Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner have co-authored a book entitled Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges. It sounds very good, surely well written. Lawyers in the making, I can think of at least one, should find it useful...
Here's a synopsis:
In their professional lives courtroom lawyers must do these two things well: speak persuasively and write persuasively. In this noteworthy book, two of the most noted legal writers of our day Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner systematically present every important idea about judicial persuasion in a fresh, entertaining way. Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges is a guide for novice and experienced litigators alike. It covers the essentials of sound legal reasoning, including how to develop the syllogism that underlies any argument. From there the authors explain the art of brief-writing, especially what to include and what to omit, so that you can induce the judge to focus closely on your arguments. Finally, they show what it takes to succeed in oral argument. The opinions of Justice Scalia are legendary for their sharp insights, biting wit, and memorable phrasing. The writings of Bryan A. Garner, editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary, are respected inside and outside legal circles for their practical guidance on the art of writing and advocacy. Together the Scalia-Garner team has produced a fresh, innovative approach to a timeless topic.
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Your-Case-Persuading-Judges/dp/0314184716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209350950&sr=1-1
As a matter of fact, Scalia visited my law school a couple of weeks ago and was as cantankerous as usual. He effortlessly navigated a bunch of
ReplyDeletepolitically-loaded questions which have been put to him dozens of times by pundits, except these were asked by nervous (and not-so-clever) law students.
You should check out his 60-Minutes interview from Sunday. I think it's available on their website. He gives a nice run-down of his judicial philosophy, contrasting it sharply with that of R.B. Ginsburg.
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