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The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking about the Law First edition, first printing (full number line)

by Ward Farnsworth (Author)

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There are two kinds of knowledge law school teaches: legal rules on the one hand, and tools for thinking about legal problems on the other. Although the tools are far more interesting and useful than the rules, they tend to be neglected in favor of other aspects of the curriculum. In The Legal Analyst, Ward Farnsworth brings together in one place all of the most powerful of those tools for thinking about law.

From classic ideas in game theory such as the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” and the “Stag Hunt” to psychological principles such as hindsight bias and framing effects, from ideas in jurisprudence such as the slippery slope to more than two dozen other such principles, Farnsworth’s guide leads readers through the fascinating world of legal thought. Each chapter introduces a single tool and shows how it can be used to solve different types of problems. The explanations are written in clear, lively language and illustrated with a wide range of examples.

The Legal Analyst is an indispensable user’s manual for law students, experienced practitioners seeking a one-stop guide to legal principles, or anyone else with an interest in the law.

ISBN-10

0226238350
ISBN-13

978-0226238357
Edition

First edition, first printing (full number line)
Publisher

University of Chicago Press
Publication date

June 15, 2007
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
Print length

326 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Every good lawyer knows that there’s a standard set of argumentative moves that are repeatedly made in different legal settings. Farnsworth’s book is chock full of the kind of tools that every legal analyst should have in his or her back pocket. This ambitious book is likely to spur a lively debate about what exactly are the essential tools of legal analysis. While some will grouse that their pet tool was excluded, the books points toward a new way of organizing the first-year curriculum. Farnsworth is forging a new pedagogical canon.”

-- Ian Ayres, Townsend Professor, Yale Law School and author of Super Crunchers

“This is one of those rare books that will actually raise the level of analysis at every law school in the country. A must-read not only for students just beginning law school, but indeed for anyone who could use a reminder of how diverse and powerful the legal toolkit really is.”
-- Douglas Lichtman, Professor, University of Chicago Law School

“This book is a very accessible introduction to the major ideas of modern legal thinking and useful survey of current thinking in the field. It covers an extraordinarily broad range of topics in a limited space and is very clearly written, studded with interesting examples and observations. It can profitably be read by law students, lawyers, and lay people with an interest in the legal system.”
-- Daniel Farber, Sho Sato Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley

“The Legal Analyst provides an engaging and enlightening introduction to the most essential concepts of legal reasoning. In exceptionally clear prose, Ward Farnsworth walks the reader through concepts such as the Coase Theorem, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and Property Rules and Liability Rules—peeling away the fog of confusion that often envelops them to reveal the deep and startlingly simple insights that they offer. The reader comes away from the book with a toolkit of ideas that can be used to take apart and examine almost any legal issue.”

-- Oona A. Hathaway, Associate Professor of Law, Yale Law School

“This is an outstanding book that occupies a significant and unique niche in the literature of jurisprudence and legal methodology. Farnsworth introduces students and practitioners alike to basic methods of legal analysis across a broad range of disciplines. This book should become the ultimate ‘toolkit’ for those new to the profession.”
-- David J. Bederman, Emory University School of Law

About the Author

Ward Farnsworth, who clerked for both Judge Richard A. Posner and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, is professor of law and Nancy Barton Scholar at the Boston University School of Law. He is the coauthor of Torts: Cases and Questions.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; First edition, first printing (full number line) (June 15, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 326 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226238350
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226238357
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #89,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Legal History (Books)
- #29 in Law (Books)
- #85 in Professional

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Ward Farnsworth

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Ward Farnsworth is Dean and John Jeffers Research Chair at the University of Texas School of Law. He formerly was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the Boston University Law School. He has served as a law clerk to Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court and to Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and worked as a Legal Adviser to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in the Hague. He received his J.D. with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, and his B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Farnsworth is the author of books on law, philosophy, rhetoric, and chess. He also has published scholarly articles on the economic analysis of law, constitutional law, statutory interpretation, jurisprudence, and cognitive psychology. He serves as Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm.

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4.7 out of 5

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Jeff Walden

Concepts useful to anyone thinking about how the world works -- not just for lawyers!

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2013

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How do laws and the legal process balance the competing interests of everyone involved? What do judges consider when deciding how a law should be construed? Ward Farnsworth here presents tools to help answer these questions, and others like them: thirty-one concepts that underlie our legal system. Paraphrasing part of the book's preface, the goal is to gather and clearly explain, with numerous examples, the most interesting ideas presented in law school.

That said, I think this book is under-sold as specifically being for legal-minded people. Some of the concepts are more specific to the law, to be sure. But most of the ideas have general applicability to thinking about how people interact generally. The economic ideas give ways to think about how much things are worth (in a broad sense of the word), how people value them, and whose responsibility problems should be. These ideas are all useful in considering group dynamics well outside the legal context. The game theory concepts are useful to anyone in any sort of business, in thinking about, and talking about, how their competitors will act and react to them. The psychological phenomena studied are immensely valuable to advertisers, and to anyone in the general public interested in recognizing the subtle tactics advertisements use. The concepts deriving from statistics are valuable to anyone thinking about what the figures people give actually mean, or don't mean. Even the jurisprudential ideas studied are often useful for argument and persuasion in general, and making one's point more effectively.

