A Special Issue on Law and Popular Culture From the Journal of the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies @OxfordCSLS

Now published:

Special issue of the Journal of Oxford Center for Socio-Legal Studies: Law and Popular Culture (Issue 3, 2017).

This issue includes

Opening matters, by Pedro Fortes and Michael Asimow

Foreword: The Funhouse Mirror: Law and Popular Culture, by Lawrence M. Friedman

Jewish Lawyers on Television, by Michael Asimow

Outside But Within: The Normative Dimension of the Underworld in the Television Series "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul," by Manuel A. Gomez


The Portrayal of the Corporate Lawyer on TV: The US and British Models from L.A. Law To Trust and Suits, by Peter Robson

Lights, Camera, Affirmative Action: Does Hollywood Protect Minorities? by Pedro Rubim Borges Fortes

Photography's Transformation: Its Influence on Culture and Law, by Henry J. Steiner 

Law and Opera: Stimuli to a Sensible Perception of Law, by Gabriel Lacerda
 
More Human Than Human: How Some Science Fiction Presenta AI's Claims to the Right to Life and Self-Determination, by Christine A. Corcos

Law and Literature: A Dilettante's Dream? by William Twining 

Wire From the Field: Tackling Visual Knowledge: The Story of the Yale Visual Law Project, by Sandra Ristovska


Book Review: Law and Popular Culture: A Course Book by Michael Asimow and Shannon Mader

A 1930s Alabama Rape Trial and "To Kill a Mockingbird"

A newly published book makes the case (pun intended) for a link between a real life trial and Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Joseph Madison Beck's My Father and Atticus Finch (Norton, 2016) retells the story of a 1930s  Alabama rape trial in which Mr. Beck's father defended a black man against rape charges. It also explores pre-civil rights era race relations in the South, and the image of Southern lawyers.


Additional information, including an interview with the author, here.  Via Allen Mendenhall @allenmendenhall.

The ABA Journal Presents---The Ten Top Lawyers In Comics

The ABA Journal's choice of ten top lawyers in comics. I love the idea, though I'm not crazy about the format. I really dislike having to click through lists, frame by frame.

An Early "Thumbs Up" For "Bridge of Spies"

Brendan Sharp reviews Steven Spielberg's new film Bridge of Spies for the ABA Journal here, pointing out that the protagonist, James Donovan (played by Tom Hanks), is an insurance lawyer. Writes Mr. Sharp,

After three grueling years of law school and passing the bar, lawyers often discover that the cases they’d like to tackle aren’t necessarily the ones which put enough food on the table. It’s very difficult to come across and try a case which eventually goes before the highest court in the land, much less one bearing both historical and international significance.

 But for us Walter and Wilma Mittys, it's the kind of story in which we can lose ourselves.

Dennis Greene, Law Professor and Founding Member of Sha-Na-Na, Passes Away

Frederick Dennis Greene, a founding member of the rock and roll group Sha-Na-Na and a graduate of Yale Law School, has died after a brief illness. Among the courses Professor Greene taught at the University of Dayton Law School from 2004 to his death were Torts, Constitutional Law, and Entertainment Law. I had the honor of serving with him on the AALS Law and Film Committee and knew him as a charming, erudite, and witty colleague. I will miss him.

Selected Bibliography of Frederick Dennis Greene

Cultural Colonization in the Hollywood Film: The Harlem Debates, Part 2, 5 Asian Law Journal 63 (1998).

Immigrants In Chains: Afrophobia in American Legal History: The Harlem Debates, Part 3, 76 Oregon Law Review 537 (1997).

The Law and Business of the Entertainment Industry (Cognella Press, 2013).

The Resurrection of Gunga Din, 81 Iowa Law Review 1521 (1995-1996).


Tragically Hip: Hollywood and African American Film, Cineaste (1994)

Dennis Greene: Sha Na Law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzZl927OcoA

"Little Star": Denny Greene RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpzjZBhLYvY

Eighteenth Century Lawyers On Stage

Simon Stern, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, has published William Blackstone: Courtroom Dramatist? in Re-Interpreting Blackstone's Commentaries: A Seminal Text in National and International Contexts (Wilfrid Prest, ed.; Oxford, Hart, 2014). Here is the abstract.

