An introduction

If you've seen my previous post, SCOTUS cites CGEL (etc.), you may have been surprised to see an unfamiliar name in the byline beneath the title—unfamiliar because you've never heard or me, or because you didn't associate me with Language Log other than as an occasional commenter and a long-time-ago guest poster. Either way, you're probably wondering how I hacked my way into the Language Log server, and whether purloined Language Log emails are going to start being posted on Wikileaks. Or maybe it's fsociety that you're worried about. So let me assure you that no violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act were committed in the making of that post, or of this one.

The explanation for my presence here is that I've accepted an invitation from Mark to be a regular contributor to Language Log. And the purpose of this post is to briefly introduce myself.

But first, I want to thank Mark for the invitation, and for the opportunity to join Language Log. As I told him when I answered his email,  I'm honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to join Language Log. I've been reading LL since damn near the beginning (I wish I could remember how I stumbled across it), and it has been an incredible source of enlightenment and entertainment. Although I'll be dating myself by saying this, it's a gas to be here.

So. IAAL, but IANAL. By which  I mean, I am a lawyer, but I am not a linguist. However, I have been interested in linguistics since the mid-'90s, thanks to Stephen Pinker's book The Language Instinct, and have done a lot of reading in the field. For almost all of that time, I've also been interested in seeing how linguistics could be put to work in doing legal interpretation. Toward that end, I've done a number of friend-of-the-court briefs that have drawn on linguistics in looking at issues of statutory and constitutional interpretation. I also blog about the subject at LAWnLinguistics, where you can find links to the briefs I've done (look for the "Briefs" tab at the top).

Here at Language Log, I'll be blogging about law and linguistics, obviously. I'll probably cross-post some things from LAWnLinguistics, but I'll also be writing things specifically for Language Log. I also hope to branch out into some nonlegal areas. I have ideas bouncing around my head, and it will be interesting to see what makes its way to your screen.

In the meantime, could someone please direct me to the water cooler?