David Griffin
@linguistlawyer.com
American lawyer and linguist interested in the nature of law, pseudolaw, and the semiotics of authority. He/him
Pinned
David Griffin
@linguistlawyer.com
· Nov 9
Hello new followers! I am a lawyer with a PhD in linguistics who is particularly interested in the language of pseudo-authority and conspiracy theories. In addition to discussing work in that subject area, I also post more personal musings and the occasional dog photo.
Reposted by David Griffin
Did you know we have a mailing list for the discussion of all maters related to corpus linguistics and SIG events? Sign up now to stay in the loop about our upcoming elections and AGM! You can do so yourself at www.jiscmail.ac.uk (search for BAAL-CORPUS-SIG) or just email [email protected].
JISCMail
www.jiscmail.ac.uk
October 21, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Did you know we have a mailing list for the discussion of all maters related to corpus linguistics and SIG events? Sign up now to stay in the loop about our upcoming elections and AGM! You can do so yourself at www.jiscmail.ac.uk (search for BAAL-CORPUS-SIG) or just email [email protected].
Reposted by David Griffin
"A core principle behind the founding of the United States is 'No Kings.'...250 years into our independent nationhood, Trump either believes or pretends he can do anything he wants, unaccountable to any earthly authority."
@jilldlawrence.bsky.social on today's protests
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
@jilldlawrence.bsky.social on today's protests
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Republicans' attacks on 'No Kings' protests reek of desperation
Republicans’ fictional portrait is part of a strategy to stop the resistance before it flexes its growing power.
www.msnbc.com
October 18, 2025 at 11:27 AM
"A core principle behind the founding of the United States is 'No Kings.'...250 years into our independent nationhood, Trump either believes or pretends he can do anything he wants, unaccountable to any earthly authority."
@jilldlawrence.bsky.social on today's protests
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
@jilldlawrence.bsky.social on today's protests
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Come join us on the BAAL Corpus SIG! And don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
We are looking for new committee members! If you would like to join the BAAL Corpus SIG as Meetings Secretary or as an Ordinary Member, please get in touch! You can learn more about the SIG at our website:
BAAL Corpus Linguistics SIG
BAAL Corpus Linguistics SIG
baal-clsig.weebly.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Come join us on the BAAL Corpus SIG! And don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Reposted by David Griffin
Just over one week left to submit an abstract for our upcoming event, "AI and EAP: New Directions" hosted by Coventry University! You can view the call for papers and register to attend on 15 December at the link below:
www.eventsforce.net
October 15, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Just over one week left to submit an abstract for our upcoming event, "AI and EAP: New Directions" hosted by Coventry University! You can view the call for papers and register to attend on 15 December at the link below:
Out now (and open access!) in the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Forensic Linguistics"
This article is my attempt to get a handle on the perennial problem of describing forensic linguistics as a coherent field. 1/5
rdcu.be/eJoJP
This article is my attempt to get a handle on the perennial problem of describing forensic linguistics as a coherent field. 1/5
rdcu.be/eJoJP
What We Talk About When We Talk About Forensic Linguistics
rdcu.be
October 6, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Out now (and open access!) in the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Forensic Linguistics"
This article is my attempt to get a handle on the perennial problem of describing forensic linguistics as a coherent field. 1/5
rdcu.be/eJoJP
This article is my attempt to get a handle on the perennial problem of describing forensic linguistics as a coherent field. 1/5
rdcu.be/eJoJP
I'm once again thinking about how great it must have been to be a linguist in the 60s. You could just say stuff! The amount of people who got away with what is essentially "It is doubtless true that..." followed by an unevidenced claim and are still widely cited today is staggering.
August 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I'm once again thinking about how great it must have been to be a linguist in the 60s. You could just say stuff! The amount of people who got away with what is essentially "It is doubtless true that..." followed by an unevidenced claim and are still widely cited today is staggering.
I absolutely love this! It's like they took my PhD thesis and turned it into an art project. I'll be referencing Heavyweight in future language and law classes and talks I give about legal semiotics; you can generate your own legal-seeming letters at heavyweight.cc. Amazing stuff!
August 5, 2025 at 8:34 AM
I absolutely love this! It's like they took my PhD thesis and turned it into an art project. I'll be referencing Heavyweight in future language and law classes and talks I give about legal semiotics; you can generate your own legal-seeming letters at heavyweight.cc. Amazing stuff!
Coming up on 29 July: I'm excited to present a keynote as part of AASTMT's symposium on "Forensic Linguistics across Legal, Digital and Public Discourses"! I'll be discussing what makes data "legal" and why that status does (or sometimes doesn't) matter. It'll be a fun day; come along if you can!
July 17, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Coming up on 29 July: I'm excited to present a keynote as part of AASTMT's symposium on "Forensic Linguistics across Legal, Digital and Public Discourses"! I'll be discussing what makes data "legal" and why that status does (or sometimes doesn't) matter. It'll be a fun day; come along if you can!
I'm now on LinkedIn! If you'd like, you can connect with me there at www.linkedin.com/in/david-griffin-b94571375.
www.linkedin.com
July 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I'm now on LinkedIn! If you'd like, you can connect with me there at www.linkedin.com/in/david-griffin-b94571375.
I had a blast talking to Robbie for this! Check it out to learn about my research interests and my forensic linguistics origin story. And thanks again to @aifl.bsky.social for having me!
