Return to 2002 DP Start 
Return to Agenda for Conference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Page

 

4 ADVOCACY & STORYTELLING "I have no scenery to help me and no words are written for me to speak. There is no curtain. But out of the vivid dream of somebody else's life I have to create an  atmosphere for that is advocacy." Edward Marshall Hall, English advocate, died 1927 LITIGATION AS PERSUASIVE STORYTELLING The necessary ingredients for persuasive storytelling are: CAST OF CHARACTERS  Who are the characters in your story of innocence or reduced culpability? PROPS  What are the physical objects, such as real and demonstrative evidence, you will need to tell this story? CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  Who are the people in your story? What are they like? How do they normally live their lives? What are their tragic flaws? PLOT  What is your client's story of innocence or reduced culpability? Is it a classic story with which the jurors or fact-finder or appellate court can empathize? CHRONOLOGY AND PERSPECTIVE  How does your story unfold? Is it told in chronological order or in flashbacks? Is it told from a single individual's perspective or from the viewpoints of many witnesses? EMOTIONALLY RIVETING  What is the dominant emotion of your story? Is the emotional foundation of your story such that jurors and others can identify and appreciate how that emotion dominated and impacted your story? THEORY AND THEMES: THE PROCESS OF PERSUASIVE LITIGATION