 reading films
obstacles to reading
story
hero
screenwriting
genre
theory
academic disciplines
women/film
film journals
links
Professor Elkins
[For an expanded print version of this website, see
James R. Elkins, Reading/Teaching Lawyer Films, 28 Vermont L. Rev. 814 (2004)][on-line text][For a condensed version of the essay, see
Reading Lawyer Films, 25 (1) Les Cahiers de l’APLIUT (2006)[on-line text]]
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 syllabus
course assignments
course writing
course resources
personal statement
some questions
 What can we learn about ourselves as lawyers from watching lawyer films?
If we are to learn something about ourselves as lawyers from films, what elements of the films--story, narrative, drama, plot, character portrayal, lawyer rhetoric, mythology, visual presentation, criticism--are of particular interest to us as lawyers?
How are the ideals associated with a life in law portrayed in film? What critical views and interpretations of law, lawyers, and lawyering are presented in film?
How are we to "read" the social, political, and cultural messages we associate with lawyer films?
"There is a long history of law in film,
one worthy of serious study."
Rennard Strickland, "The Hollywood Mouthpiece: An Illustrated Journey Through the Courtrooms and Back-Alleys of Screen Justice," in David L. Gunn (ed.), The Lawyer and Popular Culture: Proceedings of a Conference 49-59, 53 (Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman & Co., 1993)
There is a growing body of literature, legal scholarship, and web-resources on lawyers and film. Lawyers and legal issues have never been more prominent in popular culture--film, television, novels--than they are today. Consequently, there is an emerging recognition on the part of law teachers and legal scholars that popular culture (in all its forms) deserves attention and scholarly study. |
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