Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Summing It Up With Panache: Framing A Brief's Summary Of The Argument, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 991 (2015), Judith Fischer

UIC Law Review

Experts have called an appellate brief’s summary of the argument section “the most important part of a brief,” its “structural centerpiece,” and “your first serious opportunity to argue the merits of your appeal.” Two theories, framing theory and priming theory, help explain why the summary is so important. Framing theorists define a frame as a mental structure that provides a lens through which a recipient will “locate, perceive, identify, and label” an experience. The way a point is framed affects what readers focus on when forming their opinions. A similar concept, priming theory, holds that exposing a reader to chosen …