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Full-Text Articles in Law
Judging By The Numbers: An Empirical Study Of The Power Of Story, Kenneth D. Chestek
Judging By The Numbers: An Empirical Study Of The Power Of Story, Kenneth D. Chestek
Kenneth D. Chestek
The recent debate about whether “empathy” is a desirable trait in Supreme Court Justices begs a more fundamental question: are appellate court judges in fact persuaded by appeals to pathos? This article attempts to answer that question by reporting the results of an empirical study the author conducted that investigates whether narrative reasoning, or “stories,” are persuasive to appellate judges. It is the first rigorous study to ever confront this issue directly. The article first describes how the author wrote four test briefs, two on each side of a hypothetical lawsuit. One brief on each side was written as a …
"Sending Down" Sabbatical: Lawyering In The Legal Services Trenches Has Benefits For Professor And Practitioner Alike, Suzanne Rabe
"Sending Down" Sabbatical: Lawyering In The Legal Services Trenches Has Benefits For Professor And Practitioner Alike, Suzanne Rabe
Suzanne Rabe
This article proposes that clinical professors, and legal writing professors in particular, consider practicing law -- in real-life, non-clinical settings –- during some significant portion of their sabbaticals from teaching. This proposal would (1) improve the learning experience for students in clinics, writing classes, and skills classes, (2) offer a vital public service to the under-represented, and (3) improve the overall administration of justice. At little cost, this proposal would foster a richer engagement by clinicians and legal writing professors with the world of legal practice. This idea could also infuse increased life and meaning into our law school classes. …
Legal Storytelling: The Theory And The Practice - Reflective Writing Across The Curriculum, Nancy Levit
Legal Storytelling: The Theory And The Practice - Reflective Writing Across The Curriculum, Nancy Levit
Nancy Levit
This article concentrates on the theory of narrative or storytelling and addresses the reasons it is vital to encourage in law schools in non-clinical or primarily doctrinal courses. Section I traces the advent of storytelling in legal theory and practice: while lawyers have long recognized that part of their job is to tell their clients' stories, the legal academy was, for many years, resistant to narrative methodologies. Section II examines the current applications of Writing Across the Curriculum in law schools. Most exploratory writing tasks in law school come in clinical courses, although a few adventurous professors are adding reflective …
Opinion Writing And Opinion Readers, Meehan Rasch
Opinion Writing And Opinion Readers, Meehan Rasch
Meehan Rasch
The authors - a federal appellate judge and his law clerks - bring unique perspectives to bear on the topic of opinion writing and opinion readers. The contents of this Article were inspired in large part by the work done by the authors in editing and preparing the second edition of Judge Aldisert's classic book Opinion Writing, which for many years was distributed to all federal trial and appellate judges, and to all state appellate judges, when they took the bench. A broader audience of professional opinion writers and students of the judicial process now has access to Opinion Writing, …
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
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 …