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Plenary: “Always on My Mind” – Old School Rhetoric and New School
Cognitive Science
Presented By:
Lucy Jewel University of Tennessee College of Law
Knoxville, TN
Presented at: ACLEA 53rd Mid-Year Meeting January 28th – January 31st, 2017
Nashville, Tennessee
Lucy Jewel UniversityofTennesseeCollegeofLaw
Knoxville,TN
Professor Jewel is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law She has been teaching law related courses for over ten years. Prior to teaching at the University of Tennessee, she taught at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, where she also served as Director of Legal Skills and Professionalism. Professor Jewel’s teaching is informed by several years of practice as a commercial litigator with the New York City firm of Wachtel, Masyr, & Missry, LLP.
Professor Jewel frequently presents on legal writing, legal education, and professionalism topics at national and international academic conferences. Most recently, she has spoken at the Legal Writing Institute’s Biennial Conference, The International Conference on Legal Education, Hosted by Bahcesehir Universitesi and the Turkish Bar Association in Ankara, Turkey, and The International Legal Ethics Conference at City University College of Law, London, UK.
Professor Jewel’s scholarship is interdisciplinary in nature and focuses on the intersections between technology, law, culture, and rhetoric. She writes about cognitive approaches to legal argumentation, technology and the practice of law, the impact of culture on the legal profession, and the past, present, and future of legal education. Her articles have appeared in journals such as the Yale Journal of Law & Technology, University of Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, Buffalo Law Review, and the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, and Technology.
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Old School Rhetoric & New School Cognitive Science
LucyJewel,Assoc.Prof.UniversityofTennesseeCollegeofLawACLEAmid-yearmeeting,NashvilleJanuary30,2017
Roadmap
• Ancientrhetoricprinciplesendure.• Moderncognitivesciencehelpsexplainwhy.• Howcantheseprinciplesaddresshowweteachattorneys?
OldSchoolRhetoric/ClassicalRhetoric
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ClassicalRhetoric– theFormoftheArgumentCorax,Syracuse,466B.C.
Argumentsshouldcontain:• Proem(introduction)• Narration(statementoffacts)• Argument(principalandresponsetocounterarguments)
• Peroration(conclusion)
ClassicalRhetoric:TheFormoftheArgument CiceroDuringtheRomanempire,theacceptedformofapersuasivespeechbecame:
• Introduction(proem)• StatementofFacts(narration)• DefinitionofIssues(status)• OutlineoftheArguments• Argument• Counter-Argument• Conclusion(telos)
ModernLegalPractice:ThePartsofaLegalBrief
• IssuesPresented• Introduction• StatementofFacts• SummaryoftheArgument• Argument• Conclusion
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ClassicalRhetoric:TheSyllogism(Logos)Aristotle’sView
A=B– Allmenaremortal.C=A– Socratesisaman.C=B– Socratesismortal.
ClassicalRhetoric:TheSyllogism(Logos)Transitivity,Containers,Categories
A=B– Allmenaremortal.C=A– Socratesisaman.C=B– Socratesismortal.
ClassicalRhetoric&ModernLegalWritingTheIRAC Structure
IssueRuleApplicationoftheruletothefactsConclusion
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ClassicalRhetoric&ModernLegalWritingTheIRAC StructureofLegalAnalysis
TheFoundation:TheLegalSyllogism• Allcontractsconveyingpropertyworthover$500mustbeinwritinginordertobeenforceable.• Stuart’scontracttosellhisPorschefor$12,000wasnotinwriting.• Stuart’scontracttosellhisPorschecannotbeenforced.
ClassicalRhetoric&ModernLegalWritingTheIRAC Structure
TheSyllogismthenbecomesIRAC:• Issue – isStuart’scontracttosellhisPorscheenforceable?• Rule – Allcontractsconveyingpropertyworthover$500mustbeinwritinginordertobeenforceable.• Application – Stuart’scontracttosellhisPorschefor$12,000wasnotinwriting.• Conclusion – Stuart’scontracttosellhisPorschecannotbeenforced.
ClassicalRhetoric:CategoriesAristotle’sViewofEssences
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ClassicalLegalThought:DichotomousCategories
Logos&LegalReasoning:ClassicalLegalThoughtLegitimizesArguments
LogosandLegalReasoning,MoldingtheRulesinaRealCase:WhatisaSandwich?IsaBurritoaSandwich?
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Asandwichisanitemoffoodcontainingfilling(meat,vegetables,etc.)inbetweentwoslicesofbread.
- OR -
Asandwichisanitemoffoodwithfilling(meat,vegetables,etc.),servedwithinorontopofagrain-basedproduct.
LogosandLegalReasoning,MoldingtheRulesinaRealCase:WhatisaSandwich?IsaBurritoaSandwich?
CriticismsofOldSchoolRhetoric
OldSchoolRhetoricCanProduceHarmfulOutcomes
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SoWhyUseOldSchoolRhetoric?Thehumanbraincravesorder andstructure.
WhyUseOldSchoolRhetoric?NewSchoolCognitiveScience
Thesyllogism(basedoncleancategories)islikealegalphonenumber,awayofchunking informationinawaythatlightensthereader’scognitiveload.
WhyUseOldSchoolRhetoric?NewSchoolCognitiveScience
TheFluencyPrinciple:• Studiesshowthatpeopleunderstandinformationmoreeasilywhenitispresentedclearlyandcoherently.
• Peopleratefluentauthorsasmoreintelligent.
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OldSchoolRhetoric,UsedThoughtfully,ProducesGoodLegalArguments
Whatdoesthismeanforeducatinglawyers?Threetakeaways:1. Excellentlawyeringnecessarilyinvolvescategorymanipulation,but
excellentlawyersdon’talwaysknowthattheyareactuallydoingthis.Lessonsthatmakethisprocessexplicitareveryhelpful.
2. Unpackingcategoriesisavitalskillforanyattorneyonthedefensiveside.
3. Thedark-sideofarigidcategoricalmindsetinlaw:• all-or-nothingthinking• Winvs.Lose• =Anxiety,Stress,Unhappiness
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