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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
Legal Reading And Success In Law School: Law Students With Attention Deficit Disorder (Add), Leah M. Christensen
Legal Reading And Success In Law School: Law Students With Attention Deficit Disorder (Add), Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
The new reality in legal education is that a certain percentage of our students will come to us with ADD or with another learning disability, either disclosed or undisclosed. Yet there has been little empirical research on how law students with learning disabilities read and understand the law. This study examined how three law students with ADD read a judicial opinion. The results suggested a relationship between successful law school performance and the use of problematizing and rhetorical reading strategies; and less successful law school performance and the use of default reading strategies. Further, the results suggest that law students …
Predicting Law School Success: A Study Of Goal Orientations, Academic Achievement And The Declining Self-Efficacy Of Our Law Students, Leah M. Christensen
Predicting Law School Success: A Study Of Goal Orientations, Academic Achievement And The Declining Self-Efficacy Of Our Law Students, Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
This study asked 157 law students to respond to a survey about their learning goals and motivations for learning in law school. The student responses were correlated to different academic variables, including class rank, LSAT scores, undergraduate GPA. Further, the study explored whether any relationships existed between goal orientations (mastery or performance) and law school success (class rank). The results were illuminating: despite the performance-based curriculum of law school, the most successful students were mastery oriented learners. In contrast, there was no statistical correlation between performance-oriented learning and law school success. Further, the LSAT score was the weakest predictor of …
Sticks, Stones, And Schoolyard Bullies: Restorative Justice, Mediation And A New Approach To Conflict Resolution In Our Schools, Leah M. Christensen
Sticks, Stones, And Schoolyard Bullies: Restorative Justice, Mediation And A New Approach To Conflict Resolution In Our Schools, Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: One of the most damaging and increasing problems in our schools today is student teasing and bullying. The research is clear: victims and bystanders of bullying will experience emotional scars with long-term effects. This Article discusses the failure of the traditional legal system to prevent bullying and to provide appropriate compensation for its victims. In addition, the Article introduces a new approach to conflict resolution in our schools called the Social Inclusion Approach. Based upon principles of Restorative Justice, the Social Inclusion Approach seeks to change the climate of the school and give the bystanders the power to say, …
Law Students Who Learn Differently: A Narrative Case Study Of Three Law Students With Attention Deficit Disorder (Add), Leah M. Christensen
Law Students Who Learn Differently: A Narrative Case Study Of Three Law Students With Attention Deficit Disorder (Add), Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: More law students than ever before begin law school having been diagnosed with a learning disability. As legal educators, do we have an obligation to expand our teaching methodologies beyond the typical law student? What teaching methodologies work most effectively for law students with learning disabilities? The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of law students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) about their law school experience. The case study yielded four themes relating to the social, learning and achievement domains of the students. First, law students with ADD experienced feelings of isolation in law school; second, …
Navigating The Article Selection Process: An Empirical Study Of Those With All The Power--Student Editors, Leah M. Christensen, Julie A. Oseid
Navigating The Article Selection Process: An Empirical Study Of Those With All The Power--Student Editors, Leah M. Christensen, Julie A. Oseid
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: Anyone who enters the legal academy knows the pressure for new law professors to publish or perish. The use of student editors as the “gatekeepers” of legal scholarship is a distinctive feature of the legal academy. Yet, even with student editors holding the keys to academic success, few empirical studies have explored what factors student editors consider most important when making article selection decisions. The study reported in this Article attempts to shed light on this process and provide suggestions for new law professors as they navigate the law review article submission process. The present study examines how law …
Legal Reading And Law School Success: An Empirical Study, Leah M. Christensen
Legal Reading And Law School Success: An Empirical Study, Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: Does the way in which law students read legal text impact their success? This article describes important new research on how law students read cases. This study examined the way in which first year law students in the top and bottom 50% of their class read a judicial opinion and whether their use of particular reading strategies impacted their law school grades. The results were significant: even when students had gone through the same first-semester classes, the more successful law students read a judicial opinion differently than those students who were less successful. In addition, there was a correlation …
Going Back To Kindergarten: Considering The Application Of Waldorf Principles To Legal Education, Leah Christensen
Going Back To Kindergarten: Considering The Application Of Waldorf Principles To Legal Education, Leah Christensen
Leah M Christensen
“In education we must take the whole human being into consideration, the growing, living human being, and not just an abstract idea of man.” Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf Education INTRODUCTION There have been many articles about the ethical decline of lawyers. The current research suggests that practicing attorneys feel all too comfortable overlooking their personal morals and judgment when representing their clients. A survey of younger lawyers showed that most of the respondents resolved ethical dilemmas by “retreating into their role as advocates” where their legal reasons for making decisions outweighed any social consequences of their lawyering. In response …
"The Paradox Of Legal Expertise: A Study Of Experts And Novices Reading The Law", Leah M. Christensen
"The Paradox Of Legal Expertise: A Study Of Experts And Novices Reading The Law", Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: What strategies do lawyers and judges use to read the law? The study described in this article examined the way in which 10 legal experts (8 lawyers and 2 judges) and 10 novices (law students in the top 50% of their class) read a judicial opinion. Whereas the experts read efficiently (taking less overall time), the beginning law students read less efficiently. Where the experts read the text flexibly, moving back and forth between different parts of the opinion, the novices read inflexibly. The experts connected to the purpose of their reading more consistently than the novices and drew …
The Psychology Behind Case Briefing: A Powerful Cognitive Schema, Leah M. Christensen
The Psychology Behind Case Briefing: A Powerful Cognitive Schema, Leah M. Christensen
Leah M Christensen
Abstract: Why is case briefing so important for first year law students? This article explores the way in which law students learn in the context of case analysis. As new students approach case analysis for the first time, the case brief is an effective “schema” to provide students with a framework within which to analyze a legal opinion. Case briefing does more than simply allow students to pull out the holding of a case; it helps beginning law students organize a legal opinion’s analytical framework accurately and efficiently. This article urges legal educators to consider how the current research on …