This book chapter discusses William Blackstone's role as a judge, in relation to accounts (such as Bentham's) that portrayed him as "formal, precise, and affected." Rather than evaluating legal performance, in the courtroom, by reference to binaries such as formal/informal, cautious/inquisitive, or stolid/creative, I argue that the success of a legal performance depends on the speaker (e.g., witness, lawyer, judge), the audience (e.g., jury, judge, public), and the subject (e.g., the prosecution’s motives, the defendant’s alibi, the majesty of the common law). To explore this idea, I look at eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century commentators who praised or criticized particular lawyers or judges (in the course of offering "strictures on the bar") by invoking the language of theatricality. As I show, this language was most prevalent in discussions of jury trials, and was often pointedly abandoned in discussions of purely legal arguments (e.g., arguments before appellate courts). The figures in question include William Garrow, Sir John Scott, Sir Francis Buller, and Richard Sheridan. I also consider portrayals of inarticulate lawyers on the eighteenth-century stage, arguing that for the most part, these portrayals make none of the distinctions suggested here, as to audience and subject, but instead simply treat this character as a figure of fun because he is incompetent to perform his task, whatever that task may be. I close by reconsidering a shorthand transcription of Blackstone's performance on the bench in the 1770 trial of Onslow v. Horne, arguing that his conduct comports with an emerging sense of what makes for a good legal argument -- namely, one that takes written explanation as the template for an effective style of oral presentation, and one that Blackstone's own Commentaries helped to promote.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link. 

Tax Lawyers and Popular Culture

Fiona Alpins, who is a Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and a member of the Victorian Bar, gave this talk on June 4, 2013 at the Tax Bar Association dinner in honor of the Honorable Justice Kerr. All about tax lawyers and tax law in popular culture.

If you want to read more about tax law and tax lawyers in pop culture, check out the following short (and by no means exhaustive) bibliography.

Paul L. Caron, Tax Myopia, or Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Tax Lawyers, 13 Virginia Tax Review 517 (1994), at 527-530.

Erik M. Jensen, The Heroic Nature of Tax Lawyers, 140 U. Pa. L. Rev 367 (1991). Reprinted in 54 Tax Notes 1557 (1992).

Debra Cassens Weiss, Tax Profs' Movie Recommendations For Law Students, ABA Journal, Mar. 10, 2009, at http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/tax_profs_movie_recommendations_for_law_students/.

Lawrence Zelenak, Six Decades of the Federal Income Tax in Sitcoms, 117 Tax Notes 1265 (2007).

Thoughts? Comments? Additions? cheerfully accepted (no snark, please).

Legal Series, Based On an Aussie Hit, Will Make Its Appearance On Fox Network

Fox is adapting the popular Australian legal drama (actually more of a dramedy), Rake, which stars Richard Roxburgh as Sydney-based Cleaver Greene, for the US market. The US version stars Greg Kinnear ("You've Got Mail," "The Kennedys," (TV miniseries), and something called "Murder of a Cat," which doesn't tempt me to see it, based on the title), as Keegan Deane, a criminal defense attorney who always seems to get into trouble.

More here, including video clips, at the webpage for the show, which premieres Thursday, January 23, at 9 p.m., 8 Central time. 

New Reality Show Focusing On Brooklyn Prosecutor's Office Debuts

Legal dramas are perennially popular, and as usual, the networks are already rolling them out for the 2013 season. On Tuesday, May 29, at 10 p.m., 9 Central time, CBS launches a new show, Brooklyn D.A., starring the city itself and the office of the prosecutor, focusing on the ADAs and their work. What is different about this six part series? It's a chance for viewers to look behind the scenes. 

The show is already not without controversy. Abe George, who is running for the office of District Attorney, had attempted to object to the show, arguing that it constitutes election publicity for the office holder, Charles Hynes. A judge denied his motion last week. Today, meanwhile, a man suing the D.A. 's office for wrongful conviction is now attempting to obtain emails exchanged between that office and the show's producers.

More here from the New York Times, here from the New York Daily News.

The Lawyer As Trickster 2.0

John Denvir, University of San Francisco School of Law, has revised his work "Guile is Good: The Lawyer as Trickster." The original was a top ten download in several categories. The revision is available here from SSRN. Here is the original abstract.

