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Mitchell Hamline Professor Carolyn Grose<\/strong> hopes her new book helps law students and working attorneys become better persuasive advocates by improving their narrative and storytelling skills, regardless of practice area or type.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, narrative theory does two things\u2014gather and organize information, and persuade,\u201d Grose says.<\/p>\n In \u201cLawyers, Clients and Narrative: A Framework for Law Students and Practitioners<\/a>,\u201d written with Professor Margaret Johnson of the University of Baltimore School of Law, Grose argues it\u2019s easier for people to absorb information when it comes in the form of a story. She says having strong narrative skills can help a lawyer better advocate for clients.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about what lawyers do, we work with facts and we try to persuade,\u201d Grose says. \u201cWhether we\u2019re a litigator or not, we\u2019re always representing a client to help that client accomplish something. We\u2019re trying to persuade somebody. Even if it\u2019s not a judge\u2014if it\u2019s a board of directors, or an IRS officer\u2014as a lawyer we\u2019re trying to change that person\u2019s behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n Grose says narrative theory can even come in handy for attorneys working on something as common as a health care directive. It makes sense, Grose says, because the point of a directive is to get a doctor to do something he or she wouldn\u2019t normally do, like not resuscitate an unconscious patient.<\/p>\n \u201cThat document has to be really persuasive. It has to tell a really compelling story in a matter of four or five paragraphs.\u201d<\/p>\n The book breaks down narrative theory into six parts and applies them to different areas of lawyering:<\/p>\n Calling it the first comprehensive book of its kind, Grose says it\u2019s meant to help law professors teach legal writing, interviewing, negotiation, counseling, and trial and appellate advocacy.<\/p>\n Successful working attorneys use narrative and storytelling in their work already, but Grose says \u201cLawyers, Clients and Narrative\u201d will help them use those tools more intentionally and effectively.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not suggesting anything new here,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re already persuading, organizing, and finding facts. But this book has some tools to do it a lot more efficiently and a lot more effectively. Start asking questions about the characters, start trying to find the events and compile descriptions of the settings. Force yourself to slow down enough to deconstruct what appears to be a static set of facts.\u201d<\/p>\n Grose says the book is based on decades of teaching both in classrooms and in clinical settings. It also includes examples from real-life cases.<\/p>\n The book also uses the first season of the popular crime podcast Serial<\/a> to demonstrate narrative theory. In addition, Grose has used the Minnesota Public Radio podcast 74 Seconds<\/a>\u2014which covered the 2016 police shooting of Philando Castile and the subsequent trial of officer Jeronimo Yanez\u2014in her Critical Lawyering class at Mitchell Hamline. Grose also shares updates on how her students use narrative theory, and invites students to post their experiences, on her blog Pay Attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mitchell Hamline Professor Carolyn Grose hopes her new book helps law students and working attorneys become better persuasive advocates by improving their narrative and storytelling skills, regardless of practice area or type. \u201cFor me, narrative theory does two things\u2014gather and organize information, and persuade,\u201d Grose says. In \u201cLawyers, Clients and Narrative: A Framework for Law … <\/p>\n\n