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Full-Text Articles in Law
Logic And The Common Law Trial, Richard H. Underwood
Logic And The Common Law Trial, Richard H. Underwood
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
In this article, the author explores some of the inconsistencies between logic and the practice of law. The article draws together numerous anecdotes and examples of situations in which common sense was rejected or ignored in the name of legal procedure. The article focuses on various argument styles employed by lawyers.
Order Of Presentation As A Factor In Jury Persuasion, Robert G. Lawson
Order Of Presentation As A Factor In Jury Persuasion, Robert G. Lawson
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
The “law of primacy in persuasion” has been formulated as follows: The side of a controversial issue having the advantage of first position in the order of presentation is more effective in changing opinion than the side presented last, all other factors being equal. Recent experimentation has revealed that “primacy” is not “an indubitable factor in persuasion,” but occurs only under certain conditions. In this article, an effort has been made to evaluate the experimentation conducted in this area of communications research, and to determine if the conditions of the courtroom are such that order of presentation could be expected …