Fighting over Words Language and Civil Law Cases

by Shuy, Roger W.

• ISBN13: 9780195328837
• ISBN10: 0195328833
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Most people fight over something or other and language is usually at the very center of the conflict. Often the way we use language is the cause of the battle. There are many areas in which fighting about language can be observed but civil law cases offer the most fertile examples of this warfare over words. What did the contract actually say? Was there deception in the advertising? Was the warning label clear and effective? Did the company evidence race or age discrimination against employees or customers? Was one company's name too similar to that of another company? Did the corporation plagiarize the work of another? Did it fraudulently represent what its work? This book is about the ways linguistic analysis describes, exposes, and aids disputes in 18 civil cases where language framed the battleground. Roger Shuy, a well-known forensic linguist and consultant, shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can help resolve disputed meanings, while also showing how civil cases can prove to be fertile ground for linguistic scholarship. He does this by collecting and analyzing cases involving contracts, trademark disputes, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, trademark disputes, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs all the tools of formal linguistics to show how it can be as helpful as other physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements. The work will be of interest primarily to linguists -- sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society -- as well as lawyers and law students.

Author Biography

Roger Shuy is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Georgetown University. He is the author of Linguistics in the Courtroom: A Practical Guide and Creating Language Crimes: How Law Enforcement Uses (and Misuses) Language.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
Business Contract Disputes
"Or" in a Group Insurance Policy: Peter Koehn v. Continental Casualty Company	p. 15
Exclusive Marketing Services: Matrixx Marketing v. New Strategies Productions	p. 25
Conditions of a Key Employee Agreement: EMC Corporation v. Jeffrey E. Allen	p. 29
Interpreting State Code: State of Nevada v. Preferred Equities Corporation	p. 37
Deceptive Trade Practices
Competing Conveying System Advertisements: Dynamic Air v. Flexicon Corporation	p. 47
Nicotine Patch Advertisements: The States of Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas v. CIBA-Geigy Corporation	p. 55
Certificates of Deposit Advertisements: Harold Ackerman v. Royal Bank of Pennsylvania	p. 63
Product Liability
Brain Damage from a Cleaning Product: Pedro Lassera v. Magnaflux Corporation	p. 75
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Eva Andrews et al. v. Adobe Trailer Sales, Fleetwood Enterprises, and Generac Corporation	p. 83
Toxic Shock Syndrome from Tampons: Krystal H. Rinehart v. International Playtex	p. 107
Toxic Gas in the Cockpit: Pro Form and National Insurance Company v. The Garrett Corporation	p. 119
Copyright Infringement
A Book Is Turned into a Pamphlet: St. Martin's Press and Robert Sikorsky v. Vickers Petroleum Corporation	p. 133
Discrimination
Racial Steering in Real Estate: HOME v. Havens Realty Corporation	p. 145
Age Discrimination: Richard Hannye v. General Electric Company	p. 151
Retaliatory Termination Discrimination: David E. Benekritis v. Renny Earl Johnson and the Darlington County School District	p. 161
Trademarks
Ownership of the Words "Wood Roasted": Woodroast Systems v. Restaurants Unlimited	p. 171
Battle over Antifreeze: Warren Distribution v. Prestone Products Corporation	p. 189
Procurement Fraud
False Representation in a Government Contract: United States of America v. United Technologies Corporation	p. 213
How Linguists Can Help in Corporate Civil Cases	p. 233
References	p. 239
Index	p. 243
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