Classical rhetorical techniques can enhance the persuasiveness of Supreme Court opinions by making their language clear, lively, and memorable. This book focuses on three techniques—“invention” (creation of arguments), “arrangement” (organization), and “style” (word choice)—in the work of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Robert Jackson, Hugo Black, William Brennan, and Antonin Scalia, respectively. The justices featured here contributed to the Court’s rhetorical legacy in different ways, but all five rejected the magisterial opinion style of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in favor of a more personal and conversational format. As a result, their opinions have endured, and even modern readers who cannot recall the justices’ names understand and embrace the ideas expressed in their legal writings and apply those ideas to current debates. Practicing lawyers, professors, and students can use this book to study legal writing techniques and make their own writing more persuasive.

"From the twin birth of western rhetoric and law in the Greek-speaking world in the first millennium BCE, law and rhetoric were deeply connected in the ancient world. In the modern era of legal practice, the clear connections between law and classical rhetoric have largely been lost to both those trained in the law and those who study rhetoric. This interdisciplinary reader reestablishes those lost connections by pairing primary source materials in classical rhetoric and contemporary law. The chapters in this volume show that ancient rhetorical texts can deepen or disrupt contemporary notions about principles that lie at the root of western legal traditions and return to us our past, making it possible for scholars across several disciplines to build on work accomplished centuries before. Broken into four parts, this volume first covers the historical development of rhetoric. In Part Two, volume editor Mootz and scholar David A. Frank look at rhetorical theorists at "bookends" of an era when classical rhetoric was de-valued as a mode of thought. Mootz discusses the hegemonic wave of Enlightenment epistemology that separated law from rhetoric, and Frank shows that where Cartesian rationality fails in the modern era, the humanistic tradition of rhetoric allows law to respond to the needs of justice. Part Three consists of ten chapters that each (1) introduce a classical rhetorical theorist to the reader, (2) provide an excerpt from a text by that theorist, and then (3) demonstrate the relevance of that work to a contemporary court case. Moving from the Sophists, through Aristotle and Plato and their Greek contemporaries, to the Roman rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian, and finally, to the early medieval rhetorician, St. Augustine, these reprinted classical texts are contextualized by leading scholars in law, classics, and rhetoric, each with probing discussion questions for readers to engage and interact with the materials rhetorically. This vital resource of primary texts demonstrates how rhetoric illuminates the operation of the legal system and reconnects law to its rhetorical roots. Structured for use by scholars in critical inquiry and well suited for use in graduate or law school courses, Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law will be of interest to law, rhetoric, English, and communication scholars, and as an interactive catalyst to examine the ways in which ancient rhetorical theory informs our understanding of law practice today"--

Lawyers, law students and their teachers all too frequently overlook the most comprehensive, adaptable and practical analysis of legal discourse ever devised: the classical art of rhetoric. Classical analysis of legal reasoning, methods and strategy is the foundation and source for most modern theories on the topic. Beginning with Aristotle's Rhetoric and culminating with Cicero's De Oratore and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria, Greek and Roman rhetoricians created a clear, experience-based theoretical framework for analyzing legal discourse. This book is the first to systematically examine the connections between classical rhetoric and modern legal discourse. It traces the history of legal rhetoric from the classical period to the present day and shows how modern theorists have unknowingly benefited from the classical works. It also applies classical rhetorical principles to modern appellate briefs and judicial opinions to demonstrate how a greater familiarity with the classical sources can deepen our understanding of legal reasoning.

With a practical focus on persuasive writing strategies, Advanced Legal Writing: Theory and Strategies in Persuasive Writing explores three classical techniques: logos, pathos, and ethos, and provides students with a thorough introduction to the elements of rhetorical style. Unlike many other advanced legal writing texts, which tend to focus on a document-specific approach, this unique coursebook focuses on classical writing strategies that students can apply to a wide range of settings. The depth and scope of this text make it appropriate for upper-level legal writing courses. The Third Edition has been expanded to include the use of movies and other popular culture media in chapters dealing with literary references. There have also been substantial revisions to the chapter on policy. Features: Comprehensive coverage of the technical aspects of rhetorical style: metaphor, literary allusion, and figures of speech. Emphasizes theory as well as practice, building on three basic strategies of persuasive legal writing: Logos: Logic and rational argument. o Pathos: Value-based argument. Ethos: Establishing credibility. Highlights interdisciplinary contributions to persuasive writing from diverse fields, including cognitive psychology, classical rhetoric, and morality theory. Presents effective strategies that extend beyond the trial or appellate brief to a broad range of documents and settings. Covers new developments in cognitive psychology, pathos, persuasion, and the role of metaphor in persuasive legal writing. Depth and scope appropriate for upper-level legal writing classes. Thoroughly updated, the revised Third Edition offers: Substantial revisions to the chapter on policy. Expanded chapters on literary references now include other media, e.g., movies and other pop culture platforms.

