Law Commons^™

The Science Of Legal Synthesis, Jennifer M. Cooper

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article applies scientific research to improve and systematize legal synthesis, a vital element of reasoning that spans legal analysis, legal education, and law practice. Despite its critical role in legal analysis, synthesis is poorly understood, hard to perform, and even harder to describe. Synthesis embodies a hidden curriculum that legal educators expect students to learn “by osmosis.” This lack of transparency frustrates both professor and student, rendering the skill difficult to teach, assess, and master.

This Article provides reliable methodologies to better understand how legal synthesis really works and how to actually perform it. Part I provides a …