by Andrew Rossillo

Created on: May 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 16, 2007

Healthier Servings of Justice

With litigation on the rise in U.S. courts, it's crucial for our lawyers to steer clear of tunnel vision. Complex times require a comprehensive view of society before judgment is passed. But where in the cacophony of information can attorneys reliably turn for such reference? "To literature," claims novelist and educator Ona Russell, "to books which imaginatively represent the cultures in which they originate."

Literature and the Law is a growing academic field that examines the linguistic and philosophical correspondences between these two important disciplines. Russell points out that this "hybrid disciplinemuch like a hybrid carcan produce a healthier system." Just as a single pebble stands weakly against the elements, a legal argument informed only by legal discourse can suffer a similar fate. The conglomerate rock gains strength in cementing its sediments. Similarly, implementing the lessons of literature in the courtroom can strengthen an attorney's chances of success.

Both literature and the law are interested in truth. The claim that literature is only of the imagination and law only of the facts disregards the role of the imagination in constructing a legal argument and the factual information inspiring the literary text. Both disciplines are also narrative-driven. Indeed, trial lawyers, like authors, tell stories, and literature can help them improve their storytelling skills.

Russell is passionate about the larger goal of her work: to help create a more equitable legal system. "Entrepreneurship and humanistic values should not be mutually exclusive. I partake of the first to further the second. Reading literature promotes empathy, and empathy is a necessary component of justice. Literature teaches attorneys and judges how to recognize their own biases and thus to be more sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of those they represent and about whom they decide."

This interdisciplinary approach injects humanity into a system of faceless dockets. And many esteemed members of the legal profession agree. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy recently presided over a Kennedy Center production of the trial of Shakespeare's Hamlet to show the difficulty of arguing for an insanity defense. Giving a character a face, fictional though it was, drove the point home as the jury was divided in their opinion. At the end, Justice Kennedy stated: "I hope what the audience will take away is that there's a richness in our literature, there's a richness in our heritage, and there's a richness in the law."

Justice Kennedy fused theater and the court while Russell brings literature to lawyers and judges through accredited classes and lectures. Russell comments, "The business of the law is to see that justice is served. My business is to see that legal professionals maximize their potential to fulfill that goal."

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