In a forthcoming article in the Journal of Legal Education, St John’s Professor Ashley B. Armstrong offers a systematic approach to what has long been understood as a gap in traditional law school courses. Presenting what she calls “the contextual case method”, Professor Armstrong doesn’t merely highlight the importance of expanding case analysis to include the context that led to the dispute and the concrete impact on the parties and society of the court’s opinion. She charts a three part course helping faculty incorporate context into our classrooms. She proposes we (1) interrogate judicial opinions as constructed narratives; (2) supplement court opinions by assigning texts to problematize and expand students’ understanding; and (3) teach cases “to their end” by uncovering what happened after a decision was handed down. Sounds good to me.
.Armstrong, Ashley B., The Stories We (Don’t) Teach (February 01, 2026). St. John’s Legal Studies Research Paper No. 26-0007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6570520 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6570520