IntroductiontoForensicLinguistics

EdFinegan&KeithWaltersLSASummerInstituteUniversityofKentucky

July2017

CourseDescription

By examining actual litigated cases involving interpretation (notably defamation), trademark (infringement

and genericide), and authorship, this course will help prepare you to do several things essential to being a

reputable forensic linguist:

• deal with attorneys seeking your assistance on behalf of a client

• assess your potential role as an expert

• write competent reports and declarations

• conduct yourself honorably under the gun at deposition and trial.

This is a hands-on class, critically assessing cases involving prominent Hollywood figures, famous brand

names, and highly contested authorship attribution disputes. We focus on testimony by linguistic experts

on one or both sides of a litigation. Testimony will be critically assessed by teams of students, who will

enact mock interviews with attorneys, mock expert reports, and mock depositions. This course aims to

come as close as feasible to a real-life forensic linguistics experience.

In what ways can an expert linguist serve

the interests of the legal system and of litigants?

“Thelawnolongerreturnsfugitiveslaves,treatswomenasthepropertyoftheirhusbands,orexcludesAfricanAmericancitizensfromjuries.

If[now]thelawisfailingtoliveuptoitsideals,thefailuremustlieinthedetailsofeverydaylegalpractice—detailsthatconsistalmostentirelyoflanguage.”(ConleyandO’Barr)

AreLegalIdealsUndercutin OurDiscourse?

IntheBeginningIn1968,JanSvartvik “demonstratedthatdisputedandincriminatingpartsofaseriesoffourstatements…madetopoliceofficersbyTimothyEvansaboutthedeathsofhiswifeandbabydaughter,hadagrammaticalstylemeasurablydifferentfromthatofuncontestedpartsofthestatementsandthusanewareaofforensicexpertisewasborn.”

Coulthard andJohnson,2007:5

LinguisticsThestudyofthestructureanduseoflanguage,includingsoundsandsoundsystems,wordsandwordsystems,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,discourse,languagevariation...

ForensicLinguisticsTheuseofscientific(orsystematic)methodsandtechnologytoinvestigateandestablishfactsincourtsoflaworinmattersrelatingtolaw.(Issuesofvalidityandreliability.)

Sometasksaskedoflinguists

• Contractinterpretation—whatistheinternalandcontextualevidenceforoneinterpretationoveranother?

• Wordinterpretation—whatisthemeaningofawordinaparticularcontext—forexample,whenitsmeaninghasbeenevolvingaswith“sex”and“gender”?

• Readabilityassessments—givenitslinguisticcharacter,couldanordinaryreaderhaveunderstoodaninsurancepolicy,mortgageagreement,liabilitywaiver?

• Advertisingclaims—intheirbroadcontexthowwouldanordinaryreaderlikelyinterpretwordsinadvertisements—andhowmightpictorialrepresentationsaffectaninterpretation?

• Voiceidentification—isthatvoicethesameashersorhis—ornot—orcan’tadefinitedeterminationbemade?

• Trademarklegitimacy—descriptive,generic?

• Trademarkinfringement—doesonemark(SoSexy!)infringeanother(SexyHair)becauselikelihoodofconfusion?

• Authorshipattribution—whowrotethat?

• Speechactidentification—whatdoparticularwords(text)say,and—incontext—whatdotheydo?

Werethespeakersconspiring?Didsheconfess?Doesthatconstituteanapology,anaccusation,athreat,a

retraction?

Advice to Experts

• Remember:attorneystellyouonlywhattheywantyoutoknowand—perhaps—whatyouinquireafter.

• Whatattorneystellyouinevitablyframesyourperceptionofthecase—sotakepositivestepstoimaginetheothersideofthestory,whattheopposingexpertmayhavebeentold,howshe’dviewit,etc.

• Neverjudgealitigatedcasebasedonthelimitedknowledgeprovidedtheexpertbytheretainingattorney.

