does not impose a resolution on the parties

Article: Alternative dispute resolution in Italy 

European Commission: ADR in Italy 

Reading 2 letter of invitation pp 85-86 ex 7 - ref to ELSA (European Law Students' Association 

Grammar Practice:

• Present Continuous
• Will vs Going to 

Self Study

Listening 1 Question and answer session

pag 87 ex 10-12 peanut kernel case

Reading 3 Avoiding litigation page 88 ex 14-16
Reading 4 Cost of litigation page 89 ex 18-21

Lesson_13

25/11/2014

Vocabulary revision
Laguage Use: formal vs informal page 76 ex 9
Key terms Buying a real property page 77-79  ex 16-23
Vocabulary from Listening 2 


Reading 3: Draft tenancy agreement page 80 ex 25
Language focus page 82 ex 1-4

Self Study
Reading 1 Litigation and Arbitration pp 84-84 ex 2,3

Lesson_12

20th November

Real property law
pp. 72-73 ex 1-3
Instruments and people in real property law

Language use: Forming adjectives with negative prefixes pag. 74 ex 5,6
Reading 2: Real Property investment law ex 7, 9
Key terms 2: Buying real property ex 16

Language notes:
I termini "freehold" e “leasehold” sono entrambi termini di matrice feudale, che rappresentano due sistemi tipici per possedere una proprietà in UK .
Il primo possiamo renderlo con “proprietà fondiaria assoluta/libera” Chi acquista una “freehold” proprietà diventa “freeholder” e acquisisce il massimo dei poteri possibili su quell’immobile e senza alcun limite di tempo;

Rientrano nell'istituto di freehold:
• Fee simple = diritto assoluto sulla proprietà 
• fee tail = Il beneficiario ha un diritto limitato in quanto non può vendere il bene ma solo tramandarlo ai suoi eredi; la proprietà ha un vincolo inalienabile
• life estate = il bene è di proprietà del beneficiario solo per la durata della sua vita 
• Estate pur (pour) autre vie = simile al life estate ma il bene è di proprietà del beneficiario per la durata della vita di una terza persona. For example, if Bob is given use of the family house for as long as his mother lives, he has possession of the house pur autre vie

Leasehold, pur traducendosi con proprietà in affitto, si riferisce alla locazione del suolo. Il termine fa riferimento ad un rapporto giuridico in base al quale un soggetto detto lessor(locatore) conferisce al lessee (locatario) un diritto esclusivo di proprietà sull’immobile per un periodo di tempo determinato, di solito per una consideration detta ground rent . Deve essere sottolineato che il lease si differenzia profondamente dalla locazione così come intesa nei sistemi civilistici, soprattutto per il fatto che il titolare del lease è titolare di un diritto di natura reale sull’immobile, dove invece il locatario dei sistemi di civil law può vantare soltanto un diritto di credito nei confronti del locatore. Quando si acquista una proprietà con leasehold bisogna prestare attenzione alle covenants, ossia le obbligazioni alle quali il lessee è tenuto ad osservare, la cui presenza rappresenta una delle particolarità più difficile da accettare per chi è abituato al sistema civilistico.

- Dal Il sole 24 ore "A Londra la proprietà è del re"


Act of conveyance: (atto di cessione) transfer of title in land from one person to another

Goods and chattels: beni ed effetti
title interest: diritto nel titolo, interest in the real property
Lease/let/rent vb. They are used interchangeably – More common:
To lease/let property to somebody and rent property from somebody
Lease= n. the agreement
Rent= n. the money to be paid
inheritable = passed on to heirs

References
Buy to let investment 
Real Estate in Italypros & cons of leasehold


Statute of frauds
The statute of frauds del 1677 fu la prima legge nel sistema inglese a prevedere la forma scritta ad probationem, ossia la possibilità di far valere in giudizio un contratto che è e rimane valido di per sé. Successivamente il Law of Property Act 1925 ritenne obbligatoria la forma scritta ad probationem solo per i contratti aventi per oggetto la proprietà o altri diritti reali su beni terrieri e il Law Reform (Enforcement of Contracts) Act 1954 stabilì che detta forma fosse da ritenersi necessaria per i contratti di garanzia.[read more..]Traditionally, the statute of frauds requires a writing signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought in the following circumstances:
• Contracts in consideration of marriage. 
• Contracts which cannot be performed within one year. 
• Contracts for the transfer of an interest in land. Contracts by the executor of a will to pay a debt of the estate with their own money. 
• Contracts for the sale of goods above a certain value. 
• Contracts in which one party becomes a surety (garanzia acts as guarantor) for another party's debt or other obligation.

