Thinking Like a Lawyer

by Redfield, Sarah E.

• ISBN13: 9780890899236
• ISBN10: 0890899231
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Pr

Author Biography

Sarah E. Redfield is a Professor of Education Law at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xi
Sources of Law	3	(28)
Primary Sources	3	(9)
Constitutions	4	(1)
Statutes	5	(2)
Regulations	7	(2)
Policies	9	(1)
Executive Orders	10	(1)
Case Law	10	(2)
Adjudicatory Decisions	12	(1)
Secondary Sources	12	(1)
Weight & Authority	13	(2)
Legal Authority Exercise	15	(16)
The Colorado Supreme Court on Searches	15	(16)
Reading Case Law	31	(82)
Basics of Reading Cases	31	(6)
What Is a Case?	31	(1)
Why Read Cases?	32	(1)
What Makes Cases Law?	32	(1)
The Anatomy of a Court Opinion	33	(1)
What Should You Look for When Reading a Case?	34	(1)
Who are the parties to the case?	34	(1)
What does each party want in legal terms?	34	(1)
What is the procedural posture at the time of the opinion you are reading?	35	(1)
Is this a state or federal court? What level of court?	35	(1)
If a higher Court, who won earlier?	35	(1)
What law is applied?	36	(1)
What is the key question(s)?	37	(1)
What is the holding of the Court?	37	(1)
What is the Court's analysis? Is the opinion unanimous?	37	(1)
What is the result for these parties?	37	(1)
Is the result reasonable? Is it just?	37	(1)
Examples and Practice	37	(70)
New Jersey v. T L.O., 105 S.Ct. 733 (1985)	38	(39)
Jenkins by Hall v. Talladega City Bd. of Educ., 115 E3d 821 (11th Cir. 1997), certiorari denied by Jenkins by Hall v. Herring, 118 S.Ct. 412, 139 (1997)	77	(14)
Desroches v. Caprio 974 F. Supp. 542 (E.D. Va. 1997), 156 E3d 571 (4th Cir. 1998)	91	(16)
Exercise: The Next Case	107	(1)
Sarah and the Pizza Knife	108	(1)
Briefing a Case	108	(2)
What Is a Brief?	108	(2)
Practice Briefing	110	(1)
Synthesis Exercises	110	(3)
Legal Authority Searching in Hawaii	110	(1)
Staff Memorandum	111	(2)
Research	113	(18)
Research as Art	113	(1)
An Experimental Canvas	114	(1)
Where to Start Finding the Law	115	(12)
Now What Do You Know and Where Does It Lead?	121	(5)
A Note on Searching Statutes and Regulations	126	(1)
Secondary Sources Redux	127	(1)
Internet Legal Resources	127	(1)
Sample Research Exercises	128	(3)
Annotated Glossary of Legal Terms	131	(30)
Appendix	161	(28)
Index	189