Introduction to Legal Reasoning & Analysis

• Participants will gain an introduction to legal reasoning and analytics. They will learn the basic skills of a successful lawyer. They will be introduced to legal methods of interpreting statutes and constitutions and developing case law. They will learn the basic methods of legal argument that are used by lawyers in arguing cases and advising clients.
• After completion, participants will understand the fundamental questions that lawyers are called on to solve and the various methods of analysis that they use to do so.
• Topics covered will include interpretive methods such as textualism, purposivism, and originalism; theories on the nature of law including legal realism, formalism, and natural law; the fundamental theories behind competing schools of legal thought including Law and Economics; and how law interacts with other institutions in society.

• Available for current high school students who are at least 15 years old
• The program's medium of instruction will be in English, so participants should be comfortable in an English-speaking learning environment
• Applicants must be Hong Kong residents or be eligible to study in Hong Kong during the program period

• Weeks 1:
  • Day 1: This class introduces participants to the differences between Civil Law and Common Law systems and the tools that lawyers utilize in each system. Participants will compare purely statutory legal systems with those that develop law through judicial precedent. Participants will learn the basic tools of legal analysis, with an emphasis on what is unique about the role of a lawyer in the operation of private and public institutions.
  • Days 2&3: These classes will turn to methods of interpretation, starting with statutory and constitutional interpretation. Participants will explore various methods of interpretation, including textualism, purposivism, and originalism. Materials will also explore how institutional structures and modes of government affect the interpretation of law.
  • Days 4&5: These classes will look more closely at the development of law through precedent. The materials will explore how caselaw develops over time and assess the methods for interpreting precedent. The materials will survey common law development across fields, including business law, constitutional law, criminal law, and international law.
• Week 2
  • Day 1: This class will introduce participants to concepts of natural law, formalism, and legal realism and explore how those concepts interact with methods and tools of statutory interpretation and the development of precedent in common law systems. They will also explore the possibility of norms and customs substituting for formal law.
  • Day 2: This class will begin to introduce participants to modern schools of legal thought. The first stop will be Law and Philosophy, with participants learning how one's moral and philosophical groundings can affect the analysis of law. In doing so, participants will consider the role that free choice plays in legal rules, focusing on notions of coercion, consent, and contract.
  • Day 3: This class will introduce the School of Law and Economics. Materials will examine how economic theories about incentives and rationale choice can impact the interpretation and definition of law.
  • Day 4: This class will explore the many critiques of law and economics, including recent developments in Law and Psychology, Behavioural Law and Economics, and Critical Race Theory.
  • Day 5: This class will introduce the concept of “the rule of law” considering what it means and how it fits with the methods of interpretation and schools of legal thought covered in prior sessions.
• Week 3
  • Day 1: Continuing with the rule of law question, this class will explore an ever-present dilemma in law: When should the law utilize strict rules and when should it employ discretionary standards? This is often referred to as the “rules and standards” debate.
  • Day 2: In the last three sessions, participants will use the tools they have developed to address specific problems in law. This class will start by asking participants to apply the methods from prior classes to problems in private law, including contract, property, and corporate governance.
  • Day 3: This class will look at the problems of evidence, factfinding, and burdens of proof. Participants will learn the importance of distinguishing between evidence and facts and between factual questions from legal ones. They will also develop tools for recognizing the distinctions.
  • Day 4: This class will explore recent developments that present new challenges to the legal profession, asking participants to apply what they have learned to contemporary problems in law, including globalization and the rise of machine learning technologies. 
  • Day 5: Participants will present their final capstone projects.

For each of our Summer Academy programs, participants will also have the opportunity to participate in sessions led by a UChicago admissions counselor to better understand the highly selective admissions process practiced by U.S. colleges and universities. Such sessions will give participants a window into the role that essays play in the application and how an application is holistically reviewed for admission.

Anthony Casey is the Donald M. Ephraim Professor of Law and Economics and the Faculty Director of the Center on Law and Finance.

He is an expert on business law, finance, and corporate bankruptcy. His research—which has been published in the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the Supreme Court Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review—examines the intersection of finance and law. He has also written about the role of intellectual property law in the organization and financing of creative projects and about how technological innovation is changing the foundations of our legal system more generally.

Before entering academics, Professor Casey was a partner at Kirkland and Ellis, LLP. Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, he was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His legal practice focused on corporate bankruptcy, merger litigation, white-collar investigations, securities litigation, and complex class actions. Casey also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Professor Casey received his JD with High Honors in 2002 from the University of Chicago Law School. He received the John M. Olin Prize for the outstanding student of law and economics.

Professor Casey teaches courses and seminars in corporate governance, business law, bankruptcy and reorganization, finance, litigation strategy, civil procedure, and law and technology.

The University of Chicago Law School occupies a unique niche among this country's premier law schools. Located on a residential campus in one of America's great cities, UChicago Law offers a rigorous and interdisciplinary professional education that blends the study of law with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Students, faculty, and staff form a small, tightly knit community devoted to the life of the mind. Learning is participatory. UChicago Law does not seek to impose a single viewpoint or style of thought on its students. Instead, our faculty exposes students to contrasting views, confident in students' abilities to choose their own paths.

• Early Bird Application Deadline: February 28, 2026
• Regular Application Deadline: April 15, 2026

1. School Transcript
2. Statement of interest
3. English proficiency scores
4. List of activities and achievements

- Submit your application here

• Program fee includes use of the UChicago Campus in Hong Kong facilities, one meal and refreshments during on-campus days, excursion expenses, and shuttle buses to and from the campus and Kennedy Town MTR Station. Program Fees are non-refundable once paid unless the program is canceled by the UChicago campus in Hong Kong.