Learning Outcomes for Law

By the time you complete the academic and internship requirements for your Law degree, you will be able to:

Think Critically and Analytically

• Interpret and explain the elements of a legal argument or question.
• Analyze the structural connections between the component parts of a legal argument or question to determine which areas of law are relevant.
• Evaluate the credibility, reliability, or relevance of legal authority to determine if it applies to the legal issues.
• Synthesize a response based upon interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of legal issues and relevant authority.

Communicate Orally and in Writing

• Effectively interact both orally and in written correspondence with lawyers, other professionals, and laypersons.
• Analyze communication situations in order to make effective communication choices and achieve desired results.
• Make educated choices about language, genre, and organization to produce writing that is clear, concise, and reflective of the high standards expected within the legal profession.

Utilize Technology

• Choose appropriate technology tools and use them effectively.
• Survey both print and electronic sources of law to locate applicable and relevant primary and secondary source materials.
• Evaluate and analyze those source materials, and apply them to issues requiring legal analysis.
• Develop an adaptive life-long learning approach to changing technologies that gives proper consideration to the implications associated with their use.

Perform Legal Research

• Prepare and carry out a legal research plan.
• Survey both print and electronic sources of law to locate applicable primary and secondary source materials.
• Evaluate and analyze source materials, and apply them to issues requiring legal analysis.
• Properly cite both print and electronic sources of law.
• Draft various legal documents using proper format and appropriate content.

Interview and Investigate

• Locate and prepare documents to obtain information that is commonly maintained by government and private entities.
• Summarize and analyze information contained in such documents and apply it to a given situation.

Work Professionally and Ethically

• Cite, state, and act in accordance with the rules of professional conduct that govern those working in the legal field.
• Describe the evolving role of non-lawyers in the delivery of legal services and in increasing access to legal services.
• Identify the ethical implications inherent in a particular situation, and evaluate the particular course of action to be taken in the face of countervailing pressures.