Lawyer-client communication: "I don't think the lawyers were communicating with me": Misunderstanding cultural differences in communicative style

Abstract

... One of the major contributions made by sociolinguists to the understanding of society in the latter half of the twentieth century has been in the explanation of the role that cultural differences play in intercultural communication and miscommunication. ... On the basis of my work on Aboriginal ways of communicating and on intercultural communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the legal system, I had some general ideas about how this question might be answered. ... Thus, there are many points of contrast between Aboriginal ways of seeking information, and those used in the legal system, particularly in the lawyer-client interview, which is of greatest relevance here. ... General comments from both Kina, in her interview with me, and the lawyers, in their written affidavits, reveal the common tendency of people to interpret different approaches to communication in terms of personality and intention rather than in terms of cultural difference. ... (3) Conflicting answers in an interview are a sure clue to a speaker's dishonest and untrustworthy character. ... And in fact, the Native-American use of silence was a key issue in the sociolinguistic evidence given by the most eminent scholar in intercultural sociolinguistics, Professor John Gumperz, in the 1989-90 retrial of Patrick Croy in the Supreme Court of California. ... The area of intercultural communication with Native-American, African-American, and immigrant groups in the legal system is an important one for future sociolinguistic and sociolegal research. ...