Law Schools Need to Teach Rule Synthesis!!!

Ever since I heard James Stratman declare at an ALWD conference that most law students have weak rule synthesis skills, I have wondered whether this weakness is a major reason that some law students struggle in law school and in the early years of practice. With the appearance of Stephen's article (see post below) it is time to push again for the teaching of legal synthesis throughout the first year. A unit in legal writing, as Stephen has suggested, is a good start. However, legal synthesis is a complex skill that needs to be drilled and drilled for mastery.

 

Legal synthesis exercises can be easily integrated into doctrinal classes. For example, a torts teacher could have students synthesis the elements of an intentional tort, such as false imprisonment or intentional infliction of emotional harm. The instructor could then have the students synthesize the individual elements of that tort. For instance, they could synthesize the rule for outrageous conduct in iieh. Similarly, adverse possession works well in property and covenants not to compete in contracts.

 

I have lots of exercises on rule synthesis in Chapter 5 of my book Think Like a Lawyer: Legal Reasoning for Law Students and Business Professionals (2020) and in A Companion to Torts: Learning to Think Like a Torts Lawyer by Doing Exercises (2023).

 

Scott Fruehwald