Old Tricks for New Cases: Leveraging Your Prior Learning in Law School 

Envision this: You are sitting in a ‘Competition Law’ lecture, and the lecturer starts discussing market power, monopolies, and consumer welfare. Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off– you have heard these terms before, back in your economics class during sixth form. Or perhaps you are studying ‘Tort Law’, grappling with concepts like duty of care and negligence, and you realise how much these ideas echo the sociological theories of justice you once studied. This was my reality at university, as is the case for many law students. Herein lies the beauty of interdisciplinary learning: no knowledge is ever truly lost.

As Bradney (1998, p.83) aptly put it, “Law, far from being an abstruse, technical discipline marginal to the university, is intricately involved in all that study in the university which involves either humanity, society, or the state.” This interconnectedness makes law a natural partner to subjects like economics, sociology, philosophy, or even psychology. So, if these subjects were inclusive of what you learnt before stepping into law school, they can be leveraged as a powerful tool for understanding legal concepts on a deeper level. Whether you are a student moving directly from sixth form into law school or transitioning into law after completing undergraduate degrees in these aforementioned subjects/field, your prior (pre-law) learning can give you an edge in navigating the complexities of law school!

Why Prior Learning Matters

Law is not an isolated field; it is woven into the fabric of society, influenced by economics, politics, and human behaviour. As a result, legal studies often intersect with other disciplines. While you may not realise it at first, those lessons from your sixth form/ foundation courses can resurface in surprising ways.

For example:

• Economics provides the foundation for understanding Competition Law and corporate regulations.
• Sociology helps contextualise legal principles like justice and fairness.
• Even subjects like history or literature can sharpen your analytical skills and help you see the broader context behind legal developments.

The key takeaway? Your prior learning isn’t just background noise, rather, it is a resource you can utilise to help you think more critically and creatively about the law.

Leveraging Prior Knowledge: Examples and Applications

Competition Law and Economic Principles

At its core, this area of law is about ensuring fair competition in the marketplace. However, to truly understand it, you need to grasp basic economic concepts like consumer welfare and market power.

Imagine analysing a merger case where two companies are accused of creating a monopoly. If you studied economics before law school, you might already be familiar with terms like “price elasticity” or “barriers to entry”. This knowledge can help you break down complex legal arguments about how the merger might harm consumers or stifle competition.

Tort Law and Sociological Insights

When courts assess whether someone owed a duty of care or breach that duty, they often rely on community standards; what would a “reasonable person” do in similar circumstances? These standards are shaped by societal norms and values, which sociology helps us understand.

Justice theories also come into focus here. In a broad sense:

• Corrective Justice emphasises repairing harm caused by one party to another.
• Distributive Justice considers how resources or risks should be fairly allocated across society.

If you have encountered these theories in sociology classes before law school, they can provide valuable context for understanding the rationale behind why Tort Law operates the way it does.

Practical Ways to Leverage Prior Knowledge

So how can you actively use your prior learning to excel in law school? Here are some practical tips:

1. Reflect on What You Already Know

Take time to think about what subjects you enjoyed or excelled at before starting your law degree. Did you study Economics? Sociology? Psychology? Even if these weren’t your strongest subjects, revisit their core principles and see how they relate to what you are presently learning at law school.

2. Make Interdisciplinary Connections

When reading cases or preparing essays:

• Ask yourself what underlying principles (economic, sociological, etc.) might be influencing the legal arguments.
• Use interdisciplinary insights to strengthen your analysis. Lecturers love seeing students think beyond black-letter law.

3. Read Widely

Expand your horizons by reading books or articles outside of pure legal texts:

• For Competition Law: Consider exploring introductory economics books.
• For Tort Law: Perhaps try reading on sociological theories of justice

This broader perspective will make your legal arguments more nuanced and compelling.

4. Embrace Curiosity

Trust me on this! Do not shy away from exploring unfamiliar topics. If something sparks your interest, whether it is behavioural economics or feminist legal theory: dive into it. The more connections you make between disciplines, the more dynamic your understanding of the law will become.

Final Thoughts: Complement, Do Not Replace

For law students, it is easy to feel as though everything hinges on mastering case law and statutes. But remember this: no knowledge is ever wasted. The lessons you learnt before starting your law degree, are still with you and can be powerful tools for navigating legal studies.

Of course, it is important that I reiterate that your approach to interdisciplinary knowledge should be as a complementary resource, not a substitute for legal reasoning. While disciplines like the ones previously discussed above, can offer valuable context, they should always work in consonance with unique principles and methodologies of legal study.

By leveraging prior learning, you are not just studying the law, you are contextualising it, questioning it, and making it come alive. So, dig into that mental archive of old tricks- you might just find they are exactly what you need for new cases ahead!

Article written by Fareeda Bakare, a law graduate from The University of Sheffield and the 2024 Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) Prize-winner for Best Performer in Law of Public Companies.

Reference: Bradney, A. (1998) ‘Law as a Parasitic Discipline’, Journal of Law and Society, 25(1), pp.71-84. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1410456 (Accessed: 10 April 2025).