Law Commons^™

Closing Argument Procedure, J. Alexander Tanford

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Legal scholars have paid little attention to closing arguments. There are few publications that touch on this phase of the trial process, most focusing on the substance of prosecution arguments in criminal cases. As a result, too few of the legal principles and doctrines of closing argument procedure are understood, especially in civil trials. The purpose of this article is to set out a more comprehensive picture of this body of law than has been done previously, and to define and analyze its major doctrines.