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Vistas Lifelong Learning
  • Welcome
  • About Vistas
    • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Curriculum Committee
  • Membership
    • Join Vistas
  • Vistas Calendar
  • Courses and Programs
    • Current Courses
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    • Past Courses
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Back to All Events

Forensic Linguistics: The Role of Forensic Linguists within the Legal System 2/2

  • Wednesday, October 15, 2025
  • 9:30 AM 12:00 PM 09:30 12:00
  • Google Calendar ICS

Two Wednesdays: Oct. 8 and 15, 9:30 a.m. – 12 noon
Bethany Congregational Church
556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara
VISTAS member price: $30; non-member price: $45

Presented by: Edward Finegan
Forensic linguists have served as experts in legal disputes for the past six or seven decades in civil and criminal cases related to defamation, voice identification, authorship attribution, and trademark. They’ve also assisted courts and juries concerning interpretation of deeds of trust, insurance policies, statutory law, and even the United States Constitution—in short, in any kind of legal dispute where language is an issue. Ed will describe the well-known case of the Unabomber as well as several in which he played a role, involving the celebrities Aretha Franklin, Martha Stewart, Tom Cruise, and James Woods. He’ll discuss his experience in trademark disputes between American Airlines and Delta, between Apple and Microsoft, and one challenging the USPS.

Forensic Linguistics
Earlier Event: October 13
California History through Song: From the Gold Rush to Little Kathy Fiscus and Cesar Chavez 2/2
Later Event: October 16
Fiction Book Club