Forum on Language and the Law

The Forum on Language and the Law was an annual symposium hosted by the Department of Linguistics at the University of Utah, with support from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the College of Humanities, and the Tanner Humanities Center.

The theme for the 2021 Forum on Language and the Law was legal interpretation, and this included an emphasis on corpus linguistic methods for determining original and ordinary meaning in statutes, contracts, trademark agreements, the Constitution, and other important documents. The speakers at the 2021 Forum included two linguists, a law professor, and a Utah Supreme Court Justice. The first linguist, Jesse Egbert (Northern Arizona University), offered insights into best practices in corpus-based linguistic research dealing with questions of original and ordinary meaning. The law professor, Lawrence Solum (Georgetown University), discussed original and ordinary meaning from a legal perspective, focusing particularly on constitutional law. The second linguist, Tammy Gales (Hofstra University), highlighted linguistic principles and methods while emphasizing her work on statutory interpretation in trademark cases. Finally, Associate Chief Justice Tom Lee (Utah Supreme Court) discussed the empirical methods he has used and advocated for when dealing with questions of legal interpretation.

The information and methods presented in this symposium aimed to help lawyers, linguists, and judges improve their abilities to analyze and evaluate linguistic evidence related to legal interpretation in multiple domains of civil and criminal law.

Read an Article About the Forum in Perspectives