...the larger goal is building career-long habits of self-reflection for professional growth...
The Lawyering Method takes the next step by asking students to practice in controlled, simulated settings. In series of increasingly complex exercises, students
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study the elements of a lawyering task (e.g., interviewing, negotiation, brief writing);
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accept an actual or hypothetical case assignment that challenges them to undertake the task under study;
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engage in collaborative, strategic planning to meet the challenge;
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meet the challenge through formal or informal interactions; and then
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subject their planning and performance to extensive self, peer, and faculty critique.
The immediate goal is structured, carefully sequenced learning. The larger goal is building career-long habits of self-reflection for professional growth.
Lawyering students are not left to navigate Lawyering exercises by intuition or trial and error. The Lawyering Method establishes a framework for identifying and addressing the four elements of a legal matter that were introduced above. Each element is presented as a contingency to be managed rather than a given to be suffered.