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Peter T. Wendel has taught academic success workshops at over thirty-five law schools throughout the country. In Deconstructing Legal Analysis: A 1L Primer, he provides a variety of time-tested techniques—including a unique model for visualizing legal analysis—to teach students how to think like lawyers and take law school exams.

Deconstructing Legal Analysis: A 1L Primer features:

• a unique, visual pedagogical method that illustrates a relational analysis of facts, rules, and public policy
• an interactive approach that consistently encourages students to write down their answers to carefully guided questions
• a great teaching case, Pierson v. Post, showing how a layperson reads a case as compared to how a lawyer would read the same case
• useful templates and methods for legal analysis and essay-exam writing, such as IRAC and IRRAC
• exam-taking tips and guidance that emphasize flexibility, rather than a formulaic approach

If experience is the best teacher, then Deconstructing Legal Analysis is an essential for academic success in law school.

* This book is also available in eBook format at the Kindle Store

Part I: Deconstructing Legal Analysis: Learning How to Think Like a Lawyer

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The Traditional “Darwinian” Approach
Chapter 3. The Evolution of a Case from an Analytical Perspective
Chapter 4. “Thinking Like a Lawyer”
Chapter 5. Re-Analyzing Pierson v. Post
Chapter 6. Briefing a Case from an Analytical Perspective
Chapter 7. The “What If …” Game
Chapter 8. Introspective Legal Analysis: Russian Dolls

Part II: The Exam Taking Process

Chapter 9. Complete the Circle: See the Big Picture
Chapter 10. Writing Style: Write Like a Judge
Chapter 11. How to “Analyze” an Issue: IRAC vs. IRRAC
Chapter 12. The Circuitry Behind Issue Spotting
Chapter 13. The Macro Organization of Your Exam Essay
Chapter 14. Multiple Choice Questions: Mini-Essays
Chapter 15. Post-Exam Blues: How to Self-Diagnose Your Exam Performance

Part III: Time to Take Off the Training Wheels: Variations on the Legal Analysis Theme

Chapter 16. Extrospective Legal Analysis: Case Synthesis
Chapter 17. Legal Analysis and Statutory Construction

Part IV: Conclusion

Chapter 18. Miscellaneous Law School and Exam-Taking Tips