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Learner Reviews & Feedback for A Law Student's Toolkit by Yale University

4.7
stars
1,373 ratings

About the Course

Whether you are an advanced law student looking to review the basics, or an aspiring law student looking for head start, this course will help you build the foundation you will need to succeed in law school and beyond. This course will introduce you to terminology, concepts, and tools lawyers and legal academics use to make their arguments. It will help you follow these arguments—and make arguments of your own. This course consists of a series of short lectures and assignments. A reading list complements each lesson, providing you with a roadmap to help you explore the subject matter more deeply on your own. Although the lessons may cross-reference each other, they are modular in nature: you should feel free to approach them in whatever order fits your schedule, interests, and needs....

Top reviews

HK

Mar 28, 2016

I enjoyed this course but you really need to have some legal background to get the most out of it. The assignments were worth the time they took and I learned a lot trying to grade my fellow students.

CT

Oct 14, 2018

The course is gorgeous!!! Although I am an experienced lawyer in my country it was an excellent training for my brains, more over, the lectures were really very interesting!!! Strongly recommended!!!

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51 - 75 of 398 Reviews for A Law Student's Toolkit

By Peter H

Aug 2, 2017

I took this course as an adult learner interested in better understanding law, as opposed to a student preparing for law school or reviewing for exams. I found the lectures engaging and the assignments challenging - but appropriately so - and also enjoyable. Reviewing classmates' assignments also gave an opportunity to further understand the material. One thing I would note - the required and suggested reading typically took longer than suggested, and I'm a reasonably fast reader.

By Bagayatkar F

Sep 4, 2016

Coming from an engineering background, I had my reservations about learning Law but just going through the initial video modules of this course by Professor Ayres completely changed that. He describes the nuances of law in a very simple and understandable manner. I have to say I understood more about the logic behind the existence of Law in those first few sessions by the Professor than I would have by just reading books and I am really motivated to learn further.

By Lara Y

Jun 30, 2020

Great experience. Even thought the lectures could be more interesting and dynamic once they are scripted. Also, could have more tests on the platform, not so many assignments. For me, not a native english speaker, had a bit of trouble to get along throught the classes, so if you do not dominate the language, keep that in mind. Anyway, I am very happy with my results and achievements, super recomend for anyone interested in this area. :)

By Loulou d S

Apr 29, 2018

This course was one of my best opportunity in life. Practical and rich, worth every minute I spent. You really learn to understand the moves of good and capable lawyers, by the end of this course. The professor did an excellent effort to keep this course logic and the sessions independent. Haven't enjoyed such exceptionally simple (but not easy) presentation of mind twisting knowledge in years. Highly recommended. Thank you.

By kat s

Jul 14, 2020

I highly recommend this course! The video's are short and engaging and it is packed full of basic information for a person who is interested in law. We read a wide range of real life legal cases and judges decisions/opinions. We were given the opportunity to think deeply about laws and court procedings. There is too much to put in a short review, so take the class and see for yourself!

By Zarina

May 27, 2017

A Law Student's Toolkit is my first course taken on Coursera. I am beyond grateful to both Professor Ayres and Coursera for an opportunity to obtain useful knowledge in a convenient, clear, and concise manner. I really liked Quizzes and Written Assignments. Also I liked that we - the students - graded each other's assignments and provided reviews for future improvement. Thank you!

By Sudeepta S

Oct 28, 2021

It can be challenging for first-comers but this course is extremely insightful into the world of law and designed to accommodate everyone - returning or prospective lawyers. The theories and concepts explored in this course are a great benchmark to see if anyone is intrigued by the idea of studying law in their tertiary studies. Great course, great lecturer!

By Cloe Z

Jan 7, 2016

This is really a good set of tools for law students. I have finished the first week, and it really helped a lot already. The videos are not very long, so you can just spend 30 minutes everyday for one or two small videos. The professor uses formal legal language that may require extra work but if you like the legal reasoning, it's such a wonderful exercise!

By Anton V

Jul 7, 2017

This is very good course. You actually have to use your brains for a change and compare to some other courses and it is not trivial especially for somebody who is begginer in law. I also like very much the material, lectures and how they were lectured. Profesor is very good and very clear at explaining and it is fun and pleasure to listen to him.

