Lawyer Evaluation as Rational Discourse

This chapter discusses in detail how lawyers construct their rational stance in relation to the opposing lawyers and the judges. The rational discourse, which consists of three features, is constructed through lawyer evaluation in various ways. First of all, by evaluating the common ground or the “life-world” shared by participants in the court, lawyers build an equal role relationship with the other participants. Secondly, by projecting and acknowledging the various voices of the participants and the audiences in the court, they construct a multi-voiced environment, which is necessary for legal communication to be carried out. Thirdly, in the heteroglossic environment, lawyers polarize their attitudes with respect to their contestants’ positions and various issues in the trial and eventually develop two distinct discursive communities of us versus them.