At the time of increasing globalization and international integration, specialists in various professional spheres face new challenges of modern society which relate to the introduction of new technologies, the search for modern approaches to solving professional problems, as well as the urgent need for an eff ective exchange of professional information with colleagues from foreign countries. Therefore, it is very important for a professional to speak English fl uently and be able to use the language in a professional context. The analysis of pedagogical research, as well as the study of the students’ needs allows us to conclude that it is necessary to use modern approaches of teaching a foreign language, taking into account students’ future profession. This paper discusses the experience of teaching ESP in a non-linguistic university based on the course for law students prepared by the professors of Petrozavodsk State University. The communicative and personality-oriented approaches fundamentally form the basis for this course. It contains texts and exercises connected with students’ future profession. It enables teachers to successfully involve students in collaborative activities in foreign language classes, which makes it possible to increase their motivation for the subject, and also contributes to universal and professional competencies development necessary for the successful work of a competitive lawyer.