Listening 5_____A Consultation

1. Key Terms of the Unit
Study the terms and match them with their definitions:
1. claim, n	a. a legal document that explains what you want to happen to your money and possessions after you die. This is often more formally called a testament
2. inheritance, n	b. a legal agreement between two people
3. venture, n	c. extra money or other advantages that you get in addition to your salary from your employer as part of your job
4. covenant, n	d. a new business or activity
5. benefits, n	e. property or money that you receive from someone when they die
6. insurance, n	f. a. a planned piece of work that has a particular aim, especially one that is organized by a government, company, or other organization
7. capitalize, v	g. money that is paid to a worker who is forced to leave a company because they are no longer needed
8. severance package, n	h. to use an event or a situation to help you to achieve something or to get an advantage
9. salary, n	i. to state formally that you disagree with something or think it is wrong
10. promotion, n	j. to try to persuade someone to leave their job and go to work for another company
11. credit, n	k. an official request for money that you believe you have a right to
12. contest, v	l. money that an insurance company agrees to pay you if something that you own is damaged, lost, or stolen, or if you die or are ill or injured
13. will, n	m. a fixed amount of money that you earn each month or year from your job
14. post, n	n. a move to a higher level in a company, institution, or sport
15. head-hunt, v	o. a job, especially one with a lot of responsibility
16. project, n	p. an amount of money that you have a right to

4. Listen once more and fill in the gaps with the words you hear:

Lawyer: Good morning. I’m Malcolm Travis.

Anna: Good morning. Anna Krupa.

Lawyer: Pleased to ________ you. First of all, I have to _____ you, has the firm acted on your behalf in any other _____?

Anna: Not exactly. My husband was a ________ of your firm some years ago. He ________ in the insurance sector, but it wasn’t a commercial matter – his siblings were contesting the contents of their ________’s will – so it’s of no relevance to what we’re dealing with ______. But he was happy with the ______, so that’s why I’m here.

Lawyer: And I understand you’re interested in setting up your own ____________?

Anna: That’s right. It’s time to capitalise on my experience and ___________. I’ve been lucky; soon after graduating, I got work with an innovative ____________ company and was involved in a highly ____________ project. Then I was head-hunted by a larger company, where I stayed for ___ years. That was my last _____ I got quite a generous severance package from them, which I’ve put to good use. I’ve taken ______ out to develop some research _________ of my own, free from the pressure of having to look for another ___________.

Lawyer: Why did you leave _____, may I ask?

Anna: Well I had some minor differences with _______ line manager. You know, little _______ like I wanted to upgrade the medical insurance plan that was part of the _________ package, and they refused to ___________. But although _____ was a combination of factors, the main trigger was getting passed _________ for a promotion. That’s when I decided that I’d rather work for _________ – so I quit. It was quite amicable, but I’m still a little bitter about ________ getting the ________ I felt I deserved.

Lawyer: And do you have a copy of the employment agreement? The reason I ask is because often they contain a restrictive covenant.

Anna: I ___ remember that there was something that prevented ___ from taking their customers, but I don’t think it said anything about not competing with them in a more general sense – you ______ geographical location, confidentiality, those sorts of ______. In any ______, if memory serves me correctly, it was only operative for one ______ after leaving and that’s passed now – but I’ll check it out. I’ve still got the agreement somewhere – would you take a look at it for ____ to make certain?

Lawyer: Absolutely, I would need to. So what are your priorities at the moment?

Anna: Well, I’ve come up with what is basically a new kind of software package – an invention if you like. I’ve already applied for a patent, so that’s all in hand, but I need to be thinking about a _______ plan before I approach the bank for a loan to cover the start-up costs. You know, I’ll have to conduct live _______, think about business premises, even ________ eventually. But I want to keep my overheads down, so I’m looking for ways of doing that which allow me to ____________ any investment I make. Could you __________ me on such things?

Lawyer: Indeed we could. Let’s talk about the business plan first.

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