Introduction to Legal Reasoning
Self-paced
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Full course description
Course Introduction
This course consists of eight modules covering discrete topics in legal reasoning and analysis. Within each module, participants will review required readings, watch short lectures from IU Maurer School of Law Professor Joseph Tomain, and complete short comprehension quizzes.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants will have an understanding of:
- How legal rules are constructed
- The challenge of overinclusivity and underinclusivity in law
- How common law legal systems operate
- The concept of precedent in case law
Module Topics Include
- Module 1: Is There Legal Reasoning?
- Module 2: Rules in Law & Elsewhere
- Module 3: Making Law with Rules & Standards
- Module 4: The Practice & Problems of Precedent
- Module 5: The Use & Abuse of Analogies
- Module 6: The Idea of Common Law
- Module 7: The Interpretation of Statutes
- Module 8: The Challenges of Legal Realism
Meet the Instructor
Joe Tomain, J.D. is a Senior Lecturer at the Maurer School of Law where he teaches Information Privacy Law I and II, Contracts, and Internet Law. He received his undergraduate degree in Government and International Relations at the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D., cum laude, at the University of Notre Dame Law School. Tomain has extensive experience in practice, teaching, and scholarship on privacy and free speech rights, particularly in online environments. In addition to his role as Senior Lecturer, Tomain is Director of the Law School’s Cybersecurity and Information Privacy Law Program. He is also a Senior Fellow at IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR). His contributions to the CACR include examining the relationship, and often competing interests, between speech and privacy rights, as well as the cybersecurity implications that must be considered when assessing online privacy.