ABSTRACT
The creator of Verbal Advantage seemed to think so. “To move ahead in your career,” the ad continued, “your vocabulary level must at least equal the average level of the members of your profession. To excel, your vocabulary must surpass that of your colleagues.” The ad reinforced the intuition guiding my research that the words judges use can have an impact on how other actors respond to their decisions. Opinion language communicates the importance of cases, offering guidance to administrators about which decisions require immediate attention and which can receive a slower response or more limited policy change. For judges, opinion language is an opportunity for them to enhance their impact, helping their decisions stand out from the other factors competing for an agency’s attention.
