This is an introduction to the Mercer Law School symposium on Using Metaphor in Legal Analysis. This symposium was designed to show how cognitive or conceptual metaphor theory is central to modern notions of legal analysis and communication. In this introduction I lay out the basic conceptual framework of metaphor theory, drawing upon the work of symposium participants Mark Johnson and Steven Winter, illustrating why it is of importance to lawyers and legal theorists. (David Ritchie)