Competing Stories: A Case Study of the Role of Narrative Reasoning in Judicial Decisions

Abstract

Since 2007, the Applied Legal Storytelling (AppLS) movement has helped scholars understand the role of stories in the legal system. 1 AppLS 2 scholarship differs from some of the more-familiar genres of "storytelling" scholarship in that it focuses on the practical: how does storytelling (or "narrative theory") affect what lawyers and judges do in actual cases? 3 Much, although certainly not all, of this rich body of scholarship examines storytelling from the point of view of the client or the advocate. That is, many scholars are investigating the characteristics of stories and drawing conclusions about how advocates can best take advantage of those characteristics, to tell effective stories on behalf of their clients. 4

Britishness, belonging and citizenship

“…An example can be found in the feminist judgments project where court cases have been rewritten by scholars to reflect feminist jurisprudence (Hunter et al, 2010). 9 Two specific movements have brought storytelling to the fore: the law and literature movement (Chestek, 2012), and applied legal storytelling, which focuses on how lawyers and judges use stories in justifying arguments (Edwards, 2009). The law and literature movement looks for images of law in literature and traces of literature in law, whereas the applied legal storytelling movement looks for stories behind the use of legal authority, policy and principle.…”