For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

English Law Basics

A family company from Porto has its first English dispute: an ice-cream chain refuses to pay for machines that failed. You act for the seller.

How English law works in practice, taught through one dispute a London firm answers for a client abroad.

The back wall of one of Marrowby's ice-cream parlours in the eighth week, drawn straight on like an architect's elevation: the counter runs out of the picture on both sides. On the counter stands one of Frescalva's batch freezers, large, its lid up and its drip tray pulled out and lying beside it. From the counter's edge the thawed mix has dripped down the front into a bucket on the floor. On the wall hang a blank menu board and a rail of cone holders, every one empty but the first, where a single cone stands; the ring of that cone is drawn in copper, the sale still waiting. On the counter a jar of scoops, every scoop clean. To the right, a stool. No one is in the picture.

You will be able to:

  • Find and read an Act and a judgment, and cite them properly
  • Follow a contract dispute from whose terms apply to what each side can claim
  • Know what you still need to learn, and where

10 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 3 hours in all · published 28 October 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

Where the law comes from

Module 2

Contract

Module 3

Beside contract

Module 4

The courts

One case runs through every chapter: an ice-cream machine maker from Porto meets its first English dispute. Read the full Advice File →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book