Making the Case
The Art of the Judicial Opinion
Published on 6. June 2016
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-300-21208-2 (ISBN)
Description
Writing in the tradition of Karl Llewellyn's classic The Bramble Bush, Paul Kahn speaks in this book simultaneously to students and scholars. Drawing on thirty years of teaching experience, Kahn introduces students to the deep, narrative structure of the judicial opinion. Learning to read the opinion, the student learns the nature of legal argument. Thus Kahn's exposition of the opinion simultaneously offers a theory of legal meaning that will be of great interest to scholars of law, humanities, and the social sciences. At the center of Kahn's approach are ideas of narrative, persuasion, and self-government. His sweeping account of interpretation in law offers innovative views of the nature of authorship, the development and decline of doctrine, and the construction of facts.
Reviews / Votes
"Every law student will want this book. Paul Kahn takes us beyond the typical holdings and precedents in judicial opinions to the all-important questions of how legal language convinces us of the truth it wants us to hear."-Robert Ferguson, Columbia Law School -- Robert Ferguson "Paying close attention to the legal opinion-how it is structured, the texture of its argument-leads us to the heart of what law is and does. Paul Kahn's book makes a wholly persuasive case for why we need to read the law."-Peter Brooks, Princeton University -- Peter Brooks "Paul Kahn is one of the greatest legal humanists the academy has ever produced. His lucid and profound book shows us that the legal case is a rhetorical genre no less deserving of systematic study than the novel, play, or sonnet. I knew long before I finished the book that I would never read--or teach--the same way again." --Kenji Yoshino, NYU -- Kenji Yoshino "Every law student needs this book, but so does anyone else who seeks to understand-beyond the familiar soundbites-how judges think and how law is made."-Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law School -- Linda GreenhouseMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-21208-2 (9780300212082)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2016
1st Edition
Yale University Press
€43.20
Available for download
Person
Paul W. Kahn is Robert W. Winner Professor of Law and the Humanities and director of Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School. His previous publications include The Reign of Law, Legitimacy and History, and Law and Love.