Judicial Rhetoric: Writing Persuasive Opinions

Authors

• Gerald Lebovits, New York State Supreme Court

Keywords

rhetoric, persuasive opinion, legal writing, judicial opinion

Abstract

In 1947, Judge George Rose Smith denounced, in the Arkansas Law Review, the “dearth of material concerning the mechanics of writing a judicial opinion” as a “striking omission in legal literature.” He was right.

The lack of attention given to the judicial opinion-writing process back then was hard to justify. Judges spend much of their time writing decisions. Decisions are important. They determine rights and responsibilities, as well as resolve controversies. Scholars have written about every aspect of judging and legal issue—except one of the most important ones: how to decide a case and justify the decision. Judicial opinions set precedent. Judges must, therefore, know how to write. And judges must be able to persuade their readers that they have decided correctly.

Judges who write opinions are judges who defend their decisions. This article’s goal is to discuss some strategies, styles, and tools that can help judges persuade their audience(s) that their decisions are just. This article does not—cannot—identify a single “best” way to write a persuasive opinion; no universally acclaimed method exists. Instead, this article analyzes various stylistic choices that judges might make and explains how and why each one helps or hinders judges in their efforts to persuade their readers. This article is intended to build on Judge Smith’s ground-breaking work in the fields of judicial rhetoric and opinion-writing. This article is meant to inspire judges to pursue self-improvement in the vital aspect of judging with at least a fraction of as much grace, humility, and wit as Judge Smith did in his 1947, 1967, and 1973 primers.

Recommended Citation

Gerald Lebovits, Judicial Rhetoric: Writing Persuasive Opinions, 79 Ark. L. Rev. 235 (2026).

Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/alr/vol79/iss2/5