What is the lawyer’s genius — the talent that distinguishes us from other professions? Movies and television suggest that it is more than legal knowledge and technical skills; it is the way lawyers use creativity and cunning to outwit their adversaries. Lawyers in films and television act much like the Trickster figure in mythology and folklore. Moreover, study of the professional lives of the best real life lawyers reveals these same trickster talents. The paper argues that lawyers should embrace the trickster identity because it celebrates the valuable contributions lawyers make to the public good.

Love, Loyalty, and Sacrifice in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Linda Ross Meyer, Quinnipiac University School of Law, has published Love, Law and Sacrifice in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Here is the abstract.

This paper reflects on themes of love, loyalty, and sacrifice in the film version of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Using the typology of Kierkegaard's knight of the infinite/knight of faith, the paper argues that Atticus does not stand for liberal principles of universal law but rather faith in the possibilities of friendship and neighborliness.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.

They're Not Lawyers, But They Play Them In the Movies

Attorney Alan L. Rupe discusses what movies have taught him about how to present a case in What I Learned at the Movies. Among the films he lists as worthy of legal study are Legally Blonde, North Country, Norma Rae, Philadelphia, and the lesser-known Office Space.

The Lawyer As Trickster

John Denvir, University of San Francisco, School of Law, has published Guile is Good: the Lawyer as Trickster. Here is the abstract.

What is the lawyer’s genius — the talent that distinguishes us from other professions? Movies and television suggest that it is more than legal knowledge and technical skills; it is the way lawyers use creativity and cunning to outwit their adversaries. Lawyers in films and television act much like the Trickster figure in mythology and folklore. Moreover, study of the professional lives of the best real life lawyers reveals these same trickster talents. The paper argues that lawyers should embrace the trickster identity because it celebrates the valuable contributions lawyers make to the public good.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.

A Recommended Reading List

In the ABA Journal's current issue, 30 Lawyers Pick 30 Books Every Lawyer Should Read.

Plain Speaking Outside the Courtroom

Jason Cohen, Rutgers School of Law (Camden), has published Attorneys at the Podium: A Plain Language Approach to Using the Rhetorical Situation in Public Speaking Outside the Courtroom, at 8 Legal Communication &Rhetoric 73 (2011). Here is the abstract.

The general public typically has the unrealistic expectation that all lawyers are effective and persuasive public speakers who, when called upon, have the innate ability to say “just the right thing.” In fact, not all of us have that innate ability. And even though we may have some level of legal genius swirling around in our minds, that genius is sometimes poorly communicated in speeches that ultimately don’t meet audience expectations or needs. Certainly, law school has taught us how to think and write like lawyers, but the ability to effectively communicate orally isn’t as frequently emphasized. This lack of emphasis on effective public speaking is unfortunate because lawyers are frequently forced to engage in some public speaking outside the courtroom, including speaking to lay groups about various matters of legal controversy; making appearances before legislatures, city councils and municipal boards; presenting at bar association luncheons; making client pitches; or participating in media interviews on behalf of clients. All of these occasions require the attorney-speaker to organize content, consider the audience, and deliver the most effective message possible.



Understanding the rhetorical situation - a theoretical concept with huge practical implications - before crafting the response helps the speaker meet these crucial components to effective speaking. Rather than focus merely on the mechanics of speech delivery or the flourishes of theatrical speaking, the speaker should first identify the rhetorical situation, which will force the speaker to concentrate on specific content for the speech.



The good news for those attorneys who want to become more successful public speakers is that if they understand the rhetorical situation, they will be better able to meet audience expectations. This is true because their analysis of the situation gives the attorney-speaker the tools to understand the environmental context of the speech (what is happening in the world outside the speech) and the audiences affected by this context. Together, these understandings ultimately permit the speaker to craft a speech that can aid, persuade, or satisfy those affected.



This short article first introduces the theoretical definition of the rhetorical situation. Translating the theory into plain language, it then offers a checklist for the attorney in preparing for any speaking scenario. These steps embody the rhetorical-situation analysis. Finally, the article illustrates the recommended approach by guiding the reader through an analysis of the rhetorical situation surrounding President Reagan’s Challenger speech.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.