Where Linguistics Meets the Law

In this episode, Ashley Yeh (’24 cohort) and Tanajia Moye-Green (’24 cohort) speak with Tilly Brooks (’24 cohort) about her interdisciplinary work at the intersection of linguistics, law, and justice. Tilly shares her path from studying ancient languages to examining how meaning is constructed in legal texts, why ambiguity and “ordinary meaning” shape legal outcomes, and how linguistic expertise can inform legal reform.Highlights from the episode:(03:57) How early exposure to Latin and ancient languages sparked Tilly’s fascination with language and meaning(25:30) Tilly’s three research areas: language of law, law of language, and linguists as advocates(35:10) Research on the California Racial Justice Act and identifying racially discriminatory language in courtrooms(48:19) What it’s like pursuing a joint JD/PhD and navigating interdisciplinary training(53:14) How Knight-Hennessy Scholars shaped Tilly’s intellectual community and collaborative opportunities(56:33) Advice for students interested in interdisciplinary paths and building meaningful scholarly impact