May 2008
A Voice for the Write
Antonin Scalia.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
When legal writing expert Bryan A. Garner set out to interview all nine U.S. Supreme Court justices for his website, at lawprose.org, he found one justice particularly compatible: Antonin Scalia. “I found on a personal level that he and I clicked,” says Garner.
Measured only by their contrasting voices, they seem an unlikely duo: Dallas native Garner’s broad Texas drawl, Scalia’s lively New York-bred tempo.
But they are united in their devotion to the written and spoken word—no matter the accent.
The result: Their just-published collaborative tutorial, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges.
In March, the ABA Journal’s Richard Brust sat down with Scalia in the Supreme Court’s Lawyers’ Lounge—joined by Garner in teleconference—to talk about writing and oral argument. Highlights of that conversation appear below.
Continue reading...In This Issue
Web Extras
- Inside the Scalia Interview
- Podcast: Scalia and Garner on Appellate Advocacy
- Scalia Interview Transcript
Feature Section
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Making Your Case
The art of persuading judges.
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Learning the Hard Way
Michael Burke lost his freedom and his license to practice. But along the way, he learned some important truths about himself and the law. He’s not alone.
ABA Connection
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Plotting Against Probate
Efforts by estate planners, courts and legislatures to minimize probate haven’t killed it yet.
Opening Statements
- The J.D.-Hendrix Experience
- Mickey Sherman, Unplugged
- Bite-Mark Evidence Loses Teeth
- House Calls
- Thirty-Four
