How to Think Like a Lawyer--and Why

Author: Kim Wehle
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063067579
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
A law professor and author teaches non-attorneys how to think like a lawyer to gain advantage in their lives—whether buying a house, negotiating a salary, or choosing the right healthcare. Lawyers aren’t like other people. They often argue points that are best left alone or look for mistakes in menus “just because.” While their scrupulous attention to detail may be annoying, it can also be a valuable skill. Do you need to make health care decisions for an aging parent but are unsure where to start? Are you at crossroads in your career and don’t know how to move forward? Have you ever been on a jury trying to understand confusing legal instructions? How to Think Like a Lawyer has the answers to help you cut through the confusion and gain an advantage in your everyday life. Kim Wehle identifies the details you need to pay attention to, the questions you should ask, the responses you should anticipate, and the pitfalls you can avoid. Topics include: Selling and buying a home Understanding employment terms Creating a will and health care proxy Navigating health concerns Applying for financial aid Negotiating a divorce Wehle shows you how to break complex issues down into digestible, easier-to-understand pieces that will enable you to make better decisions in all areas of your life.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author: Frederick F. Schauer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674032705
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
This primer on legal reasoning is aimed at law students and upper-level undergraduates. But it is also an original exposition of basic legal concepts that scholars and lawyers will find stimulating. It covers such topics as rules, precedent, authority, analogical reasoning, the common law, statutory interpretation, legal realism, judicial opinions, legal facts, and burden of proof. In addressing the question whether legal reasoning is distinctive, Frederick Schauer emphasizes the formality and rule-dependence of law. When taking the words of a statute seriously, when following a rule even when it does not produce the best result, when treating the fact of a past decision as a reason for making the same decision again, or when relying on authoritative sources, the law embodies values other than simply that of making the best decision for the particular occasion or dispute. In thus pursuing goals of stability, predictability, and constraint on the idiosyncrasies of individual decision-makers, the law employs forms of reasoning that may not be unique to it but are far more dominant in legal decision-making than elsewhere. Schauer’s analysis of what makes legal reasoning special will be a valuable guide for students while also presenting a challenge to a wide range of current academic theories.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author: Kenneth J. Vandevelde
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0813345251
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
When Kenneth J. Vandevelde's Thinking Like a Lawyer first published, it became an instant classic, considered by many to be the gold standard introduction to legal reasoning. In this long-awaited second edition, intended for fans of the original and a new generation of lawyers, Vandevelde expands his classic work with useful revisions and updates throughout. Law students, law professors, and lawyers frequently refer to the process of “thinking like a lawyer,” but attempts to analyze in any systematic way what is meant by that phrase are rare. Vandevelde defines this elusive phrase and identifies the techniques involved in thinking like a lawyer. Unlike most legal writings, plagued by difficult, virtually incomprehensible language, Vandevelde's work is accessible and clearly written. The second edition features new sections on the legislative process—describing step-by-step how legislation is enacted—and the judicial process—describing step-by-step how a case is litigated in court. Other new sections address the significance of dissenting and concurring opinions as well as the role of cognitive bias in factual determinations and on persuading a jury, on burdens of proof, and on presumptions. A new chapter provides contemporary perspectives on legal reasoning, which includes new material on feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and the economics of law. A new appendix is intended for prospective law students, explaining how readers can use the techniques in the book to help them excel in law school. Vandevelde's Thinking Like a Lawyer will help students, lawyers, and lay readers alike gain important insight into a well-developed and valuable way of thinking. Professors and students will find the book useful in almost any introductory law course at the graduate level and in advanced undergraduate courses on law.

Think Like a Lawyer, Don't Act Like One

Author: Aernoud Bourdrez
Publisher: BIS Publishers
ISBN: 9789063695354
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
This book provides strategies to solve conflicts. Co-developed by Harvard University, many lawyers, two kissing boxers, a cowboy, Mikhail Gorbatsjov.

Think Like a Lawyer

Author: Edwin Scott Fruehwald
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627222228
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Book Description
Resource added for the Paralegal program 101101.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author: Frederick Schauer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674062485
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Thinking Like A Lawyer

Author: Kenneth J. Vandevelde
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN: 9780813322049
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Students of the law are often told that they must learn to “think like a lawyer,” but they are given surprisingly little help in understanding just what this amounts to. Generally, they are expected to pick up this ability by example and perhaps by osmosis. But it remains the case that very few lawyers—even very good ones—are consciously aware of what it means to think like a lawyer.In this insightful and highly revealing book, Kenneth J. Vandevelde identifies, explains, and interprets the goals and methods of the well-trained lawyer. This is not a book about the content of the law; it is about a well-developed and valuable way of thinking that can be applied to many fields.Both practical and sophisticated, Thinking Like a Lawyer avoids the pitfalls common to most books on legal reasoning: It neither assumes too much legal knowledge nor condescends to its readers. Invaluable for law students and practicing lawyers, the book will also effectively interpret legal thinking for lay readers seeking a better understanding of the often mysterious ways of the legal profession.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789626617403
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description

Sharpening the Legal Mind

Author: William Powers
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 147732643X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Book Description
The way lawyers think about the law can seem deeply mysterious. They see nuance and meaning in statutes and implications in judicial opinions that are opaque to the rest of us. Accessible and thought provoking, Sharpening the Legal Mind explains how lawyers analyze the cases and controversies that come before the courts. Written by William Powers Jr., the former president of the University of Texas at Austin, this book is an authoritative introduction to the academic study of law and legal reasoning, including insights into the philosophy of law and the intellectual history of legal thought. Powers discusses the methods lawyers use to interpret the law, the relation between law and morals, and the role of courts in shaping the law. In eight chapters, he follows the historical debate on these issues and others through different generations and movements in American legal thought—formalism, realism, positivism—to critical legal studies and postmodern theory. The perfect read for anyone looking for a primer on legal reasoning, Sharpening the Legal Mind demystifies the debates and approaches to thinking like a lawyer that profoundly influence the rule of law in our lives.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author: Kenneth J. Vandevelde
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429973888
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Book Description
Law students, law professors, and lawyers frequently refer to the process of "thinking like a lawyer," but attempts to analyze in any systematic way what is meant by that phrase are rare. In his classic book, Kenneth J. Vandevelde defines this elusive phrase and identifies the techniques involved in thinking like a lawyer. Unlike most legal writings, which are plagued by difficult, virtually incomprehensible language, this book is accessible and clearly written and will help students, professionals, and general readers gain important insight into this well-developed and valuable way of thinking. Updated for a new generation of lawyers, the second edition features a new chapter on contemporary perspectives on legal reasoning. A useful new appendix serves as a survival guide for current and prospective law students and describes how to apply the techniques in the book to excel in law school.