Course Sample for Fundamentals of Legal Reasoning Homeschool Logic Curriculum

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Lesson 1: Introduction to Solving Legal Questions

Steps toward resolving a legal problem or deciding a case must begin with asking the right questions. These questions involve both facts and law. When a client seeks counsel from a lawyer, the client tells their story to the lawyer. The client may not know what facts are legally significant. The client tells the attorney what happened, how it made them feel, what injury they suffered, or what they want done. The client wants resolution, compensation, restitution, or some other remedy to have justice done. In criminal cases, the government prosecutes a person for allegedly committing a crime. But in civil cases, it is one individual with a complaint against another individual for alleged harm done.

Whether individuals are resolving a conflict (civil case) or the government is prosecuting a crime (criminal case), every case begins with determining the issue or issues involved. An issue is a question that must be answered to reach a conclusion resolving the conflict, or determining the guilt of a person. The main issue(s) can be based on facts (e.g., was the traffic light red or green), or based on law (e.g., was someone negligent). In a civil case, the person who accuses someone of wrongdoing is called the plaintiff, and the accused is called the defendant. In a criminal case, the government is the plaintiff, and the accused is the defendant. The victim of a crime is normally the main witness, except in the cases of a homicide where other witnesses must be used.

A lawyer’s job is to ask the right factual questions to determine what legal principles or laws would apply. The lawyer is assumed to know the law or will research the law to determine what remedies are available, if any. So, the first step in legal analysis is determining the issue or issues that must be decided. The next step is to determine the applicable law or rule that applies to the factual situation. The third step is to apply the relevant facts to the applicable law in order to reach a conclusion or answer to the legal question at issue. This is called the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Analysis or Application, and Conclusion) method of analysis.

The “Issue” is always in the form of a question using the word “whether” or “what.” The “Rule” is the legal principle or law applicable to the factual situation. The “Analysis” is the process of applying the facts to the law to reach a “Conclusion” and the answer to the issue or question. Let’s look at a few examples.