Advice to Experts

• Recognizeandacknowledgethenarrowlimitsofyourexpertiseinthepatchworkoflegalissuesatcontest.

• Ensurethatyouunderstandexactlywhatquestionsyouarebeingaskedtoaddress.

• Ensurethattheretainingattorneyunderstandswhatinformationyouneedtoknowandwhatdocumentationyouneedtohaveinordertoopineonamatter.

Advice to Experts

• Keepcarefulrecordsofdocumentsconsultedandhowyourtimeisspent.

• Considerkeepingarecord(perhapspdfs)of“soft”searches.

• Askquestionswhenneededbutbemindfulthatinsomejurisdictionsconversationsmaynotbeprivileged.

Advice to Lawyers

Understandinapracticalwaythat,whileyourjobistowinforyourclient,thelinguisticsexpertwilllikelyseethingsinamorenuancedway.Becausetheydealwithlanguageandbecausethenatureoflanguageisnotrigidandnotfullyunderstood,mostlinguisticopinionswillnecessarilybe“softer”than,say,DNAevidence.

Advice to Lawyers

Beexplicitaboutthequestionsyouareaskingtheexperttoaddressorworkwiththeexperttodefinethequestions.Besuretoexplainthelegalissuesclearlysoastofocusthelinguist’sattentiononthecriticalpoints.

Advice to Lawyers & Experts

Inhisconclusions,Beatz’s expertaddressesissuesofprice,impulsebuying,andcostdisparitybetweenproductsmarketedbyBeatsElectronicsandMerkuryInnovations.CounselhasgivenmetounderstandthatthesearenotrelevanttotheissueherebeforetheTrademarkTrialandAppealBoard,andIdonotaddresstheminthisrebuttal.

Communication between lawyers & experts

• Initial contact & presentation of case• Inquiry as to possible conflict of interest?• Document exchange & agreement• Expert offers preliminary assessment• Retainer agreement (whose?)• Report or declaration drafted• Discussion & refinement (sensitive)• Final report or declaration• Deposition (often)• Trial (seldom)

PremisesforaForensicLinguist• FLrequiresattentiontocontext(co-text,worldknowledge,multi-modalrepresentation).• Advocatestelllinguistsonlyselectedfactsaboutacase.• Expertopinionsaddressonlynarrowquestions--notbasicquestionsofdisputeresolution(orjustice!),whicharetheprerogativeofthefinderoffact.• Expertsserveasconsultants,notadvocates.• Courts,juries,litigantsdecideoutcomes—notlinguistic(orother)experts.

PremisesforaForensicLinguist• Justoutcomesdon’tfallwithinanexpert’spurview.• Bothdraftingandrebuttinganexpertreportcanadvancemethodsofanalysis,thestatusofthefield,and—mostimportantly—justice byhelpingtriersoffactunderstandhowlanguageworksgenerallyandinparticularcases.• Rebuttalopinionshelpminimizeeffectsofframingbyadvocatesandshouldnotbecraftedaspersonalattacksonopposingexperts.(Remember:theirframelikelydiffersfromyours.)• Wiseandhelpfulstrategy:imaginealinguistretainedtorebutyouranalysis:anticipatethecritique.

NewYorker,July23,2012

RogerShuy believesthatforensiclinguisticscandoforlanguagecrimes,suchasbribery,blackmail,andextortion,whatDNAhasdoneforviolentcrimes:itcouldofferacounterweighttothemanyold-schoolmethods,likelineupsandunrecordedpoliceinterrogationsthatareheavilyreliedupondespitetheirseriousflaws.

“Iwon’tclaimthatwehaveanythingremotelylikeDNAinthiswork,”Shuy said,“butweareawholelotbetterthanalotofthecrazyschemesthatcopsarebeingtaught.”

Neverletyoursenseofmoralsgetinthewayofdoingwhat'sright.

IsaacAsimov