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Rebecca Fisher-Tringale

Professor Karle Stinehour

RC 2001-139

21 January 2019

The Study and Practice of Law: Intricate Discourse Communities

A discourse community is a group of people that strive for the same goal intellectually,

verbally, and linguistically. John Swales, the author of The Concept of a Discourse Community,

specified very detailed characteristics that qualify a community to be a discourse community.

Each reason will be given an answer with the idea of lawyers in mind. There are many reasons

why the study and practice of law, or being a lawyer, is a very specialized discourse. In order to

be a sophisticated community, one must have a specific set of language and communication used

among its members. There is a specified style of writing within each community. Lawyers are a

unique community when it comes to writing, communication, and their communal goals.

One of Swales’ important qualifications to be a discourse community is the idea of a

shared common set of goals. Based on the article, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key

Roles and Responsibilities in the 21st Century, written by Harvard Law School, the universal set

of goals can be identified as, “. . . responsibilities to their clients and stakeholders;

responsibilities to the legal system; responsibilities to their institutions; and responsibilities to

society at large” (Heineman 5). Every lawyer across the world has a very similar, if not exact,

idea of those four goals, and they strive to meet them everyday. Swales also believed that a

discourse community must have mechanisms of inner communication. Once again, lawyers have

multiple ways on communicating to other lawyers in their discourse. According to American

Bar, lawyers have meetings weekly to catch up on the weeks cases and talk about previous or
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upcoming assignments (Sutterwala). These meetings may be face-to-face or over the phone.

These meetings are based on the firm’s decision. Some firms may have weekly meetings while

others have bi-weekly meetings. Another qualification that Swales determined was the idea of a

community needing to provide information with feedback. The American Bar Association

releases a professional journal yearly composed of journals written by lawyers discussing

important topics that occured during that year. Academic journals are an example of providing

information with feedback in a discourse community.

Having genres in the community is another example on how to be a discourse

community. For lawyers, there are endless amounts of genres. There are family lawyers, who

deal with divorce and child or spousal abuse. There are civil rights lawyers, whose cases deal

with equality versus inequality. The different genres in the practice of law could be discussed in

great detail, but another important characteristic for being a discourse community is the idea of

having a specific set of vocabulary used within the community. Business Insider stated five

words that only lawyers would understand which were wobbler, recess, tort, upstanding, and

therefor. All of those words have different meanings to the general public, but to lawyers, tort

means an act that harms someone else that leads to being sued (Abadi 1)

A distinctive trait, based on John Swales’ work, is that there must be a threshold level for

the membership into the discourse community. There must be something that makes someone a

part of the inner circle of that community instead of being on the outer circle. For lawyers, it is

pretty easy to tell who is a part of the inner circle based on who passed the BAR exam and who

is legally a lawyer or attorney. For example, only lawyers know that they have to record every

part of their day whether that be on paper or an actual recording. People who are on the outer

circle of the study and practice of law think being a lawyer is what you see on shows like “Law
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and Order.” The study and practice of law and being a lawyer clearly marks off all of the items

on Swales’ checklist. Besides meeting all of the discourse community requirements, discourse

communities have their own individual way of writing, communication, and reading.

For lawyers, there are usually two types of writing; an analysis of a problem or a

persuasive argument (Cornell). Cornell Law School wrote an article on legal writing stating,

“Any legal document must be concise, clear, and conform to the objective standards that have

evolved in the legal profession” (Cornell 1). Lawyers, just like any other profession, must stick

to strict writing guidelines when conducting their memos or legal documents. A crucial style of

writing for this profession is persuasive writing. Having the skill of persuasion is one of the most

important tasks of attorney’s day-to-day work. A lot of law schools offer, or even require,

students to take a legal persuasion class. Persuasion is not as apparent or important in other

discourse community writings, such as the teaching community or the nursing community.

Teacher’s use creative and informative writing styles, while nurses write charts for their patients.

Attorneys use the tactic of storytelling to get the attention of the courtroom. They paint pictures

for the jury or judge in order to make them feel like they were present at the time of the incident

or crime (O’nions). There are many tricks and techniques that attorneys must possess to do their

job effectively. Writing a legal analysis is a crucial technique that lawyers would need to perfect.

Discourse communities vary when it comes to writing and its process. A legal process is

not only a specific way of writing, but it can also be a way of communicating. An attorney gives

a legal analysis every court case in front of the judge or jury. Lawyers also intricately write the

legal analyses to turn into their bosses, or give to their clients to prepare them for court. The

process of writing one of these analyses involves specific classes and years of practice. An article

titled, The Fine Art of Legal Writing, Nikki Lacrosse wrote, “The process of writing a legal
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analysis-whether it takes the shape of a memorandum, a brief, or a law school exam-forces us to

confront and revise our thoughts and theories until we can clearly communicate them to others”

(Lacrosse 1). The ability to communicate on paper and with speech is an essential part of being

in the law discourse community.

Being a part of a discourse community takes a lot of work, but can be super rewarding.

When someone is a part of a community, they aim for mutual goals. The goals involve a mix of

good rhetoric and communication. In order to be a part of the law discourse, one must go to law

school and pass the BAR. That is the first step to get one’s foot in the door. The significance of

the study and practice of law is the idea that lawyers and attorneys are the voice for their clients.

The most significant goal that this discourse community shares is to help and protect their

clients. With the use of persuasion and persistence, lawyers and attorneys dominate in their

community. Discourse communities all share one similarity; aiming for the collective goal of the

group. Lawyers aim for the success and security of their clients. Being a part of the law discourse

community takes a lot of work and persistence, but with passion and power, anyone can be a part

of this community.

Works Cited
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Abadi, Mark, “7 words and phrases only lawyers understand.” Business Insider, January 18,

2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/words-phrases-only-lawyers-understand-

2018-1

Armstrong, Stephen V. “Understanding “Style” in Legal Writing.” Legal Solutions, 2018,

http://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/pdf/perspec/2008-fall/2008-fall-9.pdf

Heineman, Jr, Ben W. “Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and

Responsibilities in the 21st Century.” Harvard Law School,

https://clp.law.harvard.edu/assets/Professionalism-Project-Essay_11.20.14.pdf

“Journal of the Professional Lawyer.” American Bar, November 16, 2018,

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/journ

al_of_the_professional_lawyer_home/

Lacrosse, Nikki. “Enhancing Your Writing Skills The Key To Success In The Legal World.”

Law Crossing, https://www.lawcrossing.com/article/1134/The-Fine-Art-of-Legal-

Writing/

“Legal Analysis Law and Legal Definition.” Definitions, 2016,

https://definitions.uslegal.com/l/legal-analysis/

“Legal Research and Writing.” Harvard Law School, https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/opia/what-is-

public-interest-law/public-interest-work-types/legal-writing/

“Legal Writing.” Cornell Law School, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/legal_writing

O’nions, Mark-John. “6 Techniques Lawyers Use to Persuade Judges and Jurors.” M.J.

O’NIONS, January 20, 2014, https://www.mjonions.com/6-techniques-lawyers-use-

persuade-judges-jurors/
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Sutarwalla, Murtaza. “Do You Hold Regular Meetings with Attorneys and Staff?” American

Bar,

https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/solosez/2016%20Threa

ds/threads_2016_01_Do%20You%20Hold%20Regular%20Meetings%20with%20

Attorneys%20and%20Staff.pdf

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