The Founder Of Learn Legal English

Judith Milliken Q.C. is third generation in the legal profession. She practised for 26 years before founding this school.

Initially a partner in a small firm, practising commercial law, Judith joined government to gain court experience. After she was successfully named a major crime prosecutor for Vancouver, Judith joined Criminal Justice Headquarters for the province. One of her many duties was responsibility for all French language prosecutions in the province.

Judith studied civil law as part of an exchange program with Quebec, a French speaking province of Canada which uses the civil law system for private law. She learned legal French doing trial work in that province and has conducted many jury trials both in French and in English.

Judith has learned both French and Spanish as an adult by immersion in these languages and cultures. She has attended language school in Mexico on several occasions and spent weeks in both Italy and Portugal speaking their native languages.

Judith is a person who loves both to teach and to learn. She was responsible for many training initiatives in the justice system. She was very involved in bar politics for several years and is married to a trial lawyer. As a result she has many friends in all areas of practice!

In 1999 Judith received the honourary designation of Queen's Counsel, a recognition that she is "learned in the law".

Apart from the law, Judith's real loves are people, teaching, learning, languages & travel. Following a desire to combine these interests, Judith completed her Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) from Cambridge University, England and founded this school.

With this background in mind, Judith has organized the school from the perspective foreign language student. She knows from personal experience what makes an excellent learning opportunity!

Judith is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association and the International Bar Association.

Creator and Instructor Legal English for International Commercial Transactions

Barbara J. Beveridge, B.A., LL.B., CTEFLA, LL.M.
Legal English Consultant

Barbara is a lawyer and a teacher. She practised corporate/commercial law with Farris Vaughan, Wills & Murphy, a well respected Vancouver law firm. Her practice focused largely on corporate mergers & acquisitions.

In 1991 Barbara decided to travel the world. She stayed for four years in Turkey where she completed her CTEFLA certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults) from Cambridge University, England. Combining her legal expertise with her newly acquired skills in teaching English, she developed a sophisticated course in Legal English for International Commercial Transactions which she taught to lawyers in Istanbul. This course proved very valuable as her former students have gone on to great success in their chosen fields of international practice.

In 1996 Barbara returned to Vancouver and completed her Master of Laws degree at the University of British Columbia. Her Master's thesis examined how culture, law and language are all barriers to effective cross-cultural legal communication.

Since completing her Master of Laws degree Barbara has attended several international conferences to present papers on the difficulties in using Legal English in international contracts.

Barbara is a member of the International Bar Association. She is currently working as a consultant in a busy commercial practice. In addition, she teaches both in Canada and internationally (China & Finland): recent courses include International Business Law, Intellectual Property & Legal Drafting. In addition to mounting her Legal English course online, Barbara is currently writing a dictionary of Legal English for International Commercial Transactions.

Barbara is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association and the International Bar Association.