Law students often remember these circumstances by the mnemonic "MYLEGS" (marriage, year, land, executor, goods, surety). It is important to note that in the United States, each State; in Canada, each province; and in Australia each State has its own variation on the statute of frauds, which may differ significantly from the traditional list. 

Self Study

• Key terms: pp 77-79 ex 16-23  
• Preparare un glossario specifico per "real property law" ex: escrow (account/agreement) = deposito in garanzia
• Listening 2  page 78 ex 19-23

Lesson_11

18th November 

From Legalese to plain English

• Reading_3 Role of Commercial agents
• Reading_4 Commercial agency contract
• Language Focus page 71 

Self Study

Unit 7: Real property law
pp. 72-73 ex 1-3
Instruments and people in real property law

• lease= (contratto di locazione) o meglio diritto di godere di un immobile per un certo tempo.
• licence = licenza d'uso
• deed = atto (notarile)
• tenant
• landlord
• heir
• grantor = concessore
• grantee = beneficiario
• licencee

Lesson_10

Unit 6_ Reading 1_commercial law  pp. 60-61 - ex 2-4 

Language Use: Adverb  functions pp 62-63 ex 7-8

Bodies of Law that govern Trade and Commerce

• Istituto Commerciale Commercio Estero (ICE)

• Chamber of Commerce in Italy

• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

• World Trade Organization (WTO) + video (WTO)

Self Study

Listening 1: Profile of  a commercial lawyer page 62 ex 5-6

Text Analysis: Letter of application for an internship pp 63-64 ex 11-13

Lesson_9

• Reading_3: Breach of Companies Act 2006 pp54-55 ex 12-15
• Key terms_2: Public relations page 56 ex 20
• Text analysis: Reading a statute page 57 ex 21-23
• Language Focus pag 59 ex 1-3

Self-Study

•  Listening 2  Ref section 172 Company Act 2006

• Phrasal verbs

Extra exercises_company law  page 328 ex 2; page 330 ex 2; pp 333-334 ex 1,2;page 337 ex 1; pp 339-341 ex 1, 2 Toles foundation practice page 345 ex 1, 2

Lesson_8

Introduction to New Unit: Company law

• Reading 1 pp 50-51 ex 1-3

Partnership vs company

Limited partnership with shares= società in accomandita per azioni

Limited Partnership = società in accomandita semplice

General Partnerhip = Società in nome collettivo

Limited Share Company = Società per azioni

Limited Liability Company = Società a responsabilità limitata.

Public limited company vs state-owned company 

A  public limited company  is permitted to offer its shares to the general public. This could be also by way of the stock exchange although note that companies which are on a stock exchange are often referred to as either listed or quoted companies. 

A public company should also be distinguished from a private company which is not permitted to offer its shares to the general public, but both public and private companies operate in what is known as the private sector. 

A state-owned company is a company which is owned by the government for the benefit of the general public, but the difference there is that it operates in the public sector.

Setting up a company in the UK - how easy/difficult is it?

Company act 2006 è una completa codificazione della legge sulle società in Inghilterra e Galles 

• Reading_3: Breach of Companies Act 2006 pp54-55 ex 12-15
• Key terms_2: Public relations page 56 ex 20
• Text analysis: Reading a statute page 57 ex 21-23

Self Study

Listening 1 + Listening 2 suggested only

Language Focus pag 59 ex 1-3

EXTRA: If you like to investigate more the area of company law
A Review of Italian and UK. Company Law.  A joint study by. Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili.