Introduction to Law School for First-Year Students
University of Virginia School of Law
The Socratic method is the signature pedagogy of American law schools. It is that
way of teaching where we ask you to read a judicial opinion and then you come to
class. Then the professor calls on you and you are asked to answer questions in
front of some of your classmates. So why do we do this ? Why have we been teaching
this way ? We 've been doing this since 1870. Socratic method is a rhetorical
education. It is giving you a chance to practice speaking out loud in a stressful
situation. Law school is not like college. Instead of thinking about this like an
extension of college , you might want to think of law school as your new job. Some
part of your day is you 're sitting in class. But for those other hours of your
work day , you are reading. You probably have noticed -- we told you to read Lucy
versus Zehmer for this morning's session. And in doing that, you probably noticed
it 's hard to read cases. It takes a little while. It 's longer than if you were
just reading a novel. And that is because the language is unfamiliar.
If you 're reading an opinion issued by a trial court judge, then that judge is
looking at things fresh and has lots of room to say what the facts are and so
forth. If the case involves an issue of fact -- so that means , was this witness
credible or not ? Is this fact true or false ? Another thing you're going to look
for is the holding of the case and what is dicta. In every case, there 's going to
be extraneous conversation. That stuff 's called dicta. And so it can be
persuasive. It can be beautifully articulated. Sometimes dicta becomes very famous
and becomes very influential in how people think. But it 's not binding. So that is
great fodder for classroom discussion. If you have a case from the US Supreme Court
, you might even see the Court say , you know what ? We do n't like that precedent.
This is no longer good law. So if you see any discussion about how the case fits
into what has happened historically , you want to pay attention to that.
A favorite line of questioning of law school professors is, what if I change this
fact ? If this central fact is different, does that change the holding ? And so
that, you need to be thinking about. What did this holding mean ? That will help
you figure out whether a changing of the fact makes a difference. The point about
being a lawyer is that you should be able to argue it different ways. To survive in
a Socratic classroom, you want to create notes that will help you answer questions.
So I think it 's helpful to think of your notes as a visual aid that you can look
at quickly to be able to find the information that you want. So the visual aids
that I tended to rely on are the ones that I've given you as a handout. Briefing a
case means you are taking notes about the case. Lucy versus Zehmer is a Virginia
case. Lucy wanted to buy the Ferguson Farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Mr. Lucy
entered a restaurant owned by the owner of the farm with a bottle of whiskey in his
hand. The two men sat down and began to drink and they began to talk. They said
things like "He was high as a Georgia pine," and "Great balls of fire"
Do n't highlight the first way through -- otherwise, you will highlight everything.
And then you will end up with a case where every single thing is underlined, and
that does not help you in class. So I would 've read it through just to figure out
what the heck is going on. So you circle the defendant and the plaintiff and then I
have underlined also , what is the issue in the case ? Handout is just this. It is
what I 'm showing here on the slide. This was the form that I used to use in law
school. The idea of having a form is it 's a discipline. Sarah, do you know if
there more copies of the handout? This is not your outline, this is not going to be
helping you -- it will help you on your exams. Ignore everybody else because that's
not helping you. Try to answer with some confidence because this is a professional
program. The only way you're going to get that is to kind of fake it till you get
that.
University of Virginia School of Law
The Socratic method is the signature pedagogy of American law schools. It is that
way of teaching where we ask you to read a judicial opinion and then you come to
class. Then the professor calls on you and you are asked to answer questions in
front of some of your classmates. So why do we do this ? Why have we been teaching
this way ? We 've been doing this since 1870. Socratic method is a rhetorical
education. It is giving you a chance to practice speaking out loud in a stressful
situation. Law school is not like college. Instead of thinking about this like an
extension of college , you might want to think of law school as your new job. Some
part of your day is you 're sitting in class. But for those other hours of your
work day , you are reading. You probably have noticed -- we told you to read Lucy
versus Zehmer for this morning's session. And in doing that, you probably noticed
it 's hard to read cases. It takes a little while. It 's longer than if you were
just reading a novel. And that is because the language is unfamiliar.
If you 're reading an opinion issued by a trial court judge, then that judge is
looking at things fresh and has lots of room to say what the facts are and so
forth. If the case involves an issue of fact -- so that means , was this witness
credible or not ? Is this fact true or false ? Another thing you're going to look
for is the holding of the case and what is dicta. In every case, there 's going to
be extraneous conversation. That stuff 's called dicta. And so it can be
persuasive. It can be beautifully articulated. Sometimes dicta becomes very famous
and becomes very influential in how people think. But it 's not binding. So that is
great fodder for classroom discussion. If you have a case from the US Supreme Court
, you might even see the Court say , you know what ? We do n't like that precedent.
This is no longer good law. So if you see any discussion about how the case fits
into what has happened historically , you want to pay attention to that.
A favorite line of questioning of law school professors is, what if I change this
fact ? If this central fact is different, does that change the holding ? And so
that, you need to be thinking about. What did this holding mean ? That will help
you figure out whether a changing of the fact makes a difference. The point about
being a lawyer is that you should be able to argue it different ways. To survive in
a Socratic classroom, you want to create notes that will help you answer questions.
So I think it 's helpful to think of your notes as a visual aid that you can look
at quickly to be able to find the information that you want. So the visual aids
that I tended to rely on are the ones that I've given you as a handout. Briefing a
case means you are taking notes about the case. Lucy versus Zehmer is a Virginia
case. Lucy wanted to buy the Ferguson Farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Mr. Lucy
entered a restaurant owned by the owner of the farm with a bottle of whiskey in his
hand. The two men sat down and began to drink and they began to talk. They said
things like "He was high as a Georgia pine," and "Great balls of fire"
Do n't highlight the first way through -- otherwise, you will highlight everything.
And then you will end up with a case where every single thing is underlined, and
that does not help you in class. So I would 've read it through just to figure out
what the heck is going on. So you circle the defendant and the plaintiff and then I
have underlined also , what is the issue in the case ? Handout is just this. It is
what I 'm showing here on the slide. This was the form that I used to use in law
school. The idea of having a form is it 's a discipline. Sarah, do you know if
there more copies of the handout? This is not your outline, this is not going to be
helping you -- it will help you on your exams. Ignore everybody else because that's
not helping you. Try to answer with some confidence because this is a professional
program. The only way you're going to get that is to kind of fake it till you get
that.
