Lawyer as a Translator. On the Metaphorical Understanding of the Expert Nature of Legal Professions

The purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of legal professions as experts. In particular, an attempt has been made to answer the question of what, in the case of these professions, is the social role that requires the application of abstract knowledge to specific cases. The starting point for consideration is social theories that see this role as a mediation and integration of the social structure. Next, using the methodology of cognitive metaphor, this characterization is further clarified by juxtaposing it with another type of expert activity, i.e., translation. Thus, practical problems were identified in the work of a lawyer, related to mediating in the social structure between abstract knowledge of law and solving individual legal problems. These problems were characterized primarily as difficulties in the use of different languages by institutions and citizens.