Storytelling for lawyers

cover image

Where to find it

Law Library — 3rd Floor Collection (3rd floor)

Call Number
K181 .M49 2014
Status
Checked Out (Due 6/30/2024)

Authors, etc.

Names:

Summary

Good lawyers have an ability to tell stories. Whether they are arguing a murder case or a complex financial securities case, they can capably explain a chain of events to judges and juries so that they understand them. The best lawyers are also able to construct narratives that have an emotional impact on their intended audiences. But what is a narrative, and how can lawyers go about constructing one? How does one transform a cold presentation of facts into a seamless story that clearly and compellingly takes readers not only from point A to point B, but to points C, D, E, F, and G as well? In Storytelling for Lawyers, Phil Meyer explains how. He begins with a pragmatic theory of the narrative foundations of litigation practice and then applies it to a range of practical illustrative examples: briefs, judicial opinions and oral arguments. Intended for legal practitioners, teachers, law students, and even interdisciplinary academics, the book offers a basic yet comprehensive explanation of the central role of narrative in litigation. The book also offers a narrative tool kit that supplements the analytical skills traditionally emphasized in law school as well as practical tips for practicing attorneys that will help them craft their own legal stories.

Contents

  • Acknowledgment p. xi
  • 1 Introduction p. 1
  • I Lawyers Are Storytellers p. 1
  • II Legal Arguments Are Stories in Disguise p. 2
  • III The Parts of a Story p. 4
  • IV Movies and Closing Arguments p. 5
  • 2 Plotting I: The Basics p. 8
  • I What Is Plot? p. 8
  • II Plot Structure in Two Movies p. 20
  • 3 Plotting II: Plot Structure in a Closing Argument to a Jury in a Complex Torts Case p. 18
  • I The "Backstory" p. 30
  • II Annotated Excerpts from Gerry Spence's Closing Argument on Behalf of Karen Silkwood p. 31
  • III Concluding Observations p. 57
  • 4 Character Lessons: Character, Character Development, and Characterization p. 69
  • I Introduction: Why Emphasize Movie Characters in Legal Storytelling? p. 69
  • II What Is Character, and Why Is It Important to Legal Storytellers? p. 71
  • III Flat and Round Characters and Static and Changing Characters-High Noon Revisited p. 75
  • IV Techniques of Character Development and Characterization: Excerpts from Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life p. 82
  • 5 Characters, Character Development, and Characterization in a Closing Argument to a Jury in a Complex Criminal Case p. 90
  • I The "Backstory" p. 90
  • II Annotated Excerpts from Jeremiah Donovan's Closing Argument on Behalf of Louis Failla p. 93
  • III Concluding Observations p. 110
  • 6 Style Matters: How to Use Voice, Point of View, Details and Images, Rhythms of Language, Scene and Summary, and Quotations and Transcripts in Effective Legal Storytelling p. 115
  • I Backstory: Grading Law School Examinations p. 115
  • II Preliminary Note: "Voice" and "Style" p. 117
  • III Voice and Rhythm: "Staying on the Surface" p. 119
  • IV The Use of Scene and Summary: "Showing and Telling" p. 126
  • V Telling in Different Voices p. 130
  • VI Perspective or Point of View p. 138
  • VII Several Functions of Perspective: How Does Perspective (Point of View) Work, and What Work Does It Do? p. 140
  • VIII Concluding Observations p. 153
  • 7 A Sense of Place: Settings, Descriptions, and Environments p. 155
  • I Introduction p. 155
  • II Dangerous Territory: Contrasting Settings Evoking Danger and Instability in Joan Didion's "The White Album" and the Judicial Opinion in a Rape Case p. 158
  • III More Dangerous Places Where Bad Things Happen: Use of Physical Descriptions and Factual Details to Create Complex Environments in W. G. Sebald's The Emigrants and the Petitioners' Briefs in Two Coerced Confession Cases p. 164
  • IV Settings and Environment as Villains and Villainy in the Mitigation Stories of Kathryn Harrison's While They Slept and the Petitioner's Brief in Eddings v. Oklahoma p. 175
  • V Concluding Observations p. 184
  • 8 Narrative Time: A Brief Exploration p. 185
  • I Introduction p. 185
  • II The Ordering of Discourse Time p. 187
  • III Concluding Observations p. 200
  • 9 Final Observations: Beginnings and Endings p. 202
  • Notes p. 211
  • Index p. 227

Subjects

Subject Headings A:

Other details