In Pre-LL.M. Week 8, we focused on reading a judicial opinion. We discussed briefing cases, how a U.S. law school professor may “cold call” a student to discuss the case, and the “hypos” students may be faced with during class and on a final exam. Last week I highlighted why I like Animal Science Products as a Pre-LL.M. case. Today, I wanted to follow-up with Animal Science Products for legal English. You can read the full Animal Science Products case here.

Earlier this week, I shared a list of words and phrases with my Pre-LL.M. group. I mentioned that these were words I would have likely looked up in Black’s Law Dictionary as a 1L student in my first semester. How many of these words, phrases, and citations are familiar to you? How would you separate the words and phrases into different categories?

During our synchronous session, we discussed the legal English terminology that will be helpful for those who will take Civil Procedure (as well as other subjects). We reinforced our discussion of the federal court system and the names of federal courts, as well as the distinction between primary and secondary sources of law. We discussed the citation system for cases, and I highlighted that they’ll hear a lot more about the Bluebook soon. We looked at the language used by the Court, especially in describing a prior case, in the evolution of a rule, and in factors future federal courts should consider in similar situations.

In addition to the terms, we were able to discuss the case in a way J.D. graduates may remember from their 1L courses. Through a mixture of “cold calls” and volunteering, participants did a wonderful job highlighting the different parts of the case, walking me through the issue, holdings, facts, procedural posture, rules, and analysis. Being “cold called” or otherwise walking a professor through a case will make many law students nervous, even those who are native English speakers. We discussed strategies for participating in class and my hope is that Pre-LL.M. students will feel comfortable being called on and volunteering to discuss cases, especially in their courses with J.D. students. Finally, we discussed the ways that case briefs will also assist in reading comprehension, in summarizing complex information before class through writing, and in taking notes during class while listening to the professor and other students speaking.

As we move into July, the Pre-LL.M. group will move into comparing and distinguishing cases, creating case charts, and being introduced to the IRAC system. Legal English is an important part of Pre-LL.M. onboarding and I’m glad to see legal English more visible in the overall support being offered for foreign-educated lawyers & law students. I discussed a lot of these topics on the U.S. Law Essential’s Law & Language podcast earlier this week with former colleague Stephen Horowitz, Director of Online Legal English at Georgetown. I look forward to sharing the interview once it’s available!