ADVOCACY TEACHING IDEAS FROM THE NEW YORKER?

Judge Robert McGahey of Denver submitted the following guest post:

I've subscribed to The New Yorker for years and read it cover-to-cover when I get it. The articles that are directly about the law and the legal process are frequently insightful and thought-provoking, especially those by Jeffrey Toobin.  But every now and then there's an article that's not directly related to the law that has application to advocacy or advocacy teaching.  I'd like to call your attention to two such recent articles.

In the March 9, 2015 issue there's an article titled "Frame of Reference", written by the inimitable John McPhee, one of my favorite authors.  McPhee writes on a myriad of subjects and his economical but stylish writing is always a treat.  This article discuss the fact that different people understand – or don't understand -- what someone is talking  or writing about depending on the listener's  or reader's frame of reference.

Telling Case Stories in Social Media: Do We Teach This? Should We?

From Judge Bob McGahey of Denver:

A recent article in the New York Times caught my attention enough that I forwarded it to a number of my advocacy teacher friends, especially those interested in storytelling in the courtroom. (link: http://nyti.ms/1EGD8Z4.) The article discusses how the explosion of social media and online access to court filings is changing the way some pleadings are drafted: "Now some plaintiffs' lawyers, calculating that they will be protected from defamation suits when making charges in civil complaints, distribute the first filings online as a way of controlling the narrative." It was that phrase "controlling the narrative" that really jumped out at me. That impacts on ideas of storytelling.

Selby on the Magic of Atmospheric Advocacy

It’s Soccer World Cup time.  Every mis-directed kick, every off side, every fumble, along with every magic moment – caught in the moment to be dissected, wept or laughed about by commentators and fans. Soccer is just one sport among many that shows our love for venting passion and being entertained.

There’s plenty of passion in courtroom trials, at home and abroad. It’s often ‘make or break’ for the parties.  And as for the entertainment:  have you noticed how much attention the media pays to any trial where journalists are in the dock?  Or to those trials where a tall poppy seems likely to be cut down? Or those trials where the sheer magnitude of the criminal activity – be that war crime, serial killing, ripping off a bank, massive pollution, draws the media like predators to the smell of blood. Think of the current English trials of the former News of the World staff, and those of the aged entertainers who, it is said, repeatedly groped.  Think of Egypt and the Al Jazeera journalists.  Think of China, and on it goes.