Most of what has been written about Thurgood Marshall, a former United

Question

Most of what has been written about Thurgood
Marshall, a former United States Supreme Court justice
who served from 1967 to 1991, has just focused on his
judicial record and on the ideological content of his
  (5)   earlier achievements as a lawyer pursuing civil rights
issues in the courts. But when Marshall’s career is
viewed from a technical perspective, his work with the
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People) reveals a strategic and methodological
  (10)   legacy to the field of public interest law. Though the
NAACP, under Marshall’s direction, was not the first
legal organization in the U.S. to be driven by a political
and social agenda, he and the NAACP developed
innovations that forever changed the landscape of
  (15)   public interest law: during the 1940s and 1950s, in
their campaign against state-sanctioned racial
segregation, Marshall and the NAACP, instead of
simply pursuing cases as the opportunity arose, set up a
predetermined legal campaign that was meticulously
  (20)   crafted and carefully coordinated.

One aspect of this campaign, the test case strategy,
involved sponsoring litigation of tactically chosen
cases at the trial court level with careful evaluation of
the precedential nuances and potential impact of each
  (25)   decision. This allowed Marshall to try out different
approaches and discover which was the best to be used.
An essential element in the success of this tactic was
the explicit recognition that in a public interest legal
campaign, choosing the right plaintiff can mean the
  (30)   difference between success and failure. Marshall
carefully selected cases with sympathetic litigants,
whose public appeal, credibility, and commitment to
the NAACP’s goals were unsurpassed.

In addition, Marshall used sociological and
  (35)   psychological statistics—presented in expert testimony,
for example, about the psychological impact of
enforced segregation—as a means of transforming
constitutional law by persuading the courts that certain
discriminatory laws produced public harms in violation
  (40)   of constitutional principles. This tactic, while often
effective, has been criticized by some legal scholars as
a pragmatic attempt to give judges nonlegal material
with which to fill gaps in their justifications for
decisions where the purely legal principles appear
  (45)   inconclusive.

Since the time of Marshall’s work with the
NAACP, the number of public interest law firms in the
U.S. has grown substantially, and they have widely
adopted his combination of strategies for litigation,
  (50)   devoting them to various public purposes. These
strategies have been used, for example, in consumer
advocacy campaigns and, more recently, by politically
conservative public interest lawyers seeking to achieve,
through litigation, changes in the law that they have not
  (55)   been able to accomplish in the legislature. If we focus
on the particular content of Marshall’s goals and
successes, it might seem surprising that his work has
influenced the quest for such divergent political
objectives, but the techniques that he honed—
  (60)   originally considered to be a radical departure from
accepted conventions—have become the norm for U.S.
public interest litigation today.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) In his role as a lawyer for the NAACP, Marshall developed a number of strategies for litigation which, while often controversial, proved to be highly successful in arguing against certain discriminatory laws.
(B) The litigation strategies that Marshall devised in pursuit of the NAACP’s civil rights goals during the 1940s and 1950s constituted significant innovations that have since been adopted as standard tactics for public interest lawyers.
(C) Although commentary on Marshall has often focused only on a single ideological aspect of his accomplishments, a reinvestigation of his record as a judge reveals its influence on current divergent political objectives.
(D) In his work with the NAACP during the 1940s and 1950s, Marshall adopted a set of tacticsm that were previously considered a radical departure from accepted practice, but which he adapted in such a way that they eventually became accepted conventions in the field of law.
(E) Contrary to the impression commonly given by commentary on Marshall, his contributions to the work of the NAACP have had more of a lasting impact than his achievements as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

2 
 2. Which one of the following most accurately describes two main functions of the first sentence of the passage?

(A) It disputes a claim that has often been accepted and summarizes Marshall’s achievements.
(B) It establishes the passage’s main topic and indicates the controversial nature of Marshall’s ideologies.
(C) It introduces two aspects of Marshall’s career and outlines the historical significance of both.
(D) It identifies Marshall’s better-known achievements and suggests that commentary has neglected certain other achievements.
(E) It provides a new perspective on Marshall’s achievements and corrects a historical inaccuracy.

3 
 3. Which one of the following pairs of tactics used by an environmental-advocacy public interest law firm is most closely analogous to the strategies that Marshall utilized during his work with the NAACP?

