Synthesizing Cases

Abstract

"Synthesizing Cases" is Chapter 6 of our text, United States Legal Language and Culture: An Introduction to the U.S. Common Law System (3d ed. 2013). The text is written for an LL.M. preparatory course that we teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. This chapter teaches students that to analyze a legal problem they need to understand which law governs their problem, how it has been applied in prior cases, and how it applies to the facts of their situation. Charts and exercises involving several cases are used to help students to develop their own case analyses.

The complete text can be used as the blueprint for an Introduction to Law and Law School course for LL.M. students, law students, or other students of legal studies at the graduate or undergraduate level. This text takes the student into the new world of the study of law by carefully guiding the student through the use of English in legal settings. This text was designed with nonnative English speakers in mind, and thus it carefully discusses the vocabulary needed to understand each new concept or case.

"Synthesizing Cases" is a sampling of the topics covered in the text. Others include: Skills, The legal system, Reading and briefing cases, Using cases, Using statutes, Appellate advocacy, Client interviews and negotiations, and Working independently.

Keywords: United States Legal Language and Culture, legal culture, synthesizing cases, brief writing, legal writing, legal analysis, legal research, law school, LL.M. students, international law students, common law reasoning, Legal English, English for specific purposes