Gerry Spence & the Art of Advocacy

Professor James R. Elkins College of Law | West Virginia University

 

 

 

 

Closing Argument

Gerry Spence on Closing Statements: " Closing the Deal--The Final Argument," in Gerry Spence, Win Your Case 223- 278 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005)

"The only cases that can be won in the final argument are those that have not been previously lost. On the other hand a good case can be lost in those fatal, final moments." [Spence, Win Your Case, at 224]

"We have asked the jury to turst us. But we must also trust ourselves. . . . We turn inward for our power. Is it there? Has it forsaken us? Will the words come? We feel a sense of helplessness. We try to locate the fear. Where is it? . . . We take a deep breath and look up at the jury. Then we hear our own voice . . ." [Id.]

Spence's "Famous Final Plea" in Closing Argument
[Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog]

Closing Argument: Other Views

Cross-examination in Criminal Cases
[Ray Moses, Center for Criminal Justice Advocacy]

Using Your Voice in Closing Argument
[Charles L. Becton, Trial]

Closing Argument by Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
["The Courtroom as Theater," Trichter & Murphy, Houston, Texas]

Closing Argument
[Winning Trial Advocacy Techniques blog]


Bibliography: Philip Meyer

Philip N. Meyer, "Desperate for Love": Cinematic Influences Upon a Defendant's Closing Argument to a Jury, 18 Vt. L. Rev. 721 (1994)

____________, "Desperate for Love II": Further Reflections on the Interpenetration of Legal and Popular Storytelling in Clsoing Arguments to a Jury in a Complex Criminal Case, 30 U.S.F. L. Rev. 931 (1996)

____________, Desperate for Love III": Rethinking Clsoing Arguments as Stories, 50 S.C. L. Rev. 725 (1999)

Bibliography

Michael S. Lief, H. Mitchell Caldwell & Benjamin Bycel, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: Greatest Closing Arguments in Modern Law (New York: Scribner, 1998)

Michael S. Lief & H. Mitchell Caldwell, The Devil's Advocates: Greatest Closing Arguments in Criminal Law (New York: Scribner, 2006)

[The Devil's Advocates includes a chapter on Gerry Spence's closing argument in the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge killings case.]

 

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