Expertise Description
I have a Ph.D. in Linguistics and 30+ years of experience in assisting attorneys, other legal professionals, and private clients. Areas of expertise: (i) authorship: analysis of the syntax, word choice, spelling, punctuation, rhetorical strategies, and other features of anonymous, disputed, or forged documents (including texts, chat transcripts, e-mails); expert opinion on authorship and/or characteristics of author. (ii) document interpretation: Analysis of and expert opinion on the meaning of words, phrases, clauses, paragraphs, etc., in legal, personal, and commercial communication. (iii) plagiarism: comparison of source and client’s work to determine plagiarism, in both fiction and non-fiction (usually academic works). (iv) copyright/trademark infringement: expert opinion on originality/genericity and protectability of particular trademark, slogan, brand name, or other material.Areas of Expertise
Expert Witness
Expert is a Court-certified Lay Witness, per Rule 701 of the Federal Rules for Evidence.
Consulting Experience
Examples from 30 years’ experience: consulting and providing opinions on (i) transcribed chat comments and the alleged seduction of a minor, per the language of the law; (ii) similarities between client’s work and allegedly plagiarized literary work; (iii) analysis of audio tape to determine whether Defendant understood his Miranda rights; (iv) examination of police reports to determine plagiarism; (iv) analysis of the complexity of rental-equipment contract language; (v) analysis of video interview to determine whether child gave direct evidence of molestation; (vi) interpretation of the language in a prenuptial agreement; and (vii) the authorship of posts to a cult deprogrammer’s website.
Professional Experiences
Expert’s Professional Experience includes, simultaneous with his forensic work, being a Director of Executive Communications (speechwriting, ghostwriting), an editor (fiction and non-fiction); Assistant Professor of English (Wayne State Univ., Detroit MI; taught English linguistics and composition; helped create a Graduate Program in Writing).
Relevant Experiences
My knowledge base consists of three degrees in linguistics (including courses in lexicography and the history of the English language, plus 35 years of writing, editing, publishing, and other practical experience with language. I have applied all of this experience to my forensic work.
Education
| Degree | Subject | Institution | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | Linguistics | University of Chicago | ||
| M.A. | Linguistics | University of Chicago | ||
| B.A. | Linguistics | Brown University | ||
Licenses Certifications
Awards & Affiliation
Partial List of Consulting Expert Witness Cases
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