Law Commons^™

Shakespeare In The Courts, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This article continues the theme of recent “Writing It Right” articles in the Journal of the Missouri Bar. These articles describe how federal and state judges today frequently accent their opinions’ substantive or procedural rulings with references to cultural markers that can resonate with the advocates, parties, and judges who comprise the opinions’ readership. The courts’ broad array of cultural references demonstrates versatility. Some of my early articles in the Journal profiled judicial opinions that referenced terminologies, rules, and traditions of baseball, football, and other sports. Together these sports’ mass audiences help define American culture.

Later my Journal articles profiled …

The Bard And The Bench: An Opinion And Brief Writer's Guide To Shakespeare, Robert Peterson

Faculty Publications

This work is a legal brief writer's and opinion drafter's guide to Shakespeare. It collects and catalogues by topic citations to plays, poems, or passages that are actually found in judicial opinions. This essay also suggests a few uncited orphans deserving a home in brief or opinion. The catalogue is web based; the reader may search it in its electronic format or download it for old-fashioned browsing.