Overview

This primer on legal reasoning is aimed at law students and upper-level undergraduates. But it is also an original exposition of basic legal concepts that scholars and lawyers will find stimulating. It covers such topics as rules, precedent, authority, analogical reasoning, the common law, statutory interpretation, legal realism, judicial opinions, legal facts, and burden of proof. In addressing the question whether legal reasoning is distinctive, Frederick Schauer emphasizes the formality and rule-dependence of law. When taking the words of a statute seriously, when following a rule even when it does not produce the best result, when treating the fact of a past decision as a reason for making the same decision again, or when relying on authoritative sources, the law embodies values other than simply that of making the best decision for the particular occasion or dispute. In thus pursuing goals of stability, predictability, and constraint on the idiosyncrasies of individual decision-makers, the law employs forms of reasoning that may not be unique to it but are far more dominant in legal decision-making than elsewhere. Schauer's analysis of what makes legal reasoning special will be a valuable guide for students while also presenting a challenge to a wide range of current academic theories.

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9780674032705

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Reviews

A welcome complement to [Edward] Levi's approach, as well as being easier for the legal novice to understand. Yet Schauer's book also offers the lawyer and scholar useful perspective on what he or she does.--Brian Leiter Times Literary Supplement (02/12/2010)

A welcome complement to [Edward] Levi's approach, as well as being easier for the legal novice to understand. Yet Schauer's book also offers the lawyer and scholar useful perspective on what he or she does. -- Brian Leiter Times Literary Supplement 20100212 Thinking Like a Lawyer is excellent reading material for anyone wishing a deeper and more nuanced--even a more magnanimous--understanding of the motivations behind law's often convoluted pronouncements. -- John Azzolini Law Library Journal 20100201

Author Information

Frederick Schauer is David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.

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