Literature and Legal Problem Solving

Literature and Legal Problem Solving is designed to demonstrate how the study of literature can be made relevant to the practice and study of law. The essays in the volume, edited by Paul Heald of the University of Georgia School of Law, each identify a particular legal problem and then analyze it in light of specific works of literature. The first essay, by Martha Nussbaum of the University of Chicago School of Law, serves as a paradigm for how literature can help unravel a difficult legal conundrum. In "Equity and Mercy", she examines both classical and modern literature to shed light on the current confusing state of the law involving the disparate treatment of aggravating and mitigating factors in capital sentencing procedures. In subsequent chapters, Susan Heinzelman of the University of Texas Department of English, Lief Carter of the Colorado College Political Science Department, David Skeel of the Temple Law School, Heald, and Nussbaum tackle issues ranging from the admissibility of "junk science" evidence to the proper scope of liability for sexual misconduct under laws governing seduction. They apply the works of authors as diverse as Euripides, Dickens, Elizabeth George, and Mozart, among many others.