Legal+matters

Online legal dictionaries
[|Her Majesty's Courts Service: Glossary of Legal Terms (UK]) [|Glossary of legal terms (US)]

[|Common law][[image:scales_of_justice.jpg width="192" height="261" align="right" link="http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0813047.html"]]
This link to the infoplease.com website provides a brief introduction to Common law, and if you scroll down the page and click on [|Characteristic Features of Common Law] you can read more about what distinguishes this from Civil Law. Clicking on [|Development of Common Law] takes you to a very short history of Common law. You will also find a useful [|Bibliography] for further reading.

[|Civil law]
This link is also to the infoplease.com website and provides a short introduction to Civil law. By scrolling down the page and clicking on [|History] you can read more about how Civil Law developed, and the [|Bibliography] link will give you one or two useful tips for further reading.

[|What is a barrister?]
This interesting link to the website of the practising lawyer [|Robert D. Carrow] will give you some introductory information about the role of the barrister in the English legal system.

[|How to become a solicitor]
The link to the online-law.co.uk website provides a description of how solicitors qualify to practise law in the United Kingdom.

[|The solicitor's job]
In this link to linguarama.com you will find an online interactive reading and vocabulary activity on the topic of the work solicitors do.

[|Contracts: Key questions]
By following this link to law.freeadvice.com and clicking on [|General Contract Law Questions] you will find a series of key questions and answers about contracts. This online Q & A provides a good introduction to the some basic concepts and vocabulary relating to contract law.

[|Contracts: Definition, Classification, Elements & Enforcibility]
This page on the lawteacher.net website provides a quick overview of the main features of contracts

[|Types of business]
This page on the www.bized.co.uk site explains the key features of the different types of legal structure for a business. Click on [|Theories] in the side bar on the left and then click on [|Advantages and disadvantages of different business structures] to read about the factors involved in deciding upon a suitable structure for a company. To read a brief consideration of the issues that need to be considered when deciding to "go public" click on [|Public or private - which is best?] in the [|Theories] window.

[|Setting up a limited company]
The www.businesslink.gov.uk website has been set up by the UK government to provide support for small businesses. This link gives information for setting up a limited company. After reading the introduction, click on [|Registration documents and forms] in the side bar on the left. This provides an introduction to the main legal documents involved in setting up a limited company. Click on [|The company's officers] in the sidebar for information about the legal obligations of the people formally appointed to run a limited company. Clickiing on [|Types of limited company] (side bar on the left) will take you to introduction on the differences between private and public limited companies. Finally, if you click on [|Where to register your company and get help] in the side bar on the left, you will find details about the process of registering a limited company, the costs involved and where company founders can seek advice.