本书作者里斯多夫?威廉姆斯(Christopher Williams)教授于1974年毕业于英国伦敦威斯敏斯特大学,主修现代语言专业,毕业后移居意大利。目前,威廉姆斯教授任职于意大利福贾大学法学院,并担任学校语言中心主任一职。此外,威廉姆斯教授担任ESP Across Cultures杂志主编,且同时为一系列国际杂志担任编委。近年,威廉姆斯将研究重心延伸至法律英语领域,尤其针对不同国家规范性法律文本中的动词结构展开了全面的梳理和深入的比较研究,并形成众多具有参考价值的科研成果。主要成果包括: 1. Pragmatic and cross-cultural considerations in translating verbal constructions in prescriptive legal texts in English and Italian. 2. Legal English and plain language: an introduction. 3. Vagueness in legal texts: is there a future for 'shall'? 4. Changing the rules: a comparison of recent trends in English in academic scientific discourse and prescriptive legal discourse. 5. Fuzziness in legal English: what shall we do with 'shall'? 6. Questions of style: legal drafting manuals and scientific style manuals in contemporary English. 7. And yet it moves: recent developments in plain legal English in the UK. 8. Legal English or legal Englishes? Differences in drafting techniques in the English-s