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.

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.

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.

Beyond Legal Reasoning: a Critique of Pure Lawyering

Author: Jeffrey Lipshaw
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315410796
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
The concept of learning to ‘think like a lawyer’ is one of the cornerstones of legal education in the United States and beyond. In this book, Jeffrey Lipshaw provides a critique of the traditional views of ‘thinking like a lawyer’ or ‘pure lawyering’ aimed at lawyers, law professors, and students who want to understand lawyering beyond the traditional warrior metaphor. Drawing on his extensive experience at the intersection of real world law and business issues, Professor Lipshaw presents a sophisticated philosophical argument that the "pure lawyering" of traditional legal education is agnostic to either truth or moral value of outcomes. He demonstrates pure lawyering’s potential both for illusions of certainty and cynical instrumentalism, and the consequences of both when lawyers are called on as dealmakers, policymakers, and counsellors. This book offers an avenue for getting beyond (or unlearning) merely how to think like a lawyer. It combines legal theory, philosophy of knowledge, and doctrine with an appreciation of real-life judgment calls that multi-disciplinary lawyers are called upon to make. The book will be of great interest to scholars of legal education, legal language and reasoning as well as professors who teach both doctrine and thinking and writing skills in the first year law school curriculum; and for anyone who is interested in seeking a perspective on ‘thinking like a lawyer’ beyond the litigation arena.

Thinking Like a Writer

Author: Stephen V. Armstrong
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781402437724
Category : Legal composition
Languages : en
Pages : 510

Book Description

Logic for Lawyers

Author: Ruggero J. Aldisert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Judicial process
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
This book tackles the basics of legal reasoning in twelve chapters, including the principles of classic logic, deductive and inductive reasoning, application of the Socratic method to legal reasoning, and formal and material fallacies.

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Author: Sarah E. Redfield
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780890899236
Category : Educational law and legislation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

The Language of Law School

Author: Elizabeth Mertz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195346092
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Book Description
In this linguistic study of law school education, Mertz shows how law professors employ the Socratic method between teacher and student, forcing the student to shift away from moral and emotional terms in thinking about conflict, toward frameworks of legal authority instead.

Should You Really be a Lawyer?

Author: Deborah Schneider
Publisher: Gary Belsky
ISBN: 9780940675575
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description