Advanced Legal Methods

Catalog description

Intended for 2L students, the primary goal of Advanced Legal Methods (ALM) is to strengthen students' legal problem-solving abilities. Students will improve how they learn the law so they can draw on their understanding when analyzing the wide variety of legal problems that they encounter in law school exams, the bar exam and in their legal practice. Fundamental lawyering skills such as reading comprehension, rule mastery, issue spotting, outlining, the mechanics of legal analysis and strong writing are appropriately emphasized. Throughout the course, students are provided with multiple opportunities for hands-on practice with focused drills, group exercises and workbook activities to directly and indirectly sharpen the expression of these skills. ALM enhances learning by providing students with particularized feedback from peers, professors and external graders so that they can evaluate their work and see a clear pathway for consistent improvement. To drive motivation and enhance learning, ALM explicitly connects the learning activities to law practice and, more immediately, to law school and bar exam success.