This book isn't really about law, although it frequently touches upon it, and the topic of law is an undercurrent throughout. It's really about concepts that show up everywhere, not just in law: concepts useful to anyone wanting to think about how the world works, why it works the way it does, and how to successfully navigate it. It's not a long book, but it is a deep book: best digested a chapter at a time, giving time for thought about the concepts discussed to see them elsewhere in the world. (In this regard I regard it much as I regard The Federalist Papers : a book worthy of slow digestion and extra time to chew on the topics presented.)

I've never been to law school and have no intention of going. I don't know how useful it is specifically for the aspiring lawyer. But I do think it's well worth reading for anyone interested in thinking deeply about the world and how we move through it. Highly recommended.

6 people found this helpful

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Jerry Saperstein

Excellent, but dense reading

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2009

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The author says he intends his book to be of interest to "law students, lawyers, scholars, and anyone else with an interest in the legal system". The pity is that most people are unaware of the impact of the legal system and its impact on their daily lives. A book like "The Legal Analyst", unfortunately, is not for the average citizen. It took me months of nibbling, reading a bit at a time, to get through these fascinating, but densely written book.

"The Legal Analyst" is excellent: informative, learned and challenging, all at the same time. The alternative title considered was "Thinking Like a Law Professor" and that might have been more appropriate.

The value of the book is that instead of discussing rules as so many law texts do, Professor Farnsworth introduces us here - quite effectively - to tools for thinking about the law.

I am not a lawyer, but lawyers are my clientele and I play a role in litigation as an expert witness and consultant. I am also an American who is very concerned about the direction of the nation and the fate of its Constitution, the very document that makes us a nation of laws.

Professor Farnsworth is a gentle guide. He avoids footnotes. He doesn't use dry academic language. He is, matter of fact, pretty straightforward. But the subject matter itself, while always challenging, is sometimes dry. There are thirty chapters on the tools of legal thought, prefaced by a introduction that poses an interesting challenge. If a robber enters a bank, takes customer hostage and threatens to kill a hostage if he doesn't get $5,000, should the bank be held liable when the robber gets no money and kills the hostage? (I'm not going to tell.)

On the whole, only the truly committed will make it through this book. It is not because of any lack of quality or scholarship: it is simply a difficult read. Those who do complete the trek will be rewarded with an expanded knowledge of the logic of the law.

I do wish Professor Farnsworth would consider writing a version of "The Legal Analyst" for the average person - such a book is truly needed.

Jerry

27 people found this helpful

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Brian

Excellent book on legal theory!

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2010

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This is an excellent book on legal thought.

I am not an attorney but I'm very interested in the law. I found this book to be thought-provoking and made me look at the law from different perspectives. I believe this book is valuable to anyone with a potential legal conflict because it will allow you to look at your issue from several angles, including how judges may think about how to solve your dispute intuitively. this book does an excellent job of showing how judges may tackle disputes by looking at the bigger picture. The author talks a lot about how a law may not discourage everyone's behavior but it could affect a small group of people making that law effective.

Some of the more historic cases discussed in law school are utilized in this book to illustrate the overall concept discussed in each chapter. I particularly liked the rent seeking discussion in the book and how special interests attempt to skew the law in the political process in their favor. This book takes an economic look at the law which I believe is valuable. This book is a great standalone book for someone interested in the law but also is an excellent book to round out a legal library.

My compliments to the author and the publisher for having text-to-speech enabled on the Kindle version which made my experience with this book even more pleasurable.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

J

Informative but interesting

Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

Gives a great description into the concepts of how and why different arguments in law are made and makes you think about scenarios in many different ways.
Gives relavent and exemplary examples to support theories and topics discussed.
This book is great for all kinds of people (lawyers, law students, managers, and general public)
Vocabulary is not complicated and can be understood by most people.
Very interesting read but also manages to not be boring.

Alexander White

Stimulating and beautifully written.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

Gives you many new ways of looking at the world. Brilliant.

One person found this helpful

Yuliia Grebonkina

The price is good

Reviewed in Spain on March 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is very interesting

Marcos Luz

Formulas, theorems, dilemmas (law)

Reviewed in Brazil on June 3, 2019

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Interesting positions. That’s it. If you wish to dive to a economic approach of different areas of law you did come to the right book. Formulas, theorems and other maths, dilemmas, and proposition inside. Without any doubt, this book delivers a hell of useful information. highly recommended.

rima anagnostou

Great book.

Reviewed in Australia on December 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

It made me think outside the box!

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