By Phil R

Jan 13, 2024

Overall excellent course which covers several important topics for beginning law students. My only issue is with the peer grading system being subject to the whims of some bad actors who intentionally give poor marks for good submissions. One learner commented 'Good Work' and then scored me 6 out of 15, where the other 2 reviews were 15/15.

By Saidazim S

May 21, 2020

This course gave me so many new helpful skills and opened insights that I will employ in my future career. A lot of thanks to professor Ayres! His lectures were very effective and interesting. Do recommend this course to everyone who associates his life with law. Thanks Coursera for providing this course for everyone from all over the globe!

By Neri R

Oct 13, 2020

This is an excellent course. The explanations were really clear. I confess that I had some struggles at the beginning trying to understand Legal English and the perks of Common Law and resolutions (my country uses Continetal/Roman Law). I found it as a experience full of professional growth and development of English Language Skills.

By Marianne

Jun 5, 2016

The course covers basic topics and tools to help excel in Law School. It's suggested reading and assignments shed more light on the issues discussed and gives a broader look into them.

The Professor is brief and provides examples for every topic learned.

If you are interested in Law school or Law in general then this is for you!

By Rachael W

Mar 29, 2017

Excellent course! Just what I needed to get back into the academic mindset before going back to school.

The readings are lengthy and difficult, but it's worth it.

The only change I might suggest is balancing the workload better between the three weeks. There are 4 assignments due in week 1, 2 in week 2 and only 1 in week 3.

By Karen C

Jun 4, 2020

Excellent course. I am an RN interested in the legal arena. I was very pleased with the knowledge acquired. If planning to attend law school, this certainly would have set the stage and provided a good informational pre-course.

I would recommend this course to any first-time law student in preparation for law school.

By Aleksei K

Jul 4, 2019

I was very lucky to discover this course which combines fundamental law and economic concepts into one hilariously interesting sequence of lectures, readings, and discussions. I would make it a 'must' for all economics undergraduates and those interested in the topic. P.S. Be prepared for a lot of long-reads.

By Fred V

Jul 14, 2022

This course entails a cavalcade through a few issues of legal reasoning. It takes the talent of Pr Ayres to make it a stroll, although challenging at times, but always interesting. The delivery is in a pleasant, conversational style, which is easy to listen to and follow. What more to ask? Only more of this.

By JOSÉ S M M

Aug 16, 2020

Great course, apt for Law students/ professionals and everyone who is interested in knowing about the study of the Law. It was not a difficult course but it needed commitment, because the evaluations are many times in relation with some reading (that take time to understand to be able to answer correctly).

By Atreya T

Jun 17, 2020

It was a fantastic experience of about learning the basics of law and the judiciary system. And that law can be learnt and understood in a easy way by the tools which Prof. Ian Ayres was taught us in this course

And a big thank you to Coursera and Yale University for offering such an fantastic course.

By Shunyo M

Aug 31, 2019

The Proffessor is the most engaging, examples of more difficult concepts given, along with simple often cute, humorous, hidden simplicity. Read the material. especially Ward Farnsworth..Fellow classmates supportive, and Proffessor accepting. Best Class!!!!Thank all.

By Kunal B

Aug 1, 2017

If law is a cake then this course is an icing. It's a wonderful course which just teaches impeccable dichotomy which ultimately leads to better interpretation skills. I highly recommend this course for a law student. Cheers to Prof. Ian Ayres for the great work. :)

By Ruturaj J

Jan 15, 2017

No one teaches this in Law School. You can learn this on your own, sure, but Prof. Ayres reduces the work of years into 3 weeks.

Click now, get to doing, and I guarantee that after three awesome weeks you will love the law, and the law will love you back!

By Richard J G

Jul 10, 2020

Like the content. Lectures are very effective. I have done some law units so I wasn't surprised by what I found. The tasks are well-organised and the peer-assessment works surprisingly well. Good to get a window on the U.S. system and approach as well.

By scalesr4

Aug 5, 2017

I found this course to be engaging on many levels. I'm in a subsection of this discipline professionally and any information and or tools that I can utilize are appreciated. I thought the Professor's love of the law showed! Thanks Yale and Coursera!

By Andrés M R

Jun 15, 2020

Muy bien curso, sin embargo yo creo que si necesitas saber algo de derecho para completarlo, y si eres de otro país es aún más difícil ya que al menos en mi caso obviamente no se parece nada al derecho en mi país, fue como estudiar desde cero.