Thinking Like a Lawyer

The day-to-day lives of educators are increasingly bound by the law. It is essential that educators understand the sources and roles of law in order to act appropriately and to avoid difficult and litigious situations. This book provides a bridge between the legal professional and the education professional, offering an introduction to legal analysis. Since the first edition of this book, the law's role in schools has continued to expand. New problems call for new legal and policy solutions. The second edition focuses on school search cases as illustrations and brings them forward to today's concerns about searching cell phones, off campus activities, and even sexting.

Written by a law professor who has long worked with both educators and law students, Redfield's book introduces the essential concepts of thinking like a lawyer. Thinking Like a Lawyer uses narrative, actual court cases, study tips, research methodologies, and an extensive glossary illustrated with education law examples to remove the mystique of reading about law. It also allows those who need to know the law, but are not necessarily lawyers, to move comfortably in this realm. The book is useful for individual readers or for classes in education law and administration.

"Redfield ... provides a guide for educators to understanding the basics of legal analysis and research to help them recognize the difference between law and policy and know their role in shaping both, as well as understand what is and is not a legal issue, when to consult legal counsel, and how to minimize conflict."
—Book News Inc.