Beyond Legal Reasoning: A Critique of Pure Lawyering (Preface)
Beyond Legal Reasoning: A Critique of Pure Lawyering (Routledge, 2017)
11 Pages Posted: 22 Mar 2017 Last revised: 24 Mar 2017
Date Written: March 20, 2017
Abstract
This is the Preface to Beyond Legal Reasoning: A Critique of Pure Lawyering (Routledge, 2017) (ISBN: 978-1138221307).
The book provides a critique of the traditional views of “thinking like a lawyer” or “pure lawyering,” aimed at lawyers, law professors, and students who want to understand lawyering beyond the traditional warrior metaphor. Drawing examples from the intersection of real world law and business issues, the book argues the “pure lawyering” of traditional legal education is agnostic to either truth or moral value of outcomes. It offers a critique of pure lawyering’s potential both for illusions of certainty and cynical instrumentalism, and the consequences of both when lawyers are called on as dealmakers, policymakers, and counsellors.
Keywords: Legal reasoning, deduction, induction, abductive reasoning, theory, description, normativity, transactional law, legal education, instrumentalism, self-deception, blame, causation, models
JEL Classification: K10, K12, K20, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation