The Five Types of Legal Argument

Huhn demonstrates that there are five different types of legal arguments (based on text, intent, precedent, tradition and policy), and through myriad examples this book teaches law students, lawyers, and judges how to identify, create, attack, and evaluate each type of argument. The book contains useful advice and illustrations on how to weave the different types of arguments together to make them more persuasive.

Huhn describes and explains how lawyers use logic, reasoning by analogy, and policy analysis in resolving progressively more difficult cases. The fourth edition of the book includes new chapters that illustrate policy arguments through the use of graphs and advises law students how to answer essay exam questions.

The Core Knowledge content for this book will be available for use in 2026.

Wilson Huhn is currently a Professor of Law at the Duquesne University School of Law after retiring as the C. Blake McDowell, Jr. Professor of Law and a Constitutional Law Research Fellow at the University of Akron School of Law.