In fact, examples such as these indicate the narrow scope of the specialized linguistic knowledge they possess. Lawyers are trained in legal concepts, and in the abstract terms which express those legal concepts. The first four chapters out of the twelve which make up the book deal with linguistics, philosophy of language, and processes of sense construction through language. Speech act theory is a useful contribution to our understanding of the types of sense which are created by legal declarations, questions, warnings, and commands. Within any community which speaks a particular language, there are smaller groups which differ from each other in the particular ways in which they use language.
Professional languages are one example.
Two concepts, those of register and genre, are used in discussing these issues. The display of power in language is also considered and its correlation to gender. When analyzing the problematic features of legal writing, the layperson's perspective is implicitly adopted and promoted. But with the advent of the Internet, Jackson sees the day when the citizen may obtain comprehensible legal information at little or no cost with just a click on the mouse.