STEVEN R. GOLDZWIG
Marquette University

MICHAEL J. CODY
University of Southern California

In this chapter we face the difficult task of introducing the reader to the
rhetorical and communication research on legal communication in a few
pages. Because whole books and chapters are written on any one aspect
of this topic (i.e., language in the courtroom), we have decided to write a
chapter that sketches the highlights of research in selected areas, outlines
the main findings in each area, and provides ample references to scholarly
literature. We first overview how scholars adopting a rhetorical viewpoint
study legal discourse, courtroom drama, and storytelling. We then outline
several areas pertinent both to the practice of lawyering and to the empiri-
cally oriented scholar.

A number of authors have cited the close alliance between the disciplines
of speech communication and law ( Bunn, 1964; Rice, 1961; Strother, 1961;
Weiss, 1959). However, in 1970 Anapol noted a surprising lack of exten-
sive literature on the relation between rhetoric and the law. This came
as somewhat of a shock because rhetoric can be seen as a source of law and
law figures prominently in the rhetoric of Western civilization ( Pilotta,
Murphy, Wilson, & Jones, 1983).

Both the rhetorical and legal disciplines, argued Anapol ( 1970), can
benefit from a renewal of their classical roots when they enjoy a closer,

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