Thinking like a lawyer means, in the first instance, thinking with care and precision, reading and speaking with attention to nuance and detail. It means paying attention to language, but also understanding that words can have myriad meanings and can often be manipulated. It thus also means paying attention to context and contingency. That is all part of the lawyer’s craft, or art, which is important both in itself and as a means to larger ends.
Full Answer
Although law professors remain fond of telling students they’re going to teach them how to think like a lawyer, you don’t have to attend law school to enhance your own logic and critical thinking skills. Approach a problem from all angles. To see all the possible issues in a set of facts, lawyers look at the situation from different perspectives.
Approach a problem from all angles. To see all the possible issues in a set of facts, lawyers look at the situation from different perspectives. Putting yourself in others’ shoes allows you to understand other points of view.
Non-lawyers may perceive this ability as a moral failing in lawyers, but it doesn’t mean lawyers don’t believe in anything. The ability to argue both sides of an issue means you understand that there are two sides to every story, each of which has potentially valid points.
Jennifer Mueller is an in-house legal expert at wikiHow. Jennifer reviews, fact-checks, and evaluates wikiHow's legal content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. She received her JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback.
Thinking like a lawyer also means not taking anything for granted. Understanding why something happened, or why a certain law was enacted, enables you to apply the same rationale to other fact patterns and reach a logical conclusion. ...
1. Approach a problem from all angles. To see all the possible issues in a set of facts, lawyers look at the situation from different perspectives. Putting yourself in others’ shoes allows you to understand other points of view.
Lawyers refer to why a law was made as its ‘‘policy.’’. The policy behind a law can be used to argue that new facts or circumstances should also fall under the law.
Thinking like a lawyer also requires using judgment. Just because a logical argument can be made doesn’t mean that argument is good. Judgment is necessary to determine whether a given line of reasoning or conclusion is in anyone’s best interests or advances society as a whole, or if it’s destructive and dangerous.
Career As a Lawyer: What They Do, How to Become One, and What the Future Holds!
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.