Legal English Institute (LEGL)

LEGL 0102. Foundations of Private Law. (0 to 2 Credits)

Foundations of Private Law offers a unified approach to contract, property, and tort law – the three fundamental areas of private law with which all attorneys should have familiarity. This course will be taught using a traditional case law Socratic method.

LEGL 0103. Introduction to the United States Legal System and Law Study. (0 to 4 Credits)

Introduction to the U.S. Legal System and Study first introduces students to the basics of studying law in the U.S., including tips for reading, outlining, and note taking; case law analysis; approaches to exam taking; and other suggestions for success in U.S. law school. The second part of the course will introduce participants to the basics of the U.S. legal system, including the constitutional foundations of the U.S. legal system, such as federalism, separation of powers and checks and balances, and supremacy and preemption; the judicial systems; sources of law and especially the defining principles of precedent and stare decisis and the practice of synthesizing case law; and U.S. civil litigation.

LEGL 0109. LEI Workshop. (0 to 2 Credits)

LEGL 0110. Legal English Institute Tutorial . (0 to 1 Credits)

LEGL 0129. Fundamental Lawyering Skills. (0 to 3 Credits)

Fundamental Lawyering Skills provides opportunities for participants to practice their interviewing, client counseling, and negotiating skills. You will be exposed to the unpredictable and complex world of legal practice through role plays, and you will receive comprehensive guidance and feedback from your classmates and faculty.

Attributes: EXP, JD.

LEGL 0201. Working with Contracts. (0 to 2 Credits)

LEGL 0260. Legal Professional Persona. (0 to 1 Credits)

This course will help students in their efforts to develop a professional identity. As law firms move to competency-based models for employment, advancement, and retention, and as job seekers outnumber positions, this course will provide participants with the tools to improve their prospects of career success. Topics will include leadership; the importance of observation and self-reflection and healthy habits of practice; mindset; organization and time management; civility and judgment; communication skills; reliability and accountability; and ability to work with others. Students will get ample experience writing and doing role-plays and other in-class exercises.

LEGL 0299. Communication Pragmatics for Lawyers. (0 to 2 Credits)

Communication Pragmatics for Lawyers will integrate legal and extra-legal content from the other LEI courses into a highly practical, communication-based curriculum. The objective of this course is to polish student’s speaking, writing, listening, and reading abilities into the kind of multifaceted, communicative skill-set that is expected from attorneys practicing at top-tier law firms, businesses, international organizations, and government agencies. Students in this class will learn to integrate the content from LEI’s broad legal coursework into their own English-language communicative framework.