University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

Applied Legal Theory and Analysis (ALTA) is a six-credit course that takes a contextual approach to teaching analysis, writing, and research. The fundamental lawyering skills of communication, research, legal analysis and reasoning, and problem solving are taught by requiring students to systematically apply doctrinal and theoretical concepts to concrete problems in the context of preparing a variety of legal documents (memoranda, client letters, pleadings, contracts, motions, and briefs) and participating in oral presentations (moot court, simulated interviews, and simulated client presentations). Rather than focusing on discrete skills and episodic assignments, ALTA takes a unique approach of beginning with doctrine—most often conceptually difficult material from Contracts—and requiring students to apply that doctrine at increasingly sophisticated levels in the context of preparing a series of documents. There are several pedagogical advantages to this approach. First, it is contextual. Students learn to research and apply the law in the context of resolving legal problems. Second, it allows for an examination and application of theoretical concepts—for example, Hohfeldian and economic analyses—as well as doctrinal concepts. Finally, it addresses a practical pedagogical problem: students do not have the opportunity in the first year to delve deeply into discrete legal concepts. By repeatedly applying conceptually difficult material in various contexts, students learn a basic methodology for acquiring a depth of knowledge. The overarching goal of ALTA, in addition to teaching students how to research, analyze, resolve problems, and communicate their analyses, is to help students become autonomous learners—to be able to take what they have learned in ALTA and apply it to new situations. (More information, albeit a bit dated, is available in Integrating Theory with Practice at University of Detroit Mercy, 77 Mich. B.J. 684 (1998).) The School’s writing across the curriculum program, which was implemented in 1999, requires that every upper-level course include a writing assignment worth at least 15% of the student’s final grade for the course. These assignments are created and evaluated by the faculty teaching those courses.

ALTA is taught by six full-time legal writing faculty with 405(c) status; the Director is on tenure track. The ALTA professors vote at faculty meetings, serve on and chair faculty committees, and otherwise participate in faculty governance. The faculty/student ratio in ALTA is 1-30 or less, which enhances each professor’s ability to provide individual feedback through multiple drafts and student conferences. Careful hiring practices have ensured that the ALTA professors bring a wealth of transactional and litigation experience to the program, including death penalty litigation, health law, corporate governance, juvenile and family law, real estate, public interest, and general litigation.

Contact Person:
Pamela Lysaght
Assistant Professor of Law
Director, Applied Legal Theory and Analysis Program 313.596.0286
lysaghtp@udmercy.edu