Making the Case

"Illuminating and important. . . . The richness of this small book rewards careful reading. . . . Kahn has established himself as a preeminent guide to the shape and structure of our modern political and legal imaginations."—Benjamin L. Berger, Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

"Every law student will want this book. Paul Kahn takes us beyond the typical holdings and precedents in judicial opinions to the all-important questions of how legal language convinces us of the truth it wants us to hear."—Robert Ferguson, Columbia Law School

“Paying close attention to the legal opinion—how it is structured, the texture of its argument—leads us to the heart of what law is and does. Paul Kahn’s book makes a wholly persuasive case for why we need to read the law.”—Peter Brooks, Princeton University

"Paul Kahn is one of the greatest legal humanists the academy has ever produced. His lucid and profound book shows us that the legal case is a rhetorical genre no less deserving of systematic study than the novel, play, or sonnet. I knew long before I finished the book that I would never read--or teach--the same way again." --Kenji Yoshino, NYU

"Every law student needs this book, but so does anyone else who seeks to understand—beyond the familiar soundbites—how judges think and how law is made."—Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law School