David Wright is an Associate Professor in Linguistics at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom.

• ContentsList of FiguresAcknowledgment1 IntroductionForensic, legal and corpus linguisticsAims of this bookOverview of the bookReferences2 Tools for the trade: data and methodsCorpora for forensic and legal linguisticsThe corpora used in this bookData scarcity in forensic and legal linguisticsOvercoming data scarcityQuasi-legal data: The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Opening Statement CorpusOpportunistic legal data: The Brexit Hearings CorpusPotentially illicit data on the ‘clear’ web: The Seduction Forum CorpusLanguage about the law: New Laws in the News CorpusEthics and distressing dataCorpus-assisted discourse studiesCorpus linguistic toolsKeyword analysisCollocation analysisConcordance analysisReferences3 Thirty years of corpora in forensic and legal linguisticsCorpora at the birth of forensic linguisticsThe growing status of corpora in forensic and legal linguisticsCorpora and the development of forensic linguisticsNew perspectives on familiar genresPossible solutions to methodological challengesNew avenues for researchReferences4 Positioning and responsibility in the Opening Statements of the Grenfell Tower InquiryIntroductionThe Grenfell Tower Inquiry Opening Statement CorpusOpening statements as a prologue to the evidenceThe language of opening statementsPositioning and opening statementsA new model for responsibility allocationImpression managementPre-emptive allocationDelineating involvement and responsibility assignmentPositive actionConclusionReferences5 Stance-taking by advocates and judges in the Brexit HearingsIntroductionBackground to the ‘Brexit case’The Brexit Hearings CorpusStance and stance-takingStance and corpus linguisticsStance in the courtroomI collocates and stance-markersModal verbs - I willMental verbs - I thinkSpeaking verbs - I sayConclusionReferences6 Online discourses of sexual consent and resistanceContent warningDiscourse, consent and ‘utmost resistance’The Pick-Up Artist CommunityThe language of PUAsThe Seduction Forum Corpus (SFC)Consent and resistance in the SFCDiscourse prosodies of LMRResistance as something to be overcomeResistance as insincereResistance as remarkableResistance as temporaryConclusionReferences7 The reporting of new laws in the British national pressIntroductionLegislation and media influenceThe New Laws in the News CorpusUsing corpus techniques to analyse argumentationIdentifying argumentsReconstructing argumentsAnalysisProhibitionPermissionImpositionToughnessNecessityProtectionControversyScopeSummary of argument schemesConclusionReferences8 ConclusionReferencesIndex