Thinking Critically About Law

So you’ve arrived at university, you’ve read the course handbook and you’re ready to learn the law. But is knowing the law enough to get you the very best marks? And what do your lecturers mean when they say you need to develop critical and analytical skills? When is it right to put your own views forward? What are examiners looking for when they give feedback to say that your work is too descriptive? This book explores what it means to think critically and offers practical tips and advice for students to develop the process, skill and ability of thinking critically while studying law. The book investigates the big questions such as: What is law? and What is ‘thinking critically’? How can I use critical thinking to get better grades in assessments? What is the role of critical thinking in the work place? These questions and more are explored in Thinking Critically About Law. Whether you have limited prior experience of critical thinking or are looking to improve your performance in assessments, this book is the ideal tool to help you enhance your capacity to question, challenge, reflect and problematize what you learn about the law throughout your studies and beyond.

New Critical Legal Thinking articulates the emergence of a stream of critical legal theory which is directly concerned with the relation between law and the political. The early critical legal studies claim that all law is politics is displaced with a different and more nuanced theoretical arsenal. Combining grand theory with a concern for grounded political interventions, the various contributors to this book draw on political theorists and continental philosophers in order to engage with current legal problematics, such as the recent global economic crisis, the Arab spring and the emergence of biopolitics. The contributions instantiate the claim that a new and radical political legal scholarship has come into being: one which critically interrogates and intervenes in the contemporary relationship between law and power.

"So you’ve arrived at university, you’ve read the course handbook and you’re ready to learn the law. But is knowing the law enough to get you the very best marks? And what do your lecturers mean when they say you need to develop critical and analytical skills? When is it right to put your own views forward? What are examiners looking for when they give feedback to say that your work is too descriptive?This book explores what it means to think critically and offers practical tips and advice for students to develop the process, skill and ability of thinking critically while studying law. The book investigates the big questions such as: What is law? and What is ‘thinking critically’? How can I use critical thinking to get better grades in assessments? What is the role of critical thinking in the work place? These questions and more are explored in Thinking Critically About Law.Whether you have limited prior experience of critical thinking or are looking to improve your performance in assessments, this book is the ideal tool to help you enhance your capacity to question, challenge, reflect and problematize what you learn about the law throughout your studies and beyond."--Provided by publisher.

Critical thinking is the essential tool for ensuring that students fulfill their promise. But, in reality, critical thinking is still a luxury good, and students with the greatest potential are too often challenged the least. Thinking Like a Lawyer: Introduces a powerful but practical framework to close the critical thinking gap. Gives teachers the tools and knowledge to teach critical thinking to all students. Helps students adopt the skills, habits, and mindsets of lawyers. Empowers students to tackle 21st-century problems. Teaches students how to compete in a rapidly changing global marketplace. Colin Seale, a teacher-turned-attorney-turned-education-innovator and founder of thinkLaw, uses his unique experience to introduce a wide variety of concrete instructional strategies and examples that teachers can use in all grade levels and subject areas. Individual chapters address underachievement, the value of nuance, evidence-based reasoning, social-emotional learning, equitable education, and leveraging families to close the critical thinking gap.

To view a sample of the Case File, Assessments, and Materials ("CAM") Supplement, click here. The full 302-page supplement, along with a Dropbox folder of working spreadsheets and other classroom materials, is available to professors upon adoption of this book. ACTLA is a comprehensive research-based curriculum designed to optimize students' legal learning and problem-solving skills for improved educational outcomes. Consisting of a student text, a supplement containing all required case files, assessments, and materials, and a teacher's manual, ACTLA provides a turn-key solution that allows any school, regardless of budget or staffing, to leverage limited resources for greater student success. ACTLA is designed for flexibility, and can be delivered as a full course, a series of workshops, or one-on-one study to best suit the unique needs of any institution or student population. If desired, ACTLA can easily be integrated into any doctrinal course. The innovative ACTLA curriculum, backed by nearly a decade of intensive educational research, development, delivery, and assessment, directly addresses the most pressing learning needs of today's students. ACTLA helps students strengthen their skills in critical reading, writing, and analytical thinking, while building the habits of mind associated with top success in the study and practice of law. Students in ACTLA internalize a reliable, systematic approach to legal learning and problem-solving while working through three progressively sophisticated levels of legal problems, assessing their progress, and refining their approach each step of the way. The problem-based curriculum includes an arsenal of research-based tools and strategies to strengthen key legal learning skills, including critical reading, rule formation, synthesis, analysis, exam-taking, self-assessment, and self-regulation. ACTLA emphasizes formative assessment and includes specialized tools to measure learning outcomes, which may assist law schools in complying with the ABA pedagogy mandate.

In this comprehensive introduction to law, authors Currier and Eimermann use the highly effective critical thinking approach — encouraging students to engage with the material through hypothetical problems, examples, and thought-provoking questions. Covering all of the key concepts presented in a typical Introduction to Law course, The Study of Law: A Critical thinking Approach, Second Edition, features : an overview of key concepts in American law designed for business, criminal justice, political science, and general education courses a critical thinking approach that involves students in the materials through interactive pedagogy — such as hypotheticals, examples, and well-designed questions a well-written text with excerpts from illustrative cases a logical two-part organization Part I. The Legal System introduces students To The sources and classifications of law, The structure of the court system, and litigation Part II. Basic Principles of American Law introduces students to legal principles that form the basis of constitutional law, torts, contracts, property, business, family, and criminal law coverage of legal reasoning, case briefing, and statutory interpretation appendices including the U.S. Constitution, Fundamentals of Good Writing, and NetNotes Updated throughout, The Second Edition offers : an increased focus on the role and importance of the legal system in the lives of all citizens more coverage of constitutional law — with emphasis on federalism and First Amendment issues new and additional case excerpts an increased emphasis on substantive and theoretical (rather than procedural) issues Specifically designed for introductory law courses in business, criminal justice, political science and general education, The Study of Law: A Critical Thinking Approach, Second Edition, offers the pedagogical richness that fuels class discussion and enriches your teaching.

"Many university graduates later become influential members of the community, particularly law school graduates. Whether as legal advisers, consultants, politicians, judges or social activists, law school graduates inevitably play an important role in ensuring that the present legal system is efficient and effective. They challenge that system and advocate for change when it is warranted. The aim of this text is to prepare law students for this important role by developing their critical thinking about legal claims and arguments, about the nature of law, and about law's role in society. After studying this text, students will be able to: exercise an ability to think critically about legal rules, doctrines, claims, arguments, decisions and actions; articulate a broad understanding of the process of formal legal reasoning; the theoretical, ideological and ethical foundations of law, legal education and legal practice; and various cultural and critical perspectives on law and its role in society; demonstrate a critical disposition, that is, the personal traits associated with being a critical thinker."--Cover.

Issues that are drawn from, and bear on, disciplines including philosophy, law and legal studies, feminist studies, social and political theory, communication studies, critical theory and cultural studies.