As a refresher, think of legal education as a study that teaches lawyers how to interpret the law and how to apply it when it comes to real life cases. Law school is the capstone of one’s legal education and there are many examples of great lawyers who started out in this world by taking legal education classes. These examples include Edmund Burke, John Milton, Oliver Cromwell, and more. Practicing lawyers take these same legal education classes and add additional examples sentences that give them better ways to apply and interpret the law so they can practice law successfully in real life situations.
An example sentence for lawyers is this: “A man was walking down the street when this man shot him in the leg.” The problem with this example sentence is that it uses the word ‘shot’ to describe what the legal system considers as assault. Another problem is that it describes the act of shooting instead of describing what happened. Legal professionals call this ‘derivative” legal reasoning and it has nothing to do with the reality of what actually happened. This example sentence should be replaced with: “A man was walking down the street when a gun-toting criminal fired a gun at him from close range, injuring him in the leg.”
It gets even worse! Imagine a situation where you or a loved one is harmed because of another person’s negligence. How would you feel? How would your family feel if this happened to you or a family member? This is a horrible way to start any new career in the legal profession, but fortunately, you don’t have to start in that same dramatic way.
You can start your career knowing and taking a look at an example sentence for legal professionals like this. First, take note of the tense and the person’s name (or persons’ names if applicable). Next, take the sentence and try to find a good analogy that best describes the event. Finally, take a look at the legal theories behind it. You will want to study the sentence to find out what legal theories are used or applied in the situation.
Most legal professionals will start reading the sentence to see whether there is a possible argument to be made in its favor. However, just because there could possibly be a legal argument doesn’t mean that you have to immediately take it on. Instead, you should take a moment to ask yourself why the example sentence is used in the context it has been placed. There may be a perfectly good reason why the example sentence has been used, even if it is not legally appropriate. By asking yourself questions like this, you will be able to figure out whether or not there is a valid argument to be made against the example sentence.
The next step is to take a look at the specific law that was cited in the example sentence. Most legal professionals will refer to case law as the governing law. This refers to the general principles that were used in past cases. Sometimes, this is referred to as “ancillary law” or “contributory law.” These principles often influence various decisions that are taken in present day legal practices.
One of the easiest ways for you to understand this method of analyzing and studying an example sentence for legal practitioners is to remember that it is called “legal research.” Legal research requires that you spend some time doing the appropriate types of research. You will need to do a lot of reading, speaking with legal professionals, and watching legal programs and television shows. All of this will take you a long way toward developing the skills you need to become a more adept and successful legal practitioner.
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