Title: Fighting over words : language and civil law cases /
Authors: Shuy, Roger W.
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Law Language; Law Interpretation and construction; Civil law Cases.
Abstract: "Words and language are the cause of much human conflict and are often the battleground on which such conflicts are fought. This is especially true of the civil law, where the usage and meaning of words form the crux of debates that are commonly resolved by precise analysis and interpretation. Civil cases are thus fertile ground on which to look at the role of language in law." "By looking at specific cases in the civil law, Roger W. Shuy shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can be used to resolve disputed meanings and how civil cases are important for linguistic scholarship. Shuy collects and analyzes cases involving contracts, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, trademark disputes, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs the tools of formal linguistics to show how linguistics can be as helpful as the physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements." "This book will be of interest to linguists - sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society - and to lawyers and law students."--book jacket.
Contents: "Or" in a group insurance policy: Peter Koehn v. Continental Casualty Company -- Exclusive marketing services: Matrixx v. New Strategies Productions -- Conditions of a key employee agreement: EMC Corporation v. Jeffrey E. Allen -- Interpreting state code: State of Nevada v. Preferred Equities Corporation -- Competing conveying system advertisements: Dynamic Air v. Flexicon Corporation -- 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 -- Certificates of deposit advertisements: Harold Ackerman v. Royal Bank of Pennsylvania -- Brain damage from a cleaning product: Pedro Lassera v. Magniflux Corporation -- Carbon monoxide poisoning: Eva Andrews et al. v. Generac Corporation -- Toxic shock syndrome from tampons: Krystal H. Rinehart v. International Playtex -- Toxic gas in the cockpit: ProForm and National Insurance Company v. The Garrett Corporation -- A book turned into a pamphlet: St. Martins Press and Robert Sikorsky v. Vickers Petroleum Corporation -- Racial steering in real estate: HOME v. Havens Realty Corporation -- Age discrimination: Richard Hannye v. General Electric Company -- Retaliatory termination discrimination: David E. Benekritis v. Renny Earl Johnson and the Darlington County School District -- Ownership of the words "wood-roasted": Woodroast Systems v. Restaurants Unlimited -- Battle over antifreeze: Warren Distribution v. Prestone Products Corporation -- False representation in a government contract: United States of America v. United Technologies Corporation -- How linguists can help in corporate civil cases.