Empathy and Reasoning in Context: Thinking About Anti-Gay Bullying

“Empathy” has negative connotations for many legal theorists, who may conceive of it as subjective, lacking in intellectual rigor, and emphasizing sensitivity over reason. Even those legal scholars who have embraced the importance of empathy in legal work have emphasized its affective dimensions: pointing out that empathy is central to human relations and motivations, and is therefore a crucial lawyering skill. This paper builds on social science literature that identifies both cognitive and affective dimensions to empathy, and recasts empathy as in part a central component to higher-order thinking in law. It draws examples from empathetic reasoning in foundational cases in studied by most law graduates, then proceeds to map the empathetic thinking at work in a series of recent cases in which students have sued school districts for failing to prevent anti-gay harassment which allegedly interfered with their ability to receive an education

Homophobia and the \u27Mathew Shepard Effect\u27 in Lawrence v. Texas

This paper explores the significance of shifting cultural understandings of gay men and lesbians in the Supreme Court\u27s majority, concurring and dissenting opinions in the landmark sodomy case Lawrence v. Texas. By examining the legal authorities in which the case\u27s various opinions are grounded, the article shows that the differing positions taken by the Court reflect radically diverging views on the significance of homosexuality in contemporary culture. Beyond the rather easy observation that the Supreme Court justices are speaking different languages in the Lawrence opinion, the article contends that the rhetoric of the majority and dissent converge on at least one critical point: both acknowledge that sodomy prohibitions do not simply outlaw certain acts, but profoundly affect groups of people, that is, bisexuals, lesbians, and gay men. This notion was, until recently, hotly contested. But the article shows that the moment for the status/conduct debate about homosexuality seems to have passed, and that even those in favor of allowing states to proscribe gay sex concede that such laws uniquely resonate for a specific subset of the citizenry. This new-found consensus makes sense of Justice Kennedy\u27s far-reaching majority opinion, but complicates enormously the dissent. The article argues that Justice Scalia\u27s dissent is undone by its own position - once it acknowledges the existence of homosexuals, it becomes almost impossible to explain how gay-specific sodomy statutes are not an affront to their dignity. The essay also suggests that the majority opinion is suffused with an implicit but unacknowledged understanding of anti-gay prejudice. Contending that direct acknowledgment of the pernicious effects of racist bigotry was a crucial component in Brown v. Board of Education to which Lawrence has been compared, the essay argues that Lawrence cannot be similarly sea-changing if it is not also understood to introduce the concept of homophobia to the Court and to the larger public

The Lawyer\u27s Practice: A Context and Practice Case File (2011)

This innovative case file provides materials for students to work in the role of attorney as they learn and master the primary skills needed for legal practice. The file is equally suitable for first-year legal practice/legal writing classes or upper-level simulation courses focused on interviewing, counseling, negotiation or pre-trial litigation. Student-attorneys represent clients on both sides of a lawsuit through a realistic and carefully-sequenced series of exercises that track the stages of pre-trial work while encouraging mastery of many basic skills of legal practice: research, formal and informal legal writing, interviewing and counseling clients, fact development, discovery, motion practice, negotiation and drafting. Every chapter of the case file is scaffolded on students\u27 earlier work and critical reflection, permitting students to develop a confident sense of professional identity as they see the results of their efforts play out as the case develops. Chapters feature lively commentary giving an overview of the assigned task and contextualizing it within the goals for the case. The materials are accompanied by a comprehensive Teacher\u27s Manual that includes suggestions for teaching and using the case file, detailed instructions for clients, and additional documents available only to counsel for each side. This book is part of the Context and Practice Series, edited by Michael Hunter Schwartz, Professor of Law and Dean of the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_books/1156/thumbnail.jp

Method Lawyering: Immersion Teaching Illustrated

Immersive law teaching uses simulated client experiences to drive the learning of legal doctrine, while enriching comprehension and mastery by integrating of a range of lawyering competencies. In an effort to “show, don’t tell,” this Article provides an immersive introduction to immersive teaching though the lens of a family law course. A series of vignettes illustrate student work in the class. The vignettes become jumping off points for more specific discussion of the nuts and bolts of teaching and learning the law in the course, and for broader consideration of possibilities for immersive learning in legal education

Legal Reasoning Case Files (2019)

Legal Reasoning Case Files is designed to build legal analysis skills through hands-on work that reflects what lawyers do every day. Using realistic materials drawn from core legal topics, law students are guided to produce real-life documents while learning to reflect more deeply on what it actually means to think and work like a lawyer.” Each case file includes a set of practice-based documents, a narrowly-tailored assignment constructed to highlight application of legal rules to complex factual scenarios, commentary to guide users in working through the problem, and an example of how the legal principles at issue might be tested in a law school or bar examination question. Problems reinforce comprehension of foundational legal subjects, increase proficiency in the study and mastery of law, and help prepare beginning lawyers for a lifetime of practice. The book also includes useful checklists; tips to help users read, understand, and apply the materials; and in-depth discussions of sample responses to the accompanying exam questions. The materials in this text can be adapted to a wide array of law school courses: they offer a novel approach to a contemporary legal methods course, and they can also be used as a supplement for classes in torts, contracts, evidence, criminal law, property, or professional responsibility; a source for innovative projects for courses in lawyering or legal writing; or a resource for developing bar examination skills.https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_books/1131/thumbnail.jp