18 Va. Admin. Code § 35-20-350

Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 8, December 2, 2024
Section 18VAC35-20-350 - Basic legal skills

Introduction to basic legal reference materials (including judicial, legislative and administrative primary and secondary sources) and their use; techniques of legal reasoning, analysis and synthesis; legal writing styles. Familiarization with the structure of the federal and state court systems, the concept of case law in a common law jurisdiction, fundamental principles of stare decisis and precedent, the legislative process, principles of statutory construction and interpretation. Reader should be assigned projects of increasing difficulty such as: case abstracts, analysis of a trial record to identify issues, short quizzes to demonstrate ability to locate primary and secondary sources, office memoranda or trial-oriented memoranda of authorities to demonstrate ability to find the law applicable to a factual situation and to differentiate unfavorable authority, and an appellate level brief.

18 Va. Admin. Code § 35-20-350

Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.1, eff. March 1, 1993.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.