It’s often been said that law school teaches students to “think like lawyers,” but it is difficult to pinpoint what this actually means. In some cases, legal work may require specialized knowledge and abilities, while in other cases, a very broad range of skills is needed.
Law school calendars and guides often refer to “habits of mind” which are essential in the legal profession. In his book The Lawyers, Martin Mayer offers some useful descriptions of the ways in which the reasoning habits of lawyers differ from those of other professionals⁽¹⁾. These may be summarized as follows:

· “Lawyers think in terms of conflicts and their resolution.” Achieving a fair and conclusive resolution to any dispute is the “business of law.”

· Lawyers must follow well-defined “standards of relevancy,” which are demanded by the legal system as well as the legal profession. These standards require procedural knowledge and a thorough understanding of how the process of law can be used to resolve disputes.

· Legal work often requires reasoning by analogy. Since the facts of each case are unique, it is a lawyer’s responsibility to find similarities that may exist with earlier cases.

· While resolving disputes fairly is in the interest of the community, lawyers are expected to function, above all, as advocates for their clients’ best interests.

(1) Martin Mayer, The Lawyers (Harper and Row Publishers: New York, 1966) 76-78.