A publication of the Association of Legal Writing Directors

Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD
Advancing the study of professional legal writing and lawyering.
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Ian Gallacher*

* Associate Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law. An early version of portions of this article was presented at “Once Upon a Legal Time,” the second biennial international applied legal storytelling conference at the Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon. Thanks to Dean Hannah Arterian for her support, both personal and professional, in making this article possible, to Dean Philip McConnaughay, the faculty, and staff at the Lewis Katz building of Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law for giving an itinerant faculty member a home during the summer of 2009, and to Professor Penny Pether, who planted the seed of this article many years ago. Thanks also to the indefatigable Katharine Laubach who handled all my research requests with grace and skill, to Bailey McKinstry for her company during the writing process, and to Charles Goodell, who taught me many years ago about the importance of empathy for trial lawyers and the power of “standing tall.” And thanks to a dream team of editors—Joan Magat, Ruth Anne Robbins, Melody Daily, and Susan Bay—for their skill, hard work, and kindness. They edited this article the way every writer would wish an article to be edited. This is for Jean McKinstry, a person whose life embodied empathy, and, as always, for her daughter Julie.