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The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Legal Process

  • Semester: Spring 2017
  • Course ID: 379M
  • Credit Hours: 3
  • Unique: 28910

Course Information

  • Grading Method: Pass/Fail Allowed (JD only)

Registration Information

  • 1L and upperclass elective

Meeting Times

Day Time Location
TUE, WED, THU 9:10 - 10:00 am JON 6.207/208

Evaluation Method

Type Date Time Location
Final exam May 11, 2017 1:30 pm A-Z in 2.124

Description

Course Description The Legal Process Professor Powers Spring 2017 “The Legal Process” is a course on legal philosophy and on legal history. It is a course on legal philosophy because it examines how and whether judges (and lawyers) have a special method of reasoning different from legislators and other policy makers, and it examines whether courts have a different institutional role from legislatures, executive branch offices, and private entities. In short, it examines the question of whether (and how) there is something special about “thinking like a lawyer.” It is a course on legal history because it examines these questions through a famous set of materials, called “The Legal Process”, developed at Harvard by Henry Hart and Al Sachs in the 1950’s and taught pervasively in leading American law schools in the latter part of the 20th century. These materials were intended to be a response to earlier theories of law, such as legal formalism and legal realism, and they spawned the later sympathetic legal theory of Ronald Dworkin. They also spawned critical reaction from “postmodern” legal theories such as critical legal studies, critical race theory, and critical feminist theory. In addition, many of the tenants of the Legal Process school are still influential today. The course has a traditional discussion format. The grade is based on a final examination. There are no midterm exams or papers.

Textbooks ( * denotes required )

The Legal Process - Basic Problems in the Making and Application of Law *
Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks
Foundation Press , edition: First
ISBN: 1-56662-236-0

Instructors

Headshot of Powers, William C Jr. Powers, William C Jr.
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Important Class Changes

Date Updated
03/10/2017 Exam information updated
Designated as 1L and upperclass elective
Room(s) changed