New @aifl.bsky.social blog alert! In the latest in his ‘Meet the Researchers’ series @robbie-davies.bsky.social talks to AIFL and Cardiff University researcher David Griffin @linguistlawyer.com about his work and the role of power and persuasion in legal language. Link: aifl-blog.com/meet-the-res...
Meet the Researchers: Dr David Griffin
By Robbie Davies
aifl-blog.com
July 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
I had a blast talking to Robbie for this! Check it out to learn about my research interests and my forensic linguistics origin story. And thanks again to @aifl.bsky.social for having me!
New preprint from Alex Moe and myself! "American Courtroom Data: A Legal Guide for Researchers" will be in the next issue of Language and Law / Linguagem e Direito. In this piece, we explore the legal regulations surrounding the access and use of data derived from US courtroom proceedings.
(PDF) American Courtroom Data: A Legal Guide for Researchers
PDF | Subject to very few exceptions, courtroom data generated in the United States (i.e. any material that is either part of a docket or derived from... | Find, read and cite all the research you nee...
www.researchgate.net
July 7, 2025 at 11:24 AM
New preprint from Alex Moe and myself! "American Courtroom Data: A Legal Guide for Researchers" will be in the next issue of Language and Law / Linguagem e Direito. In this piece, we explore the legal regulations surrounding the access and use of data derived from US courtroom proceedings.
This afternoon at #CL2025: Annina Van Riper on "Linguistic mechanisms of trust in the Pick-Up artist community: a multidimensional analysis". There are some interesting parallels here between PUAs and Sovereign Citizen "gurus"!
July 1, 2025 at 12:38 PM
This afternoon at #CL2025: Annina Van Riper on "Linguistic mechanisms of trust in the Pick-Up artist community: a multidimensional analysis". There are some interesting parallels here between PUAs and Sovereign Citizen "gurus"!
@debbiecabral.bsky.social leads us through her approach to dealing with issues of relevance and dispersion in corpus analysis as the BAAL Corpus SIG panel continues #CL2025
June 30, 2025 at 2:40 PM
@debbiecabral.bsky.social leads us through her approach to dealing with issues of relevance and dispersion in corpus analysis as the BAAL Corpus SIG panel continues #CL2025
Siân Alsop opens the BAAL Corpus SIG panel on "Methodological innovation in applied corpus linguistics" by explaining her work on the Children's Storybook Corpus. Next up @debbiecabral.bsky.social and then me! #CL2025
June 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Siân Alsop opens the BAAL Corpus SIG panel on "Methodological innovation in applied corpus linguistics" by explaining her work on the Children's Storybook Corpus. Next up @debbiecabral.bsky.social and then me! #CL2025
And we're off! @robbielove.org opens #CL2025 on what is looking to be a sweltering day in Birmingham
June 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
And we're off! @robbielove.org opens #CL2025 on what is looking to be a sweltering day in Birmingham
Seeking participants! An MA student I am supervising is looking for speakers of English to answer a few survery questions for her dissertation. You can find out more and participate at this link:
mailchi.mp/6fcd7c955006...
Please share and sign up if you can!
mailchi.mp/6fcd7c955006...
Please share and sign up if you can!
Invitation to Participate
mailchi.mp
June 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Seeking participants! An MA student I am supervising is looking for speakers of English to answer a few survery questions for her dissertation. You can find out more and participate at this link:
mailchi.mp/6fcd7c955006...
Please share and sign up if you can!
mailchi.mp/6fcd7c955006...
Please share and sign up if you can!
Reposted by David Griffin
New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays.
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
June 18, 2025 at 7:32 AM
New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays.
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
The amazing @empowell.bsky.social has a new monograph out today about the language of mass shooter manifestos. I've been following Emily's work since we did our PhDs together and highly recommend anyone interested in the topic check it out. www.routledge.com/The-Language...
The Language of Mass Shooter Manifestos: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Pre-Crime Narratives
Bringing together scholarship from corpus linguistics, forensic linguistics, and criminology, this book offers a nuanced exploration of moral agency in the pre-crime narratives of offenders.
The volum...
www.routledge.com
May 30, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The amazing @empowell.bsky.social has a new monograph out today about the language of mass shooter manifestos. I've been following Emily's work since we did our PhDs together and highly recommend anyone interested in the topic check it out. www.routledge.com/The-Language...
Reposted by David Griffin
i can’t get enough of the chicago pope jokes
May 9, 2025 at 12:30 PM
i can’t get enough of the chicago pope jokes
I'm very much looking forward to serving as the next treasurer of the International Association for Forensic & Legal Linguistics! It'll be great to contribute to the continued development of @iafll.bsky.social which, as I've said before, has always felt like my "home" organization.
April 30, 2025 at 1:19 PM
I'm very much looking forward to serving as the next treasurer of the International Association for Forensic & Legal Linguistics! It'll be great to contribute to the continued development of @iafll.bsky.social which, as I've said before, has always felt like my "home" organization.
Reposted by David Griffin
April 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by David Griffin
There are trans Americans right now looking out at this world and wondering if anyone is going to stand up for them and for their simple right to exist.
Well, I am. We are. We will.
Well, I am. We are. We will.
March 31, 2025 at 4:16 PM
There are trans Americans right now looking out at this world and wondering if anyone is going to stand up for them and for their simple right to exist.
Well, I am. We are. We will.
Well, I am. We are. We will.
I'm very happy to see the Dean of @bulaw.bsky.social on this list!
Dean Chemerinsky and other #lawschool deans "speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy."
March 26, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I'm very happy to see the Dean of @bulaw.bsky.social on this list!