Telling stories about cases and clients: The ethics of narrative

72. Commentators have noted the distinction between metaphors and actual people in social science research. See Joan Williams, Deconstructing Gender, 87 MICH. L. REV. 797, 840-41 (1989).

73. Cahn, Inconsistent Stories, supra note 51, at 2478, 2485-87 & n.51. 74. See discussion infra Part II(C)(3) for examples.

75. See Alfieri, supra note 48, at 2111, 2114-18.

76. See Alfieri, Josephine V, supra note 51, at 637-43. 77. See Alfieri, supra note 47, at 693.

78. See White, Mrs. G., supra note 8, at 23.

79. See Dinerstein, supra note 51, at 972; Miller, Case Theory, supra note 6, at 530. 80. See Cunningham, supra note 4, at 2464.

81. See Cunningham, supra note 51, at 13 10; Miller, Case Theory, supra note 6, at 530. 82. See Miller, Case Theory, supra note 6, at 530.

83. See Gilkerson, supra note 52, at 938 (naming clients Tori M., Dawn E., Melissa H. and Maria C.). 84. See Cunningham, supra note 4, at 2465-67.

85. See Herbert Eastman, Speaking Truth to Power: The Language of Civil Rights Litigators, 104 YALE L.J. 763,766 (1995).

86. See, e.g. Espinoza, supra note 64; Miller, Case Theory, supra note 6; Spinak, supra, note 64. Stories that use client composites tend to have the feel of a lengthy client narrative, or fall somewhere between a narrative and a case-round type report.

87. Spinak, supra note 64. I disagree with Spinak's assertion that the narrative of the case is not about her client, id. at 2052, although I agree that the narrative of the case is Spinak's story too. See infra Part II(C)(1).

88. For an excellent definition of case rounds, see Shalleck, supra note 57, at 144 (explaining that "a group of students draws upon the shared discourse of the classroom to discuss the issues in their cases."). Case rounds are also known by other terms, such as "group case analysis meetings." See Shalleck, supra note 57, at 110, 144 (using terms interchangeably).

89. See generally Menkel-Meadow, supra note 58. Memoirs written by lawyers about their life in the law (Randy Bellows, Notes of a Public Defender in THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF LAwYERS 88 (1988); J. L. CHESTNUT, JR. BL JULIA CASS, BLACK IN SELMA: THE UNCOMMON LIFE OF J.L. CHESTNUT, JR. (1990); ALAN M. DERSHOWITz, BEST DEFENSE (1983); JAMES S. KUNEN, How CAN You DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE? (1983); KuNsTLER, supra note 21; ARTHUR L. LIMAN, LAWYER: A LIFE OF COUNSEL AND CONTROVERSY (1998); GERALD SPENCE, THE MAKING OF A COUNTRY LAWYER (1996)), or particular cases (Roy BLACK, BLACK'S LAW: A CP,NAL LAWYER REVEALS His DEFENSE STRATEGIES IN FOUR CLIFFHANGER CASES (1999); ALAN DERSHOWITz, REASONABLE DOUBTS: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE OT SIMPSON CASE (1997)), contain aspects of both lengthy narrative and case round type reports. But even when the descriptions of cases are quite lengthy, see LIMAN, supra at 3-9 (describing abuse heaped on Senate witnesses by Roy Cohn and Joe McCarthy), it is the lawyer, rather than the client, who occupies center stage.

90. Smith, supra note 35, at 731-32.

91. See generally Kearney, supra note 37, at 178-79 (describing experiences with students in paternity cases and child support cases).