(A) a decision to pursue a pollution case based on its potential legal implications for a large class of related cases; and testimony by a noted medical authority whose data support the claim that the pollution in question causes widespread medical problems
(B) acceptance of a pollution case based on the practical urgency of its expected impact on the environment if a ruling in favor of the plaintiff is rendered; and assignment of the case to the most widely known members of the firm
(C) preference for pursuing a series of cases that are to be tried in courts having a record of decisions that are favorable to environmental interests; and taking these cases to judges who strictly uphold constitutional principles
(D) acceptance of a pollution damage case based primarily on the potential plaintiff ’s needs; and careful orchestration of pretrial publicity designed to acquaint the public with the relevant issues
(E) thorough and painstaking research of precedents relating to a current pollution case; and consultations with lawyers for the defense regarding a pretrial settlement

4 
 4. It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that the author views the test case strategy developed by Marshall as

(A) arbitrary
(B) inflexible
(C) unprecedented
(D) necessary
(E) subjective

5 
 5. The passage provides the most support for which one of the following statements?

(A) The ideological motivations for Marshall’s work with the NAACP changed during his tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.
(B) Marshall declined to pursue some cases that were in keeping with the NAACP’s goals but whose plaintiffs’ likely impression on the public he deemed to be unfavorable.
(C) Marshall’s tactics were initially opposed by some other members of the NAACP who favored a more traditional approach.
(D) Marshall relied more on expert testimony in lower courts, whose judges were more likely than higher court judges to give weight to statistical evidence.
(E) Marshall’s colleagues at the NAACP subsequently revised his methods and extended their applications to areas of law and politics beyond those for which they were designed.

6 
 6. Based on the passage, it can be most reasonably inferred that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) In light of a reconsideration of Marshall’s career, it seems that commentary has undervalued both his innovations in litigation strategy and his accomplishments on the U.S. Supreme Court.
(B) The most controversial of Marshall’s methods was, somewhat paradoxically, the most unequivocally successful part of his overall campaign with the NAACP.
(C) Lawyers representing private interests had previously used sociological evidence in court cases.
(D) In response to Marshall’s successes in NAACP litigations, the first public interest law firms were established, and they represented a radical change from previous types of U.S. law firms.
(E) Marshall’s techniques lend themselves to being used even for purposes that Marshall might not have intended.

7 
 7. According to the passage, some legal scholars have criticized which one of the following?

(A) the ideology Marshall used to support his goals
(B) recent public interest campaigns
(C) the use of Marshall’s techniques by politically conservative lawyers
(D) the use of psychological statistics in court cases
(E) the set of criteria for selecting public interest litigants

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 42   
 Difficulty Level:   700

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 296 Date: 27-Jul-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

PyjamaScientist · Answer

A brilliant passage indeed, and in no way is it 600-700 level passage. Easily, 720+ ish. Got 6/7. Took 15 mins.

Trying to lessen my RC timings.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi PyjamaScientist

Every newly posted passage by me is a 600-700 level till its difficulty is tested and proved by some minimum number of timer attempts, don't worry the difficulty level of this passage is yet to be updated.

Cheers

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Yeah, I know Sajjad. It was more like a rhetorical statement. Big thanks to you for posting such challenging passages. Helps in practice alot.

tkorzhan1995 · Answer

Sajjad1994 , can you please advise what information we should use from the passage to infer that test case strategy is unprecedented for q4?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi tkorzhan1995

The test case strategy, like the use of statistical data and other strategies, is presented as an  “innovation” in line 14  and  “originally considered to be a radical departure” in line 60.  Surely that justifies  “unprecedented,” choice (C).

Answer: C

prakharpandeylaw · Answer

Sajjad1994  , can you please share explanations for Question 1 and Question 3 in this passage?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

Look for the Main Point to encompass Topic, Scope, and Purpose, and avoid choices that venture into marginal areas.

The right answer has to take in both Marshall’s legal work and its enduring legacy, and only  (B)  meets both criteria.

(A)  To reduce Marshall’s career to work on  “certain discriminatory laws,”  without reference to civil rights or public interest law generally, is misguided. Also,  (A)  ascribes Marshall’s principal success to the cases he worked on themselves, rather than to his legacy years later.

(C)  Focuses too narrowly on politics (“ideology,” “political objectives”) to the exclusion of everything else. Political considerations come up only in passing in sentence one, and again in passing in  paragraph 4 . Also, the passage does not  “reinvestigate...his record as a judge.”

