Jane Ching explores the importance of language within legal education
It is a truism that the general public thinks lawyers have an occult power over language. It is seen as lying, or as hypocrisy, but nevertheless a powerful tool, available for hire. We might object to the first two descriptions but lawyers do have a powerful tool, and, consequently, an ethical obligation to use it and use it effectively.
David Bellos, in his entertaining book on translation (Is that a Fish in Your Ear? The Amazing Adventure of Translation, Particular Books) says that legal translators think the functions of legal language are to prescribe, describe and persuade. I would add that the job of the lawyer is, not only to prescribe, describe and persuade, both orally and in writing, but also, frequently, to translate. Lawyers “do things with rules” but, much more broadly, we do things with language. It is the object of study, the means of analysis and the key professional tool. If we get it wrong, we can ruin people’s
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