Here’s my resume: 36 years a practicing lawyer; 2.5 years as a full-time law professor. I learned to think like a lawyer; now I teach others how. So, here are some techniques to do just that (portable to new oath takers, as well).

Technique No. 1: Know the reason for a rule, not just the rule

A student in my Professional Responsibility class (colloquially called “PR”) tells me: “I am learning a lot in the class, but why are you so philosophical about the “why’s” for a rule?” Fair question. I remain grateful for it. So now I tell my classes, “You will be in thousands of firefights in your career. The lawyer who knows the rule and the reason for the rule will always have the advantage over the lawyer who knows the rule only.”