This seminar explores the literary depiction of law, lawyers and the impact of law’s presence/absence as a force for resolution of conflict. The course focuses on critical reading, interpretation, and writing skills. A major task will be to read the assigned fiction, which may include short stories and drama as well as the novels that are the focus of student presentations. Each student reads, at a minimum, the common assigned work as well as his/her chosen novel and the novel of the student to whose paper he/she responds. The amount of required reading is substantial. Students are also required to write a seminar paper on a topic chosen by the student and professor. Professor Graham will provide citations to student works that meet her aspirational goals for the course. All papers in this course must meet the faculty’s “substantial writing requirement” criteria. That is, the paper must be at least 25 pages long and must have appropriate footnotes. I have a reading list of books for the course, although you may propose a book to me for my approval even if the book is not on the list. I should warn you in advance---no John Grisham.

If you plan to sign up for this class, you MUST meet me informally immediately prior to the end of the semester in which you are registering for the course. Students will want to get started reading during the break or over the summer. Luckily, this reading will often be a pleasure as well as a task.