by George Brosi

There are several aspects of the way that a trial attorney proceeds which are advantageous to others advancing an argument, including those supporting a thesis in academic writing.

The trial attorney ordinarily begins to prepare for a trial knowing absolutely nothing of the case. The attorney focuses upon how each aspect of the case supports either one thesis--the guilt of the client--or the other--innocence. Both sides must be examined with equal care, so that one can be advanced and the other critiqued. Once it comes time to articulate the case in court, however, the attorney is in command, expressing everything as a personal conviction, regardless of how totally convincing the case may be or how much of the case rests upon the knowledge or insights of an informant or another person.

The case begins and ends with a statement by the attorney. This is the chance for the lawyer to be confident and impressive in a commanding voice without relying upon other authorities. The opening and closing statements compare to the opening or closing sections--or paragraphs--of a research paper.

The attorney carefully organizes the case into parts which the jury can sort out and understand. These basic aspects of the case are like the sub-headings of a research paper. For example, the attorney may assert a client's innocence by establishing 1. good character, 2. absence from the scene of the crime, 3. incompatibility with the physical evidence and 4. lack of motive.

The good writer uses sources much like the good lawyer uses witnesses, seeking the most credible and compelling, and checking out several possibilities before deciding upon the most appropriate. This is time well spent, not wasted, because good witnesses are crucial to the case. Before letting the witness speak, the attorney explains to the jury how the testimony connects to the case and advances it. Similarly the scholarly writer will begin each paragraph with a personal statement connecting the material to come with the overall case. The academic writer must introduce all sources, clarifying why they are particularly apt. The jury can tell by looking and listening when the witness is talking and when the attorney is, but the academic writer must indicate by an introduction or by subsequently simply calling forth the source's last name that the voice is now that of the source, not the writer. In the research paper, parenthetical documentation is the indication that the witness has stepped down from the stand and that the writer is back in control.