How to Read a Legal Opinion: Guide for New Law Students

IANAL

…but I sometimes play one on the internet.

I thought this was interesting and would help elevate some of the discourse related to court cases.

It’s meant for first year law students and teaches them how to read a legal opinion, but I thought it was a good resource for the layman as well.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
IANAL

…but I sometimes play one on the internet.

I thought this was interesting and would help elevate some of the discourse related to court cases.

It’s meant for first year law students and teaches them how to read a legal opinion, but I thought it was a good resource for the layman as well.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1160925[/quote]

Very nice.
What I learned from experiences with attorneys, law school has 3 years as follows:
1st year: in response to your client’s logical question, learn to say, “It does matter.” Sound sarcastic.
2nd year: in response to your client’s statement of fact, learn to say, “Nobody cares.” Sound sarcastic.
3rd year: Billing.