Summer Blog Post 2: Language and Law

As language and literature students we are taught to understand humans, the manner in which they communicate and why they communicate that way. We often take this for granted.

This summer I embarked on a journey; seven hours on a plane and another two by train, soon enough I arrived to Oxford city. I spent two weeks learning about British law and building myself as a law school candidate. All of my peers were intellectual individuals; all of whom had confidence, public speaking abilities and charisma. I needed to prove myself an outstanding law school candidate, yet struggled to find a way to do so. As the course went on, I found that my language abilities had enabled me to excel. I was provided with many cases, in which my understanding of language, the use of language and my interpretation of the use of language was what caused me to win.

When provided with a case the lawyer that can understand it best is bound to be on the victorious side. Additionally, it is unlawful for lawyers to speak to their witnesses before court or prepare them. Thus, lawyers must be eloquent enough to ask the right questions to lead their witnesses to say the right things. Furthermore, lawyers must be able to use their opponent’s witness’ words against them, as this is the most powerful way to deem a witness unreliable. The best lawyers can bend the law; interpret ambiguous laws in a manner that would positively impact their case. Lawyers must understand the choice of diction, the connotations, the denotations, the meanings behind what is said, and even the meanings behind what is not said. Lawyers must understand the power of language in order to feed off this power. 

 Language and law are intertwined in ways I had never imagined before. Language is the essence of the academic study of law and language is the key to becoming the best in the field.