True Law as Genre: Narrative Nonfiction and the Law

Authors

Jorge L. Contreras, S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of UtahFollow

Document Type

Symposia Article

Abstract

The Genome Defense, which offers a book-length narrative nonfiction account of the civil litigation that led to the elimination of patents on human genes in the United States, is a member of a distinct literary subgenre that I term True Law. Like the older and better-known True Crime genre, True Law narratives blend the conventions of journalism and novelistic writing to describe complex legal disputes in a manner that is engaging and accessible to the general public. True Law accounts, which have increased in number and popularity since the publication of Jonathan Harr’s A Civil Action in 1995, serve multiple social functions including raising public awareness of legal issues, enhancing legal pedagogy, advocating policy positions, and inviting critical consideration of narrative voices, subjects, and privileges. This Essay invites scholars of law and literature to consider True Law works alongside other legal texts and include these works in the syllabi of law and literature classes.

DOI

10.37419/JPL.V11.I1.4

First Page

95

Last Page

152

Recommended Citation

Jorge L. Contreras, True Law as Genre: Narrative Nonfiction and the Law, 11 Tex. A&M J. Prop. L. 95 (2025).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/JPL.V11.I1.4