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Rhetoric, Persuasion, and Modern Legal Writing

The Pen Is Mightier

Rhetoric, Persuasion, and Modern Legal Writing cover

Rhetoric, Persuasion, and Modern Legal Writing

The Pen Is Mightier

Description

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.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: The Power Of Rhetoric In Supreme Court Opinions

Chapter Two: The Rhetorical Roots of Persuasive Legal Writing

Chapter Three: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Literary Lion

Chapter Four: Robert Jackson: Country Lawyer with A Golden Pen

Chapter Five: Hugo Black: Master Of Simplicity

Chapter Six: William Brennan: Bridge-Builder

Chapter Seven: Antonin Scalia: Originalist in Style Too

Chapter Eight: Rhetoric And The Supreme Court: Past, Present, And Future

Product details

Published 11 Feb 2020
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 210
ISBN 9781498568920
Imprint Lexington Books
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Brian L. Porto

Brian L. Porto is professor of law at Vermont Law…

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