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Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Legal Writing and Research

Western New England University School of Law

Series

2015

Forensic orations

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

When The Story Is Too Good To Be True: A Lawyer's Role In Resisting The Lure Of Narrative, Jeanne Kaiser, Scott Brown Jan 2015

When The Story Is Too Good To Be True: A Lawyer's Role In Resisting The Lure Of Narrative, Jeanne Kaiser, Scott Brown

Faculty Scholarship

Storytelling is important in legal persuasion. The power of a good story is why an attorney strives to mold the facts of a case into a tale with clear heroes and villains. High profile bullying stories and the reaction to those stories by prosecutors, legislators, and the legal academy provide examples of lawyers’ susceptibility to the power of an emotional narrative. This Article explores how social problems, like those relating to Phoebe Prince, Tyler Clementi, and Meagan Meiers, are likely to seem more real and pressing when presented in human terms as opposed to the abstract consequences.