SNHU - BUS 206 Chapter 1
Critical thinking skills - answerthe ability to understand the structure of what someone is
saying and then apply a set of criteria to evaluate its worth.
Legal reasoning - answerThe stimulus that gets us thinking is an issue, stated as a
question that requires us to do something, to think about answers.
conclusions - answerAnswers to questions
structure for critical thinking - answer1. Find the facts.
2. Look for the issue.
3. Identify the judge's reasons and conclusion.
4. Locate in the decision the rules of law that govern the judge's reasoning.
5. Apply critical thinking to the reasoning.
1. Find the facts. - answerHere we are looking for the most basic building blocks in a
legal decision or argument. They provide the environment or context in which the legal
issue is to be resolved. Certain events occurred; certain actions were or were not taken;
particular persons behaved or failed to behave in specific ways. We always want to
know, What happened in this case?
2. Look for the issue. - answerThe issue is the question that caused the lawyers and
their clients to enter the legal system.
3. Identify the judge's reasons and conclusion. - answerWe want a world rich with
opinions so that we can have a broad field of choice. But we should agree with only
those legal opinions that have convincing reasons supporting the conclusion. Asking
"Why?" is our respectful way of saying, "I want to believe you, but you have an
obligation to help me by sharing the reasons for your conclusion."
4. Locate in the decision the rules of law that govern the judge's reasoning -
answerJudges cannot offer just any reasoning that they please. They must always look
back over their shoulders at the laws and previous court decisions that together provide
an anchor for current and future decisions. What makes legal reasoning so complex is
that statutes and legal findings are never crystal clear. They may seem very clear, but
judges and businesspeople have room for interpretive flexibility in their reasoning.
5. Apply critical thinking to the reasoning. - answerA judge's reasoning, once we have
laid it out by following the steps discussed here, is a message we may either accept or
reject. Critical thinking in the legal context consists of examining the legal opinion in
search of potential problems in the reasoning.
Critical thinking skills - answerthe ability to understand the structure of what someone is
saying and then apply a set of criteria to evaluate its worth.
Legal reasoning - answerThe stimulus that gets us thinking is an issue, stated as a
question that requires us to do something, to think about answers.
conclusions - answerAnswers to questions
structure for critical thinking - answer1. Find the facts.
2. Look for the issue.
3. Identify the judge's reasons and conclusion.
4. Locate in the decision the rules of law that govern the judge's reasoning.
5. Apply critical thinking to the reasoning.
1. Find the facts. - answerHere we are looking for the most basic building blocks in a
legal decision or argument. They provide the environment or context in which the legal
issue is to be resolved. Certain events occurred; certain actions were or were not taken;
particular persons behaved or failed to behave in specific ways. We always want to
know, What happened in this case?
2. Look for the issue. - answerThe issue is the question that caused the lawyers and
their clients to enter the legal system.
3. Identify the judge's reasons and conclusion. - answerWe want a world rich with
opinions so that we can have a broad field of choice. But we should agree with only
those legal opinions that have convincing reasons supporting the conclusion. Asking
"Why?" is our respectful way of saying, "I want to believe you, but you have an
obligation to help me by sharing the reasons for your conclusion."
4. Locate in the decision the rules of law that govern the judge's reasoning -
answerJudges cannot offer just any reasoning that they please. They must always look
back over their shoulders at the laws and previous court decisions that together provide
an anchor for current and future decisions. What makes legal reasoning so complex is
that statutes and legal findings are never crystal clear. They may seem very clear, but
judges and businesspeople have room for interpretive flexibility in their reasoning.
5. Apply critical thinking to the reasoning. - answerA judge's reasoning, once we have
laid it out by following the steps discussed here, is a message we may either accept or
reject. Critical thinking in the legal context consists of examining the legal opinion in
search of potential problems in the reasoning.
