Document Type

Article

Abstract

From the author's view, sorting out the complexity of voice—and discussing voice in legal prose—requires a rethinking of who the writer is in legal discourse and, importantly, how that writer is represented in legal prose. It becomes a question not of self expression, but of self-representation and persona. This article will first look at discussions of voice in writing—beginning with what we might mean by voice, then with discussion of personal voice, and then of professional voice. The article then offers another model for looking at voice — a discoursal model — and use that model to reconstruct the idea of a professional voice in the law, using the idea of discoursal identities, or persona. Finally, the article will discuss the implications of this for those who write in the law and for us—those who teach in legal writing programs.

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