By this state in your legal education, you have encountered the terms “legal application” and/or “legal analysis” which are often used interchangeably. In essence, this refers to the process of examining legal issues in order to understand their implications and arrive at a reasoned conclusion. Effective legal analysis requires the following: an accurate understanding of the relevant facts; identification of the applicable law including rules, sub-rules, statutes, regulations, and case law; decomposition of that law into its constituent components; application of the rule’s language to the facts at hand; and, ultimately, the formulation of a sound conclusion. This may appear straightforward in principle, yet it proves challenging for many students.
For those new to this process, the task may prove difficult in early attempts. To develop proficiency requires familiarity with a range of skills cultivated through daily preparation for doctrinal courses, active participation in class, and sustained engagement with legal writing. These exercises are designed to foster growth over time. Competence is achieved through consistent practice and sustained engagement with the relevant skills, and requires deliberate effort. While course work provides an important foundation, students must also recognize what additional development is necessary to perform this work well.
Sustained engagement with case law and repeated experience with cold calls will improve one’s capacity to distinguish between legally significant facts, contextual facts, and irrelevant facts. Similarly, consistent practice in outlining, engaging with codebooks and statutes, and working through legal rules will strengthen one’s ability to conduct rigorous analysis and close reading of the law within its legislative context. As familiarity develops with a professor’s characteristic line of questioning and expected substantive responses, students will become increasingly adept at discerning organizational structure, recognizing the logical process toward a conclusion, and deciphering and appreciating the nuance and sophistication inherent in legal analysis thereby learning to develop analytical skills.
Students who are new to this process are encouraged to extend themselves patience; proficiency develops over time and is attainable through diligent effort, a willingness to seek guidance, and a disposition to regard each attempt as an opportunity for growth. For those with greater experience, there nonetheless remains ample room for continued refinement.
Keep working on analysis.
(Goldie Pritchard)
