LAWS8292 · Law
Boston College Law School
This two-credit course, taught by the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of NH, offers instruction in statutory interpretation, with emphasis on its practice (advocacy in litigation, and judicial opinions), doctrines (textual and substantive canons of construction), and competing theories: textualism, intentionalism, purposivism (legal process theory), pragmatism, and "dynamic statutory interpretation." Despite its theoretical aspects, this is a highly practical course.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.6 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.7 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.6 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.5 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~4.5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
Ratings below reflect the evaluations connected to this course.
Across time
Available section-level results across semesters.
Spring 2025
1 sectionSpring 2024
1 sectionSpring 2023
1 sectionSpring 2022
1 sectionSpring 2020
1 section