101 Things I Learned® in Law School

a party suffering a personal injury cannot recover for losses incurred by failing to seek reasonable medical care, unless the conduct that caused the injury was willful or done in bad faith.

Whether working from good or bad facts, or good or bad law, students need to show they can use their resources to convincingly support or refute a position.

Deductive logic usually works from broadly accepted truths toward a demonstration of truth in a specific situation. More generally, it is any logical line of reasoning in which the premises guarantee a true outcome.

A proper argument is not driven by emotion, but if an argument lacks an emotional component, it is unlikely to connect with a judge or jury.

The U.S. Constitution grants local sovereignty to over 300 American Indian reservations. They

Insight usually requires long periods of discussion, research, analysis, rationalization, and counterargument, and it rarely arrives while attacking a matter directly or on a first pass.

Inductive logic tends to work from specific truths toward a demonstration of a larger, more encompassing truth.

Limitations: Show that the witness’s view was obstructed, or that the witness has abnormal memory due to mental incapacity or intoxication. Expertise: Show that credentials are inadequate or not specific to the subject, or that the purity of the evidence evaluated by the expert is in question.

If the law is in your favor, pound the law. If the facts are in your favor, pound the facts. If neither is in your favor, pound the table.