六个单词

近来我经常在休息时间看一部法律美剧《傲骨贤妻》(The Good Wife),由于里面经常出现一些“专业”术语,所以我在这里列举三个——当然远远不止三个。

attorney: noun; a person legally appointed or empowered to act for another.

solicitor: noun; a lawyer who advises clients on matters of law, draws up legal documents, prepares cases for barristers, etc, and who may represent clients in certain courts.

counsel: noun; a lawyer, esp one who conducts cases in court.

当然还有我们最熟悉的 lawyer ,当然这个单词没有什么特殊,只要是受过法律方面的专业训练的都可以被称为 lawyer 。然而律师下面再分的话又分为出庭律师和事务律师,即 attorney 和 solicitor 。比如在TGW中, Alicia Florrick 的职业就是前者。

jury: noun; a group of, usually twelve, people sworn to deliver a true verdict according to the evidence upon a case presented in a court of law.

提到法律就不能不提陪审团,除了 Judge 和 Lawyer 以外,法院的另一部分就是 Jury 了。当然还有 Witness 。

======你能忽略我这条分割线吗?======

我昨晚还从网上下来了PDF版本的 Outliers ,就是提出一万小时定律的那人写的那本书。难度不算高,到现在我已经看了91页了,不过前面有17页没用的内容。其中有两个词我觉得挺有趣的。

elite: collective noun; the most powerful, rich, gifted, or educated members of a group, community, etc..

meritocracy: noun; rule by persons chosen not because of birth or wealth, but for their superior talents or intellect.

前者是一个集合名词,比如不能说 John Roberts is a legal elite. 应该是 John Roberts is a member of the legal elite. FYI, John Roberts 是美国最高法院的首席大法官。

以上单词的释义皆来自于 Collins Dict.

仅此而已。