Bring on the Tissues, Here Come the Issues: Issues of Legal Consequence, Issues of Fact, and Issues of Law

In teaching, the author has found that issues must be categorized into one of three groups for students to achieve a good understanding of the issue: 1) value/overall/legal consequences issues; 2) factual issues; and 3) legal issues. Recognizing these three categories helps students understand the U.S. court system and also improves their ability to resolve legal problems. Each of these three categories are explained more fully below. Please note that while the remainder of this paper will refer to category 1 (value/overall/legal consequences) as "value issues", instructors should use all three terms interchangeably in the classroom setting because this term helps students understand the concept better and not just memorize a term.