1. LEGAL SKILLS FOR LAW SCHOOL AND LEGAL PRACTICE
1.1. Critical thinking
1.2. Critical reading
1.3. Critical listening
1.4. Case briefing
1.5. Note taking
1.6. Outlining
1.7. Writing skills
1.8. Organizing for success
1.9. Maintaining balance
1.10. Collaborating & leading
2. 4 reasons of studying law
2.1. Brain Training
2.1.1. helping you learn how to think carefully, imaginatively and sensibly
2.2. Rhetoric
2.2.1. it helps sharpen your tongue and pen as well
2.3. Politics
2.3.1. it helps you to form your own views as to what sort of society we should live in
2.3.1.1. Common Law Method
2.3.1.1.1. method of effecting social change
2.3.1.1.2. process of trial and error, where only rules and doctrines that generally satisfied the judges as being reasonable would survive to become part of the established common law
2.4. Legal Training
2.4.1. the best preparation you can have for becoming a practising lawyer.
2.4.1.1. 3 reasons / positive arguments for thinking that becoming a lawyer is a morally worthwhile thing to do
2.4.1.1.1. • The skills and knowledge that you acquire as a law student are invaluable for a range of different careers
2.4.1.1.2. • you should use your time at university to study a subject you would love to explore in depth
2.4.1.1.3. • there are people who endorse what we can call the astonishing hypothesis that studying law at university is not the best preparation for becoming a practising lawyer. And I didn’t want you to think that, if the astonishing hypothesis turned out – astonishingly – to be correct, there was no reason to study law at university.
2.4.1.2. Other arguments
2.4.1.2.1. Defending Evil
2.4.1.2.2. Irrelevance
2.4.1.2.3. Corruption
2.5. Summary
2.5.1. You don’t have to want to become a lawyer to do a law degree
2.5.2. doing a law degree can provide excellent training for working in politics, journalism, business, or public service
3. Thinking and Talking like a Lawyer
3.1. Chapter Goals
3.1.1. To understand how lawyers solve problems
3.1.2. Beating the Socratic method
3.1.3. Making your brief stand out from the crowd
3.1.4. Gearing up for class participation
3.2. DOES LAW SCHOOL CHANGE YOU
3.2.1. you may gradually notice subtle differences in your
3.2.1.1. Logical reasoning powers
3.2.1.2. Ability to see two sides to every issue
3.2.1.3. Confidence in holding your own in an argument
3.2.1.4. you gain a brand-spanking-new legal vocabulary and a much better understanding of the political and judicial processes
3.2.1.5. you also become a more informed and concerned citizen
3.2.2. Introduce a New Method of thinking
3.2.3. Seeing the world through a lawyer’s eyes
3.2.4. Speaking your new mother tongue: Legalese
3.3. BRAVING SOCRATIC METHOD
3.3.1. Understanding why law classes are taught this way
3.3.1.1. It kicks your academic rear into gear.
3.3.1.2. It helps teach you argumentative techniques.
3.3.1.3. It forces you to become more comfortable with public speaking.
3.3.2. Beating Socrates at his own game
3.3.2.1. Being extremely comfortable with the facts of the case, such as the identities of the parties, the reason for the dispute, and who initiated it
3.3.2.2. Trying to understand the arguments the judge makes in the opinion.
3.3.3. Hammering hypotheticals
3.3.3.1. Remembering the facts of the original case
3.3.3.2. Figuring out whether changing the facts changes the result of the new case scenario
3.3.3.3. Explaining the logical reasoning behind your answer
3.4. READING CASES LIKE A PRO
3.4.1. Reading each case twice
3.4.2. Color-coding your highlights
3.4.3. Writing in the margins.
3.4.4. Taking the material one step further.
3.5. BRIEFING CASES : A STEP BY STEP APPROACH
3.5.1. Identifying parties.
3.5.2. Discovering procedural posture.
3.5.3. Finding the facts.
3.5.4. Identifying the issue.
3.5.5. Reeling in the rationale.
3.5.6. Homing in on the holding
3.6. RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF CLASS PARTICIPATION
3.6.1. How participation (or a lack of it) affects your grade
3.6.2. Anticipating your professor’s next move