Course · Interpersonal Skills
Legal Reasoning and Argument
How lawyers build, test and answer arguments: reasoning from rules and from earlier cases, structuring an argument, spotting weak moves, reasoning about facts and proof, and handling policy and the strongest argument on the other side.
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Law students are told to ‘think like a lawyer’ and are rarely taught what that means. It is a discipline: starting from authority that others accept, reasoning from it to a conclusion in a way that other people can follow, check and challenge, and being honest about the points where the argument is weak. This course teaches that discipline as a set of skills, in seven modules and a capstone. You learn what kinds of reasoning lawyers use and where the legal syllogism runs out; how to read a rule closely and argue about its meaning; how to read a case, find its holding and argue by analogy; how to build an argument from claim, grounds, warrant, backing, qualifier and rebuttal; how to recognise weak arguments, in others and in yourself; how to reason about facts, burdens, inference and probability; and how to deal with principle, policy, balancing and the strongest version of the other side. It is jurisdiction-neutral and uses invented cases throughout, so it works alongside any substantive course, and it is the skill that most separates a student who knows the law from one who can use it.
The Curriculum
What legal reasoning is: kinds of reasoning, the legal syllogism and where it runs out→
Four kinds of reasoning, the legal syllogism, open texture and hard cases, rules and standards, giving reasons and what makes an argument good. Practice: Name the Reasoning, Rule or Standard and Find the Gap.
Reasoning from rules: reading closely, the interpretive arguments and arguing both sides→
Elements and small words, the six interpretive arguments, the canons, conflicts between arguments and arguing both sides. Practice: Which Argument, Match the Canon and Build the Argument.
Reasoning from precedent: reading a case, finding the holding and arguing by analogy→
Why precedent binds, reading a case, ratio and obiter, the level of generality, following and distinguishing, and argument by analogy. Practice: Find the Holding, Follow or Distinguish and the Precedent Comparer tool.
Building an argument: the Toulmin model, ordering, adverse authority and the rebuttal→
The Toulmin model, the missing warrant, structuring a written argument, ordering points, adverse authority and concessions, and answering the court’s question. Practice: Name the Part, What Is Missing and the Argument Builder tool.
Weak arguments and fallacies: spotting them in others, avoiding them in yourself→
Formal and informal fallacies, the common weak moves, when they are legitimate, legal-specific weaknesses and how to reply. Practice: Name the Fallacy, Legitimate or Not, Spot the Weak Move and the Fallacy Spotter tool.
Facts, proof and inference: burdens, standards, circumstantial evidence and probability→
Three questions about facts, burdens and standards, circumstantial evidence, probability traps, stories and credibility, adverse inferences. Practice: Who Bears the Burden, Direct or Circumstantial and Probability Traps.
Principle, policy and the other side: hard cases, balancing, the strongest counterargument and honest advocacy→
Principle and policy, consequences and balancing, coherence, the strongest counterargument, candour and honest advice. Practice: Principle or Policy, Balance the Interests and Steelman the Other Side.
Capstone: Capstone: the Alder Park scooter→
A fine for riding a mobility scooter in a park. Read the by-law, argue both sides, weigh the precedents, build and test your argument, answer the council’s letter and advise.
What It Covers
“You will be able to read a rule or a case, build an argument that can be tested, see the weak moves in anyone’s reasoning, and give honest advice about uncertainty.”
- Seven modules and a capstone that move from the kinds of legal reasoning to rules, precedent, argument structure, fallacies, proof and inference, and principle, policy and the other side.
- Three working tools with invented data: a Precedent Comparer that weighs an analogy fact by fact, an Argument Builder that checks the six parts of a Toulmin argument and finds the missing warrant, and a Fallacy Spotter that flags weak moves and says when the same move is legitimate.
- Honest about the limits: the tools show structure and cannot say what is right, and the course says where legal systems differ, so that you know what to check where you work.
- Jurisdiction-neutral and built on invented cases, so that it complements any substantive law course, and it states the standards of proof and duties of candour in general terms.
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Step 1 of 9 in the Foundations of Law, Year 1
How lawyers think, find the law and write, and the first great subjects: contract, tort, crime and the constitution. Each course is sold on its own; the whole program is $69 once and unlocks every course in it.
See the whole programModule 1 is free to try. Sign in, pass each module quiz and the course average, and your Certificate of Completion is emailed to you automatically. This course teaches method and technique with invented people and figures; it is general education, not legal advice, and professional rules differ from country to country.
Common questions
- Is this a logic course?
- No. It uses ideas from logic and argumentation theory only where they help a lawyer, such as the difference between valid and sound arguments, the Toulmin model and the common fallacies. The focus is on what lawyers actually do: reading rules and cases, building and answering arguments, and reasoning about facts.
- How does it differ from Legal Research and Writing?
- Legal Research and Writing teaches how to find authority and how to write memos and briefs. This course teaches the reasoning that goes into them: how to argue from a rule, how to use a precedent, how to structure an argument and how to spot weak ones. They are designed to be used together.
- Does it teach one country’s law?
- No. It is jurisdiction-neutral and uses invented rules and cases to teach skills that apply in common-law systems and, with modifications, in civil-law systems. Where systems differ, such as on the force of precedent and the standards of proof, it says so and tells you to check where you work.
- Are the tools real data?
- No. All cases, people and facts are invented. The tools help you think and cannot tell you what is right: the Precedent Comparer cannot decide which facts are material, the Argument Builder checks structure and not correctness, and the Fallacy Spotter reads wording and not meaning. They run in your browser without sending anything anywhere.
- Is it useful before I have studied much law?
- Yes. It can be taken at the start of a law degree, as it explains what lawyers are doing when they argue, and it is equally useful later, when it helps you write better answers, briefs and advice.
- How do I get the Certificate of Completion?
- Sign in, pass each module quiz and keep a course average of at least 75. The certificate is then issued and emailed to you automatically.
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