Linguistics expert: Forensic linguist
Language and Law

    As attorneys know, language is more complicated than it seems at first glance. The exact meaning of a word, for example, can’t be determined just by looking it up in a dictionary. For that matter, which dictionary? Nowadays there are many, both in print and online, and for English there is no language academy conferring official status on any of them. Equally important, what is the context? What is the topic, and what are the grammatical relations of the word to its neighbors in the sentence or paragraph? An expert forensic linguist can be helpful in such matters.
   Over the years I have served as consultant and expert witness for attorneys and law enforcement agencies on matters including:


Trademark and copyright

—Copyright infringement of the phrase “Chicago’s Got It”
—Trademark violation involving “Ultra” in Michelob Ultra
—Cybersquatting, whether “Casares.com” infringes on “Caesar’s Palace”
—Trademark of phrase “Peace Through Strength”
—Generic use of “google”

  Contract language

—Grammar of contract between a corporation and its franchisees
—Readability of debt collection letters
—Readability and interpretation of an insurance contract
—Interpretation of a consumer installment contract
   
  Vocabulary

—Meaning of “actual market value” in 1916
—Definition of “Chicago” to include suburbs
—Connotations of “honky”
   
  Document authorship

—Authorship of incriminating or disparaging memos
—Identification of anonymous author of threatening notes
   
  Libel

—Potentially libelous statements in a newspaper editorial

 Voice and dialect identification

—Comparison of voice in a phone call with voice of a suspect
—Identification of dialect in voice recording of caller

   Plagiarism

—Is a particular document plagiarized? Software like Turnitin doesn't always get it right.