How Lawyers Think: Lessons in Reading, Reasoning and Rulership from American Legal Thought
Spring 2009 PPAI 1701F S01
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Information on meeting times for this course can be found on Course Schedule at http://selfservice.brown.edu
Course Description
American society is, perhaps more than any other, shaped, managed and governed by lawyers. As with other disciplines, like economics, political science, sociology or literary studies, expertise in law is gained through mastery of the unique techniques, practices and analytics of the discipline. These techniques, in turn, shape how lawyers think, see the world, imagine possibilities and obstacles, make policy and engage in professional life. In this course students will be introduced to some of the most significant techniques of reasoning, interpretation and argumentation developed in the American legal academy since the late 19th century and will explore how disciplinary struggles over these techniques both emerged from and helped shape legal and policy responses to some of America's biggest governance challenges, including economic concentration and corporate power, the welfare state and the New Deal, the dismantling of Jim Crow and the protection of civil rights, and the emergence of identity politics. The course is designed to introduce students from other disciplines to legal analysis as a disciplinary practice and presumes no prior legal study.
Instructor's Description
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Assignments and Grading
You will be required to write three short papers during the term. The short papers will count for 25% of your grade. Class participation will be counted for 25%. There will also be a final take home exam that will count for 50% of your grade.
Readings and Required Texts
David Kennedy and William W. Fisher, III, "The Canon of American Legal Thought," (Princeton Univ. Press, 2006). Additional readings are listed on OCRA and can be accessed via MyCourses.