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FORENSIC LINGUISTICS: The application of the principles and methods
of linguistic analysis to the language of legal proceedings and documents.
Alan's
areas of forensic linguistic expertise:
Forensic Semantics:
Analysis of and expert opinion on the meaning of words, phrases, clauses,
paragraphs, etc., in legal, personal, and commercial communication
(e.g., contracts, wills, cases of copyright infringement or plagiarism),
whether paper, oral, or electronic.
Forensic Stylistics:
Analysis of the syntax, style, word choice, spelling, punctuation,
rhetorical strategies, and other features of anonymous, disputed,
or forged communications (paper, oral, or electronic); expert opinion
on authorship and/or characteristics of author.
We all leave
linguistic fingerprints on what we communicate. If they are there, Alan
will find them.
OVERVIEW - QUALIFICATIONS
- A professional
lifetime devoted to the analysis of language and the understanding
of stylistic nuance:
- Doctoral dissertation
(University of Chicago, 1973): an analysis of code-switching (i.e.,
variation in the speaking style of an individual).
- Undergraduate
and graduate studies of English syntax: with an in-depth understanding
of language structure enable Alan to (1) identify the vocabulary and
grammatical choices that characterize an individual writer's style
and (2) recognize errors that no native speaker would make and thus
determine whether a document has been written by a speaker of a foreign
language.
- Twelve years
of teaching English linguistics and composition have sensitized Alan
to (1) the correlation between a writer's level of education and his/her
deviations from Standard English and (2) the particular locutions
favored by individual writers.
- Twenty years
as a corporate speechwriter/ghostwriter: provided an even deeper understanding
of the nature and variation of individual style, as Alan analyzed
and replicated the natural speech of many different speakers - a challenging
task, because most of them came from the same general background,
and the differentiating elements were often few and subtle.
- Also wrote for
executives who had distinct and idiosyncratic speaking styles, e.g.,
Burroughs CEO (an economics PhD, former Treasury Secretary and German
immigrant); Philip Morris CEO (an Australian); Kraft Senior VP of
R&D (an Englishman).
- Examination
of thousands of student papers, corporate publications, and countless
other written documents has enabled Alan to offer expert opinion on
plagiarism and anonymous or disputed authorship by judging whether
particular words, phrases, or other linguistic elements could occur
by chance in two separate documents - or whether the documents are
the product of the same hand.
- Alan has developed
an original, multi-dimensional approach to stylistic analysis that
goes beyond language elements to include rhetorical strategies and
intellectual breadth/depth, thus enabling him to identify stylistic
similarities (the "writer's fingerprints") at deeper and
more subtle levels.
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE AS FORENSIC LANGUAGE EXPERT, 1979-present:
- opening and
closing arguments for trial lawyers;
- expert opinion
on status of compound words (trademark infringement litigation);
- expert opinion
on plagiarism of song lyrics (copyright litigation involving musical
group The Who);
- authorship analysis
of e-mails in Florida union dispute;
- expert opinion
on plagiarism of home-study course subject matter;
- preliminary
analysis of e-mail authorship issues in medical malpractice case;
- authorship analysis
of anonymous letters to corporate Board members;
- expert opinion
on the similarity of words in trademark infringement case;
- authorship analysis
of anonymous and known writings in business-partnership dispute.
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