Among the most prominent scholars of language and law is Peter Tiersma, a law professor at Loyola Law School with a doctorate in linguistics (co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law). Tiersma's significant body of work traverses a variety of legal and linguistic fields. This book offers a selection of twelve of Tiersma's most influential publications, divided into five thematic areas that are critical to both law and linguistics: Language and Law as a Field of Inquiry, Legal Language and its History, Language and Civil Liability, Language and Criminal Justice, and Jury Instructions. Each paper is accompanied by a brief commentary from a leading scholar in the field, offering a substantive conversation about the ramifications of Tiersma's work and the disagreements that have often surrounded it.

AcknowledgementsContributorsPrefacePart ILegal Language and Its History1. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from A History of the Languages of Law (in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law)2. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Legal Language3. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Parchment, Paper, Pixels4. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Some Myths about Legal Language5. Frederick Schauer, On the Relationship Between Legal and Ordinary Language6. Ronald R. Butters, Legal Language and its History: Quo Imus? Qua Imus?7. Frank S. Ravitch, Philosophical Hermeneutics in the Age of Pixels: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Peter Tiersma, and Dasein in the Age of the Internet8. Edward Finegan, The Language of Lawyers and the Language of Plumbers9. Dieter Stein, Words, Words, Words - But What's in a Text?Part IIThe Language of Contracts and Wills10. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Parchment, Paper, Pixels11. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Reassessing Unilateral Contracts12. Brian H. Bix, Philosophy of Language, Unilateral Contracts, and the Law13. Sidney W. DeLong, How to do Legal Things with Words: The Contracts Scholarship of Peter Tiersma14. Peter Goodrich, Tiersma Contra Mundum In Defence Of Promises15. Jeffrey M. Lipshaw, Formalism, Speech Acts, and The Realities Of Contract FormationPart IIISpeech and ActionThe Meanings of Silence in Law16. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpts from The Language of Silence17. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Nonverbal Communication and the Freedom of Speech18. Elizabeth Mertz, Law's Metalinguistics: Silence, Speech, and Action19. Malcolm Coulthard, The Sounds of Silence20. Meizhen Liao, Speech or Silence: Within and Beyond Language and LawConsenting21. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt fromThe Language of Consent in Rape Law (In Janet Cotterill (ed.), The Language of Sexual Crime (pp. 91-97)22. Susan Ehrlich, 'Inferring' Consent in the Context of Rape and Sexual Assault23. Tim Grant & Kerrie Spaul, Felicitous Consent24. Gregory M. Matoesian, Reflections on Peter Tiersma's "The Language and Consent in Rape Law"25. Gail Stygall, Speaking of ConsentDefaming26. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from The Language of Defamation27. John M. Conley, Defamation as Speech Act: A Theory that Works28. Roger W. Shuy, Applying Tiersma's Defamation Theory to Defamation Cases29. Krzysztof Kredens, Scarlet Letter or Badge of Honour? Semantic Interpretation in Changing Contexts of CulturePart IVInterpreting Laws30. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Parchment, Paper, Pixels (pp. 169-176, starting with "Dynamic Statutes")31. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from The Textualization of Precedent (pp. 1187-89, 1257-62).32. Lawrence M. Solan, Talk About Text as Text33. Jeffrey P. Kaplan, Textualization, Textualism, and Purpose-Stating Preambles34. Dru Stevenson, Between Paper and Pixels - How the Form of Modern Laws Changed their FunctionPart VLanguage and Criminal JusticeCrimes of Language35. Peter M. Tiersma, Except from The Language of Perjury: "Literal Truth," Ambiguity, and the False Statement Requirement36. Lawrence M. Solan and Peter M. Tiersma, "Threats" (from Speaking of Crime (pp. 198-204)37. Janet Ainsworth, How We Play Games with Words in the Law38. Philip Gaines, Toward a Communicative Approach to Law- and Rule-Making39. Susan Berk-Seligson, Threats: A Pragmalinguistic Approach to the Analysis of a Speech CrimeCriminal Justice and Everyday Speech40. Peter M. Tiersma, Except from The Judge as Linguist41. Hannes Kniffka, Applied (Forensic) Linguistics in Autochthonic and Allochthonic Use42. Richard A. Leo, The Sound of Silence: Miranda Waivers, Selective Literalism and Social Context43. Laurie L. Levenson, Words Alone44. Frances Rock, Sizzling Irons: Speaking of Criminal JusticePart VIJury Instructions45. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from The Rocky Road to Legal Reform46. Peter M. Tiersma, Excerpt from Legal Language47. Bethany K. Dumas, Navigating the Rocky Road48. Chris Heffer, Authority and Accommodation: Judicial Responses to Jurors' Questions49. Nancy S. Marder, Jury Instructions Written for Jurors: A Perennial ChallengeBibliography of Peter Tiersma's Work