A brief introduction to the common law -- Rule-based legal reasoning -- Reasoning from precedent and the principle of stare decisis -- How it is determined what rule a precedent establishes -- Reasoning from authoritative although not legally binding rules -- The role of moral, policy, and empirical propositions in legal reasoning, and the judicial adoption of new legal rules based on social propositions -- Legal rules, principles, and standards -- The malleability of common law rules -- Hiving off new legal rules from established legal rules, creating exceptions to established rules, and distinguishing -- Analogy-based legal reasoning -- The roles of logic, deduction, and good judgment in legal reasoning -- Reasoning from hypotheticals -- Overruling.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.