Jeffrey P. Kaplan

San Diego State University

Jeffrey P. Kaplan earned a BA in linguistics at the University of Chicago in 1965, a PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1976, and a JD at the University of San Diego in 1994. He is professor of linguistics at San Diego State University, where he has taught since 1981, and where he served as department chair from 2002 to 2009. He taught earlier at the University of Arizona (in the English department), at the University of Melbourne and at Northeastern University. His research focuses on pragmatics and discourse-functional syntax, especially as applied to legally operative documents such as statutes, constitutional provisions, contracts, and wills. His language-and-law activities include submission of amicus curiae briefs to courts, including the US Supreme Court, and consulting as a linguistic expert to attorneys.