Cicero and Modern Law contains the best modern writings on Cicero's major law related works, such as the Republic, On Law, On Oratory, along with a comprehensive bibliography of writings on Cicero's legal works. These works are organized to reveal the influence of Cicero's writings upon the history of legal thought, including St. Thomas, the Renaissance, Montesquieu and the U.S. Founding Fathers. Finally, the articles include discussions of Cicero's influence upon central themes in modern lega thought, including legal skepticism, republicanism, mixed government, private property, natural law, conservatism and rhetoric. The editor offers an extensive introduction, placing these articles in the context of an overall view of Cicero's contribution to modern legal thinking.

This volume covers an aspect of Congress mostly untouched in literature, examining Congress through the lens of sports. Across a set of broad and probing chapters, this book offers insights into some of the historic and contemporary challenges that sports have presented to Congress, along with highlighting the ways in which Congress has impacted the sports industry. The authors utilize a wide range of case studies to provide readers with a contemporary view of the interplay between Congress and sports, at both amateur and professional levels. Perspectives are drawn from an interdisciplinary and cross-organizational roster of authors, uniquely positioned to discuss various subjects. With real attention now being given to issues associated with sports, and an increasing number of lawmakers using sports to push policy agendas and create legislative opportunities, this book will be a vital resource for understanding the dynamic relationship between the two entities. Grounded in relevant literature, and written in an accessible and engaging manner, Congress and the Politics of Sports will be of great interest to both academic researchers and practitioners involved with US politics, Congress and congressional studies, public policy, sports studies and sport history.

In twenty-two chapters, divided into six parts for convenience, the authors not only lay bare the art of lawyering but also provide invaluable nuggets of perfecting and excelling as a solicitor and advocate. There is little doubt that the contents of this book dramatically make a lawyer, especially the lawyer in Africa, to be more effective, more skilful and a proper lawyer useful to the client and society.

An innovative and riveting look at briefs from a highly respected author that can be used a primary text in an advanced legal writing class or as a secondary text in a basic legal writing course. The chapters can be taken in any order. In the first part of the book, individual chapters cover advanced legal writing topics such as rhetoric, voice, emotion, metaphor, and narrative. The second part of the book introduces famous cases, with the story of each case. Chapter introductions provide interesting insights, such as historical context, the story of the case and of the litigation of it, information about the lawyers who wrote the briefs on both sides, what the courts decided, and, where relevant, about what has happened since. Compelling content makes it easy to engage students while photos throughout enliven the text. Features: Highly respected author Flexibility can be used as core text in advanced legal writing with other materials secondary text in a basic legal writing course chapters can be taken in any order High-interest, engaging content Each chapter focuses on important legal writing topics rhetoric voice emotion metaphor narrative Features famous case Chapter introductions with compelling insights historical context the story of the case and its litigation information about the lawyers who wrote the briefs on both sides what the courts decided what has happened since Full-text cases and briefs offered on a companion website Photos that enliven the text

As much a sword as a shield, Brief-Writing Master Plan offers an unparalleled and unprecedented curriculum of written advocacy. It’s a sparkling, alchemical blend of doctrine, ethics, and skills. It recruits linguistics, logic, psychology, rhetoric, and semantics into the arsenal of learned advocacy. It contains the rhetorical wisdom of ages, pages, and sages. An advocate files a brief to persuade the judge to decide the lawsuit in favor of the advocate’s client. The keyword is persuade. Too often, advocates forget this and write to please themselves. They address themselves instead of the court. They write in chest-thumping prose and style. Advocates will do well to keep in mind that in advocacy, all that counts is persuading the judiciary. Hence, Brief-Writing Master Plan responds to the judicial wish list for advocates’ writing style and substance. This book is a transformative resource with the potential to accelerate court proceedings by easing judicial burdens and caseloads. A sober reflection on the advocate’s duty to the court, Brief-Writing Master Plan encourages professional candor, decency, and honesty. Writing as taught in this book will surely propel you to the top 1% of the global legal profession and secure your legacy.