Law School Basics

by David Hricik

Overview

Law school has the reputation of being one of the hardest academic programs. It is a reputation well earned. However, Law School Basics is chock-full of insights and strategies that will prepare you well and give you a head start on the competition.

Law School Basics presents a thorough overview of law school, legal reasoning, and legal writing. It was written for those who are considering law school; for those who are about to start law school; and for those who are interested in knowing more about lawyering and the legal process.

Law School Basics was written with one overriding goal: to enlighten you about everything the author wishes he had known before starting law school.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781889057064
Publisher:	Nova Press
Publication date:	06/01/2000
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.43(d)

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 6

I. INTRODUCTION 7

II. AN OVERVIEW OF LAW SCHOOL 11
A. First Year. 11
B. Second Year. 18
C. Third Year. 21
D. Post-Graduation. 22

III. THE UNITED STATES LEGAL SYSTEM 25
A. What Is the Purpose of Law? 25
B. Where Does "Law" Come From? 27
C. Why Do We Have "Cases" Anyway? 29
D. The State and Federal Court Systems. 31
1. The Structure of the Federal Court System. 32
2. The Structures of the State Court Systems. 34
3. The Structure of the Courts and the Concept of Controlling Precedent. 37
4. Precedent and Why the Court Systems Are Structured Like They Are. 40

IV. THE COMMON LAW REASONING PROCESS 41
A. Introduction. 41
B. How Do Common Law Rules Develop? 47
C. Examples of the Common Law Case Method. 48
1. Hypotheticals. 48
2. The Common Law Process: Real Opinions as Examples. 50
D. Statutory Interpretation. 67
1. Hypotheticals. 68
2. Real Examples of Statutory Interpretations. 69
E. Conclusion. 75

V. WHY LAW SCHOOL IS STRUCTURED LIKE IT IS 79

VI. TIME OUT. 85

VII. THE LEGAL RESEARCH PROCESS 89
A. Law Reporters. 90
1. The West Publishing Company's Headnote System. 91
B. Finding the Law. 92
1. Step One: How to Find the Law. 93
2. Step Two: Finding the Rest of the Law. 97
C. Which Cases Are "Relevant"? 100
1. Legal Relevance. 101
2. Factual Relevance. 101
3. Conclusion. 102

VIII. HINTS FOR BETTER LEGAL RESEARCH 105

IX. THE STEP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND WRITING: READING AND THINKING 107

X. LEGAL WRITING: HOW LAWYERS WRITE ABOUT CASES 109
A. CRPAW: Conclusion-Rule-Proof of Rule-Application-Wrap-Up. 109
B. An Example of Legal Analysis. 112
C. Fallacies In Logic 115
1. Hasty Generalizations 115
2. Oversimplification 115
3. Mistaken Causal Relation 115
4. Faulty Analogy 115
5. Non-Sequiturs 116
6. Begging The Question 116
7. The Logical Consequences Problem 116
8. Ignoring The Question 116
9. The Ultimate Test 116
D. Legal Writing Class 117
1. Introduction. 117
2. The Purpose of a Memorandum. 116
3. The Structure of a Memorandum. 120
4. A Memorandum by a First-Year Law Student. 123
5. Memoranda Are Not Briefs. 126

XI. BLUEBOOKING 149
A. Writ Histories and Other State Idiosyncrasies. 154

XII. WRITING HINTS 157
A. Write With Your Reader In Mind: Make It Easy. 157
1. Use Plain English 157
2. Simplify. 157
3. Use road-map sentences 158
4. Use topic sentences 158
5. Use headings 159
6. Vary sentence length 159
7. Use concrete, specific labels 160
8. Don't overdo it 160
9. Keep subjects with verbs 161
10. Be concrete 162
11. Watch the length of your paragraphs 163
12. Avoid using statutes or cases as subjects of sentences 163
13. Make Your Point and Stop 163
B. Use Simple English. 165
1. Words to Avoid 165
2. Do Not Use More Words Than Necessary. 165
3. Problem Words 166
C. Proofread. 170

XIII. CONCLUSION 171

APPENDIX A: Employment Law Outline 175

APPENDIX B: Legal Ethics Outline 183

APPENDIX C: Administrative Law Outline 189

APPENDIX D: WNS, Inc. v. Farrow 195

Editorial Reviews

Funny -and- useful!

This book is worth having simply so you can quote real opinions written in the style of Genesis or Mark Twain. It also points out amusing cases -- talking cats leap to mind -- that might otherwise be buried by their more serious brethren. The chapters on how the court systems work, what memoranda should look like, and what certain legal terms mean are easy to understand, and it's useful to have them all in one place. I didn't care for the many pages on why law school is run the way it is, but you might be interested. Overall, it's a practical handbook and a great reminder that law is not as serious a business as everyone seems to think.

--A Customer

Great book!

Straight shooting, down to earth account of what to expect at law school and some handy tips to simplify life and keep it all in perspective.

--A Customer

From the Publisher