Law Skills

		skills needed for law school success	best source of undergraduate training	other sources of undergraduate training	be wary of
SKILLS IN ABA LAW SCHOOL PREP PRIMER	CRITICAL READING	understanding Judicial opinions and law review articles	constitutional law, criminal procedure, jurisprudence	business law courses, civil rights courses	courses that assign case summaries rather than judicial opinions
	PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS	analyzing problems requiring interpretation of statutes/opinions	constitutional law, criminal law, public administration	business law courses, public policy courses	lecture courses that give students LITTLE CLASS TIME to develop THESE skills
	ANALYTICAL WRITING SKILLS	answering issue-spotting or analytical questions requiring reasoning	courses in many departments offer exams that require analytical skills+	---------	courses that evaluate students based on multiple choice/matching exams
	ORAL COMMUNICATION AND LISTENING	responding quickly to opposing arguments and speaking without fear	courses with extensive classroom debate/ argument	debate team model congress extemporaneous speaking mock trial	thinking that making a prepared speech provides training in argumentation
	RESEARCH SKILLS	legal research	constitutional law criminal law public administration	other courses that require research into legal sources	courses that distribute the "research" needed for assignments