ABSTRACT
In the past, people primarily learned about law through intermediaries (most often journalists). Trial lawyers are often told to repeat terms, phrases, and ideas to insure that the jury notices and recalls important details and points. As a result of new technology, and the changing nature of information marketing, the public now has far greater access to functional legal materials, ranging from judicial opinions to court filings to trial arguments to legislative history. The Starr Report used far more than just evidence to make its case; it used artifice. Malti-Douglas's critical reading of the Starr Report provides insights into how an advocate makes a compelling case. The Starr Report Disrobed also considers the fluidly shifting narrative viewpoint employed by the authors of the Starr Report. When the public receives its understanding of the law directly, legal writers' marketing style and literary approach become essential to understanding how law will gain (or lose) its legitimacy.
