Date(s) of Conference:
July 8-10, 2011
Location:
University of Denver,
Sturm College of Law
Description:
This popular and well-received conference series fosters innovative collaboration and exciting dialogue about the persuasive use of story across the spectrum of lawyering skills. This conference will bring together academics, judges, and practitioners to explore the role of narrative in legal practice and to discuss curricular strategies that will prepare students to use story and narrative as they enter the practice of law. This is a very collegial and supportive conference and we welcome proposals from people who are new to applied storytelling as well as from those who have already been part of the conversation.
Call for Papers:
Applied Legal Storytelling goes beyond traditional Law and Literature concepts to explore the role of narrative in both law practice and law teaching. Presentations at the first two conferences reveal the breadth of potential relevant topics. To help potential presenters and attendees understand how large and diverse a topic “legal storytelling” is, below is a list of some topics from prior presentations as well as potential other topics. Because the idea of the conference is to create and sustain dialogue, we invite proposals that continue these ideas as well as those that propose new areas of exploration. We also encourage people to present works in progress.
Lawyering Skills:
- The situating of the lawsuit or transaction in the client’s larger goals
- The strategies of asking witnesses for complete or incomplete narratives
- The use of opening and closing arguments as story devices
- The role of direct and cross examination as a method of story development
- The role of narrative reasoning in the “rule explanation” part of legal analysis
- The use of visuals to facilitate story tone
- Ethical considerations of storytelling to clients, other parties and fact finders
Lawyering Theory and Applications:
- Specific aspects of story structure and their application in law
- The intersection of narrative and logical reasoning
- The role of themes and emotional persuasion
- Policy arguments as a form of narrative reasoning
- Statutory analysis intersections with elements of narrative theory
- The roles of different characters involved in legal actions
- Stories as a way to enhance cognition and memory
- New modalities for storytelling in the law.
- The relationship and use of metaphors in the language of specific areas of law
- Exploration of the use of narrative or metaphor in judicial opinions
- Comparative storytelling models across different legal systems and different classes of clients
- Applications of story techniques borrowed from other writing genres
Teaching Strategies
- Examinations of curricular design that incorporate the use of stories to teach or the teaching of storytelling
- The design of simulations to enhance student skills about storytelling
- Teaching modules about story or narrative theory
The deadline for submissions is December 7, 2010. Submissions should be made on the attached Submission Form and should be sent, electronically, to:
Stacie Pacheco
Lewis & Clark Law School
spacheco@lclark.edu
Proposal Format: Please include a cover sheet, the form of which appears at the end of this document, plus a description or narrative. Proposal narratives can be as short as a few paragraphs, but please do not exceed 2-3 pages of text including whatever partial or full bibliography you include.
Selection Process: Submitters of proposals will be notified if their proposals have been accepted by January 15, 2011.
Contact Information:
Steve Johansen, tvj@lclark.edu
Robert McPeake, R.J.Mcpeake@city.ac.uk
David Thomson, dthomson@law.du.edu
Ruth Anne Robbins, ruthanne@camden.rutgers.edu
Brian Foley, bfoley@fcsl.edu
Alison Julien, alison.julien@marquette.edu
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