Cracking the Case Method, Legal Analysis for Law School Success (Academic and Career Success Series)

This book focuses on the “Case Method of Instruction.” For about 150 years, law schools have relied on the Case Method in the first year of law school―and beyond―to teach law students how to “think like a lawyer.” But as few students are familiar with cases (opinions by appellate court judges), they frequently struggle to understand such fundamental questions as: Why do reading assignments and class discussions focus on cases instead of legal codes, rules or treatises? What is the relationship between judges’ opinions and thinking like a lawyer? Why do reading assignments often include older cases that do not reflect current law? Why do many of the cases include opinions by “dissenting” judges, the judges who disagreed with cases’ outcomes? Why do class discussions typically focus on individual cases when law school exams usually require students to analyze hypothetical stories? And most importantly―How do the cases and class discussions help you prepare for and excel on law school examinations? Cracking the Case Method, 4th ed., provides you with answers to these questions―and to many more. You will learn how the Case Method helps you to think like a lawyer by giving legal meaning to stories. You will learn h(more...)