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Legal Writing and Research

Selected Works

Selected Works

Storytelling

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Tell Us A Story, But Don't Make It A Good One: Resolving The Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories And Federal Rule Of Evidence 403, Cathren Page Feb 2014

Tell Us A Story, But Don't Make It A Good One: Resolving The Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories And Federal Rule Of Evidence 403, Cathren Page

Cathren Page

Abstract: Tell Us a Story, But Don’t Make It A Good One: Resolving the Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories and Federal Rule of Evidence 403 by Cathren Koehlert-Page Courts need to reword their opinions regarding Rule 403 to address the tension between the advice to tell an emotionally evocative story at trial and the notion that evidence can be excluded if it is too emotional. In the murder mystery Mystic River, Dave Boyle is kidnapped in the beginning. The audience feels empathy for Dave who as an adult becomes one of the main suspects in the murder of his friend Jimmy’s …


Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After, And In A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Using Narrative To Fill The Cognitive Gap Left By Overreliance On Pure Logic In Appellate Briefs And Motion Memoranda, Jennifer L. Sheppard Dec 2008

Once Upon A Time, Happily Ever After, And In A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Using Narrative To Fill The Cognitive Gap Left By Overreliance On Pure Logic In Appellate Briefs And Motion Memoranda, Jennifer L. Sheppard

Jennifer L. Sheppard

This article explores the cognitive effects of narrative and concludes that it is a highly effective persuasive tool because stories appeal to our logic and reason, not just to our beliefs and values. The article identifies the elements of an effective story and explores how lawyers can use narrative in appellate briefs and motion memoranda to tell stories not just about the facts of their clients’ cases, but also about the law. Building on these bases, the article establishes that, in order to craft an effective story in a brief or motion memorandum, a lawyer must tell that story in …