Shakespeare and Trial Advocacy, Samford University (Cumberland)

This seminar course explores the intersection of three related disciplines - Shakespearean studies, dramatic techniques, and trial advocacy. The premise of the course is that effective trial advocacy draws on and can be enhanced by techniques illustrated in Shakespearean courtroom scenes. The objective of the course is to provide students with a practical sampling of the dramatic and linguistic riches available for use in the courtroom. The course is not contemplated to overlap with Basic or Advanced Trial Advocacy courses. It does not involve the use of case studies, other than selected courtroom scenes from the Shakespearean canon. Previous exposure to Shakespeare is not a prereq, nor are acting skills. Further information about the course from a 2017 supplemental course information document: While all the world is a stage, courtrooms in particular fit that famous dictum. Trials are live dramatic performances, resolving competing stories. Lawyers are the actors on this stage. Through storytelling, they succeed or fail in persuading a finder of fact their client’s position. The work of our great playwright and persistent pro se litigant, William Shakespeare, yields essential insights for effective courtroom presentation. This seminar course explores the intersection of three related disciplines, Shakespearean studies, dramatic techniques, and trial advocacy. The premise of the course is that effective trial advocacy draws on and can be enhanced by techniques illustrated in Shakespearean courtroom scenes. Such scenes from at least four plays from the Shakespearean canon, The Winter’s Tale, Henry VIII, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, will be utilized in evaluating this premise. Each play will provide an example of direct and cross examination, opening and closing arguments, and appellate advocacy. The objective of the course is to provide students with a practical sampling of the dramatic and linguistic riches available for use in the courtroom. The course is not contemplated to overlap with Basic or Advanced Trial Advocacy courses. It does not involve the use of case studies, other than selected courtroom scenes from the Shakespearean canon. Previous exposure to Shakespeare is not a prerequisite, nor are acting skills. The course involves extensive use of outside resources, including video and live performance, guest lectures by actors, practicing attorneys, and Shakespearean scholars. This material meshes with traditional lectures and analysis of the texts, selected critical essays, and classroom discussion. Though the course may sound experimental, and is indeed outside the traditional law school curriculum, it draws upon the well-recognized legal and literary field of Shakespeare and the Law. Almost before the ink had dried on the plays, lawyers, from Sir Edward Coke to Justices Souter and Scalia, began analyzing and cribbing from the texts. Exposure to this field should be enjoyable as well as practical. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.