Language in the Judicial Process

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxix

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2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. The Study of Language in the Judicial Process

      • Judith N. Levi

      Pages 3-35

3. Analyzing Language in Legal Settings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37

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   2. Strategies in the Contest between Lawyer and Witness in Cross-Examination

      • Paul Drew

      Pages 39-64

   3. Narratives and Narrative Structure in Plea Bargaining

      • Douglas W. Maynard

      Pages 65-95

   4. Litigant Satisfaction Versus Legal Adequacy in Small Claims Court Narratives

      • William M. O’barr, John M. Conley

      Pages 97-131

   5. Legal Realism in Lawyer-Client Communication

      • Austin Sarat, William L. F. Felstiner

      Pages 133-151

4. Transforming Language in Legal Proceedings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

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   2. Bilingual Court Proceedings

      • Susan Berk-Seligson

      Pages 155-201

   3. Language at Work in the Law

      • Anne Graffam Walker

      Pages 203-244

5. Construing Language for Legal Purposes

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 245-245

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   2. Linguistic Analysis of Conversation as Evidence Regarding the Interpretation of Speech Events

      • Georgia M. Green

      Pages 247-277

   3. On the Use of Social Conversation as Evidence in a Court of Law

      • Ellen F. Prince

      Pages 279-289

   4. Language and Cognition in Products Liability

      • Michael G. Johnson

      Pages 291-308

   5. Adequacy of Cigarette Package Warnings

      • Bethany K. Dumas

      Pages 309-352

   6. Epilogue

      • Anne Graffam Walker

      Pages 353-357

6. Back Matter

   Pages 359-373

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Legal realism is a powerful jurisprudential tradition which urges attention to sodal conditions and predicts their influence in the legal process. The rela­ tively recent "sodal sdence in the law" phenomenon, in which sodal research is increasingly relied on to dedde court cases is a direct result of realistic jurisprudence, which accords much significance in law to empirical reports about sodal behavior. The empirical research used by courts has not, how­ ever, commonly dealt with language as an influential variable. This volume of essays, coedited by Judith N. Levi and Anne Graffam Walker, will likely change that situation. Language in the Judicial Process is a superb collection of original work which fits weIl into the realist tradition, and by focusing on language as a key variable, it establishes a new and provocative perspective on the legal process. The perspective it offers, and the data it presents, make this volume a valuable source of information both for judges and lawyers, who may be chiefly concemed with practice, and for legal scholars and sodal sdentists who do basic research about law.

• basic research
• essay
• language
• realism
• tradition
• literary diction

• Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

  Judith N. Levi

• Forensic Linguistics Associates, Falls Church, USA

  Anne Graffam Walker

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