Helen Garner’s deep reverence for the law and the workings of the court is clear from her storied career as one of Australia’s most acclaimed writers.
Known for her compelling nonfiction, novels and short stories, her works Joe Cinque’s Consolation and This House of Grief are celebrated accounts of complex and controversial murder trials, capturing the courtroom as a space of drama, tension and deeply human stories.
Ms Garner has also worked closely with the legal profession, contributing to workshops aimed at helping judges refine their writing and improve the clarity and readability of their judgments.
In the latest episode of The Callover Garner spoke with host Georgia Athanasellis about her observations of the courtroom, the relationship between storytelling and the law, and what lawyers can learn to improve their writing.
Discovering the law
What was your first interaction with the legal system?
Ms Garner said her fascination with the law started when she attended the trial of a man and a women accused of murdering a friend’s stepdaughter.
“When I discovered the law, as it were, when I realised that I could go and just sit there day after day in deep fascination and learning, it was as if the whole new world cracked open,” she said.
Ms Garner said she was astonished by the judge’s direction to the jury.
“He said that they were not to find the woman guilty because the evidence against her was not strong enough to support a guilty verdict. I don’t think I ever got over that moment of understanding that they really do have to prove it,” she said.
“I was thunderstruck and I still think that at that moment I grasped the spirit of the law. It was like some kind of thing in the room. It was this enormous power that was restrained by reason.”
Shifting views during a trial
I read somewhere you described that while watching the evidence play out in a trial, the way you feel about a case swings. Can you describe that to me?
“You have a lot of emotional reactions to what people are saying, and you kind of tuned in to the sort of vibe that each witness radiates.
“Sometimes you’ve heard a rough idea of the story, what must have happened. But then you think, oh which guy here do I think is the baddie?
“You sort of think ok he’s the one, I don’t like the sound of him, and then he gets on the stand and suddenly he’s either a broken-spirited, poor creature, or else he’s an absolutely charming person that you would love to have dinner with.”
She said it can take one question in cross-examination for the court to see underneath the mask people put on in public.
“You suddenly get this rush of pity or empathy for someone who previously you thought, oh, he’s awful … and somehow, the more time you spend in court, I find, the more the more deeply you respond on those levels to the people, you’re very sort of opened to them.”
Is there anything that you’ve noticed advocates do that facilitates you feeling that swing?
“A really heavy and brutal cross-examination is interesting because it does make people angry and people make mistakes. Then, you know, I can understand why counsel prefer not to put their client on the stand. I never really understood that until quite recently when… I used to think what, you’re not putting him on the stand? Surely, he has to account for himself in some way”
“…I haven’t seen a really monstrous piece of behaviour on the part of an advocate in a court. I’ve seen some really tough, ferocious cross-examining but I can understand why they have to do it. I respect the court greatly. I’ve got a great deal of respect and high regard for it.
“… I’ve seen counsel handle weakness with quite tenderness and that always moves me. But it also they’re not just doing it out of the kindness of their heart. It’s a mighty play, it’s theatre, and people change their tone.”
On improving legal writing
If I want to make my writing sharper and more economic, how do you go about cutting everything out and finding what’s important?
Ms Garner said getting rid of jargon was the first step.
“Every word has to fight for its place on the page, instead of going, oh, I’ll just put this whole paragraph in here,” she said.
“…You’ve got to boil them down. It’s like cooking. You have to boil something down until you’ve got a nice bit of stock.”
Reading your work aloud is another tip Ms Garner recommended.
“I think that should be at the top of the list maybe. Because if you can’t read something out loud, if you can’t like make it come out of your mouth in a harmonious and meaningful way, there’s something wrong with it,” she said.
“You read it out loud and you say, where did I trip over? Where did I trip? What’s the bit that doesn’t belong in there?”
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