Legal English collocations with ‘from’

In this lesson, I explain ten expressions in which a word is followed by from. In many of them, from shows separation, exclusion, restriction or removal.

How is “from” used in these expressions?

Often in Legal English, the preposition from can show that a person or thing is kept away, excluded, freed or separated from something else. Learn the complete expression, not only the main verb. For example, learn prohibit someone from doing something.

Ten useful collocations

Collocation	Meaning	Example
prohibit someone from doing something	formally forbid an action	The contract prohibits you from working for a competitor.
ban someone from doing something	completely prevent a person from doing something, often as a penalty	He was banned from practising law because of misconduct.
refrain from doing something	choose not to do something	The defendant was ordered to refrain from making disruptive comments.
prevent someone from doing something	stop someone from doing something	The long meeting prevented me from replying sooner.
derogate from a rule or obligation	depart from, or reduce the effect of, a legal rule	In exceptional circumstances, a state may derogate from certain obligations.
hide something from someone	keep something where another person cannot see or discover it	The client tried to hide his disappointment from me.
conceal something from someone	deliberately keep information or property secret	The executives concealed financial irregularities from the regulators.
exclude someone or something from something	prevent entry or participation	The conduct excluded competitors from the market.
free from something	without a defect, restriction or encumbrance	The goods must be free from defects.
release someone from something	free a person from an obligation, duty or imprisonment	The guarantor was released from its obligations.

Grammar patterns to remember

• from + verb (-ing): The order prevents the company from selling the asset.
• from + person: He concealed the assets from his creditors.
• free from + noun: The property is free from liens.

Quiz

Word bank: banned · concealed · derogate · excluded · free · hidden · prevented · prohibited · refrain · released

1. The documents were _____ from the authorities.
2. Bad weather _____ the shipment from arriving on time.
3. The debtor _____ assets from creditors.
4. I felt _____ from the conversation.
5. The property is _____ from tax liens.
6. The guarantor was _____ from its obligations.
7. Companies are _____ from using the chemical in food packaging.
8. Please _____ from discussing sensitive information.
9. The terms may not _____ from statutory protections.
10. The law _____ companies from collecting the data without consent.

Show the answers

1. hidden
2. prevented
3. concealed
4. excluded
5. free
6. released
7. banned
8. refrain
9. derogate
10. prohibits

Try writing one sentence of your own for each collocation. This will help you remember the correct preposition and grammar pattern. You can write it in the comments! 🤓

🥇 Ways to learn Legal English

• Book Legal English training with Louise.
• Study independently with the Study Legal English courses.
• Read Louise Kulbicki and Natasha Costello’s book, Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers.
• Watch more lessons on the Study Legal English YouTube channel.
• Join the Study Legal English newsletter.
• Connect with Louise on LinkedIn.

Affiliate disclosure: Some book links are Amazon affiliate links. Study Legal English may earn a commission from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Legal information changes and develops, so please note that information may have become out of date. For content which is updated regularly, check out my courses.