The Plot Thickens: The Appellate Brief as Story

Chestek, Kenneth D.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.998388

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…147 This is referred to, in narrative theory, as the 'setting' of the story. 148 More specifically, the setting is concerned with the characteristics of the time (the "historical" or "social" setting) and place (the "physical" setting) of the story. 149 Each must be described with adequate detail to the audience for it to be able to imagine and understand the action in the right context.…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tale of Two Metaphors: A Narrative Take on the Canadian Constitution

Cloutier¹

2020

mlj

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This essay sheds light on the fundamental role that metaphors and narratives play in shaping how we talk, think, and argue, about the Constitution. Specifically, it makes the case that Canadian constitutional law is fashioned, to a large extent, by two competing types of metaphors: dynamic and static. Each of these categories, the essay seeks to show, stands for a different conception of the Constitution and, as such, influences the types of stories we tell about it. Each sustain, as the two case studies illustrate, dominant narratives about the Constitution, narratives whose structure essentially corresponds to the archetypal birth and rescue stories. The idea behind this essay is that, insofar as narratives and metaphors influence our cognition and help us reason about ideas and concepts-a great part of our work as jurists-we would be wise to pay attention to them. iii Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the help of many. I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Professor Lorraine Weinrib, for introducing me to the wonders of narrative scholarship, and for her insightful inputs, remarks, and guidance throughout the year. Her encouragement, the deep confidence and genuine interest she showed in my project, and the great care with which she read versions of this thesis, have been invaluable to me. I would like to thank my SJD advisor, Haim Abraham, whose comments during the initial stages of this process helped me clarify the goal and scope of my thesis. I am also deeply grateful to Justice Nicholas Kasirer for being a mentor, and for encouraging me to undertake graduate studies away from home. I must also thank my parents, Anne and Ronald, for having shaped my critical sense and instilled in me the love of the law. A sincere word of recognition is also due to Jean Leclair and to the late François Chevrette; all I know about constitutional law I have been lucky to learn from these outstanding teachers. Last but by no means least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my wonderful wife, Léa, for encouraging me to pursue graduate studies, for believing that I could do this from the start, and for being there every step of the way, always.

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Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tale of Two Metaphors: A Narrative Take on the Canadian Constitution

Cloutier¹

2020

mlj

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

Chestek

2011

SSRN Journal

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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

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