Table of Contents
Introduction xv
Chapter 1 What to Expect in Law School 1
The First Year of Law School: An Overview 3
Courses Taught in the First Year 3
Reading Assignments 5
Teaching Methods 8
Succeeding in Law School from the First Day 12
Preparing for Class 12
In Class 14
Outside of Class 16
Law School Exams 18
Begin Your Legal Education with This Book 20
After You Finish This Book 22
Chapter 2 The Language of the Law 25
Reading Like a Lawyer 26
Step One: Examine the Context 27
Step Two: Extract the Legal Principles 31
Step Three: Evaluate the Reasoning 44
Analytical Reasoning 45
Analogical Reasoning 49
Reading and Writing Like a Lawyer: Preparing for Class 52
Reading and Writing Like a Lawyer: In Class 54
Communicating Like a Lawyer 56
Be organized 57
Be precise 58
Be concise 59
Chapter 3 The Structure of Government and the Structure of Law 61
The Structure of American Government: A System Divided 62
Vertical Division 62
Horizontal Division 64
The Structure of American Law: A Networked System 67
Sources and Types of Law: Vertical and Horizontal Hierarchies 68
What are the sources of American law? 68
What are the types of law? 68
Interpretation 73
Who interprets law? 74
How do judges interpret laws? 76
Chapter 4 The Structure of the American Legal System 81
Legal Systems 81
Adversarial versus Inquisitorial 82
Common Law and Civil Law 82
Private Law and Public Law 85
Courts 86
The Dual Court Systems in the United States 87
The United States Supreme Court 92
Navigating the Courts 93
Litigation: Myth and Reality 95
The Vanishing Jury Trial and the Focus on the Pretrial Phase 95
Remedies 97
Financing Litigation 99
Chapter 5 Fundamental Legal Concepts 103
Dichotomies 104
Rules versus Standards 104
Categorization versus Balancing 108
Objective versus Subjective 110
Cross-Cutting Legal Doctrines 112
States of Mind 113
Precedent and Stare Decisis 114
Burdens of Proof 116
Standards of Review 118
Interdisciplinary Concepts in Law 122
Law and Economics 122
Economic incentives 122
Collective action problems 123
Economic efficiency 123
Cost-benefit, analysis 124
Expected value 124
Transaction costs 125
The Coase Theorem 125
Ex ante/ex post 127
Principal-agent relationships 127
Behavioral Law and Economics 128
Anchoring 129
Endowment effect 129
Framing effect 129
Hindsight bias 130
Self-serving or egocentric bias 130
Other Useful Concepts 131
Baselines 131
Default rules 132
Slippery slopes 132
Normative/positive 133
What If a Concept Isn't Listed Here? 134
Chapter 6 How to Look and be Smarter in the Classroom and Beyond 137
An American History Refresher 138
The Early Republic (1776-1820) 138
International Neutrality and Domestic Conflict (1821-1860) 141
The Civil War (1861-1865) 141
Reconstruction (1865-1877) 142
The Gilded Age (1878-1901) 144
The Progressive Era and the Great War (1901-1919) 145
The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929) 146
The Depression and the New Deal (1929-1941) 146
World War II (1941-1945) 148
The Cold War (1945-1990) 150
The Civil Rights Movement (1954-present) 151
The Great Society and the Age of Protest (1960-1976) 153
Theoretical Frameworks of American Law 155
The Nature of Law 156
Adjudication Theories 157
The Goals of Law 158
Critical Theories 160
Chapter 7 Looking Beyond the First Year 163
Becoming a Lawyer 163
Being a Lawyer 168
What Lawyers Do 168
Counseling 169
Negotiating 169
Drafting 169
Navigating 170
Career Choices 170
Conclusion 175
Acknowledgments 177
Test Your Understanding: Answers and Analysis 179
Index 191
