Sally is nervous and unsure what to do with her first criminal case, and so asks Alan for advice. Alan tells her to pull a rabbit out of her hat or, in other words, give the jury a story. This is a running joke within the series about closing cases and that stories or long closes always lead to them winning the case. However, there is psychological research evidence by Pennington and Hastie from 1988 and 1992 in which they demonstrated that juries often find in favor for the side (defense/prosecution) who presents a story/narration of the events rather than technical legal jargon. This is because people are more comfortable with stories and less confused than when given legal terminology.