(D)  It would be more accurate to say that Marshall devised the set of tactics, not  “adopted”  them, and  (D)  ventures too broadly to  “the law”  in general rather than to the one specific branch of the law.

(E)  Marshall is identified in passing (to the few people who didn’t already know) as a Supreme Court justice in  lines 1–3 , and that’s it for that phase of his career. It’s barely a footnote here, not part of the Main Point as  (E)  would have it.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. Which one of the following pairs of tactics used by an environmental-advocacy public interest law firm is most closely analogous to the strategies that Marshall utilized during his work with the NAACP?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

This question challenges us to put Marshall’s public interest law legacy into action, by finding an analogous use of his NAACP strategies. Reviewing  paragraphs 2  and 3 should lead you to look for an answer choice that includes selecting a case for its precedential effect and impact and to use expert testimony and statistics to buttress the case, both of which are found in  (A) .

The pollution case described would certainly qualify as having enormous potential impact  (lines 23–25)  and makes use of expert data  (lines 34–35) .

(B)  The impact here is less on precedent than on the environment itself, and there’s nothing in Marshall’s record as reported here that suggests an affinity for celebrity counsel.

(C) “Pursuing a series of cases”  doesn’t sound like the kind of careful and nuanced choice that Marshall tended to make  (lines 21–25) , and according to paragraph 3 Marshall often wanted judges to go beyond strict constitutional construction, so at least the latter half of  (C)  qualifies as a 180.

(D)  The potential impact on precedent, not the needs of the plaintiff, motivated Marshall, and the word  “appeal”  as used in line 32, meaning likability, isn’t the kind of appeal to the public that  (D)  describes.

(E)  Neither precedential research nor pretrial settlement consultation, while plausibly part of any attorney’s arsenal, is cited as a particularly Marshallian strategy.

Answer: A

Engineer1 · Answer

Sajjad1994  Would you be able to post official explanation for all the answer choices? This is a tough one. Are the Official LSAT questions by the LSAC? I haven't solved LSAT questions as such. so I am wondering. Thank you!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Yes! the source-tag "Source: Official LSAT" means the official question from LSAT.

Raman109 · Answer

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) In his role as a lawyer for the NAACP, Marshall developed a number of strategies for litigation which, while often controversial, proved to be highly successful in arguing against certain discriminatory laws. - It's correct but limited in scope. It misses on the impact of the "public interest law" and underplays it by saying "certain discriminatory laws."

(B) The litigation strategies that Marshall devised in pursuit of the NAACP’s civil rights goals during the 1940s and 1950s constituted significant innovations that have since been adopted as standard tactics for public interest lawyers. - ok

(C) Although commentary on Marshall has often focused only on a single ideological aspect of his accomplishments, a reinvestigation of his record as a judge reveals its influence on current divergent political objectives. - Wrong.

(D) In his work with the NAACP during the 1940s and 1950s, Marshall adopted a set of tacticsm that were previously considered a radical departure from accepted practice, but which he adapted in such a way that they eventually became accepted conventions in the field of law. - This is correct but underplays two aspects. First, these strategies were quite innovative, and second, they had a wider impact on the "public interest law." "the field of law" is general and option B is more specific.

(E) Contrary to the impression commonly given by commentary on Marshall, his contributions to the work of the NAACP have had more of a lasting impact than his achievements as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. - No such comparison was made.

siddhantvarma · Answer

Great passage! It was a little information dense, but cracking the bigger picture here will help save considerable reading time and thinking through questions. Took 14mins 16 sec and got 6/7 correct.

Passage summary:
P1: Marshall's achievements are well known but his contribution to public interest law in collab with NAACP is lesser known
P2: Marshall used unconventional approaches like tactically choosing cases, selecting plaintiffs that are more likely to guarantee successful outcomes
P3: Marshall uses psychological + sociological statistics to highlight discriminatory laws which was an effective strategy but was criticised by a lot of legal scholars
P4: Marshall's approaches lead to great reforms in public interest law in the US (No of firms increases)

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) In his role as a lawyer for the NAACP, Marshall developed a number of strategies for litigation which, while often controversial, proved to be highly successful in arguing against certain discriminatory laws.
 Analysis : Looks good, strategies are mentioned in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, they're unconventional, but are they controversial? Not sure. What about 4th paragraph? This talks about success but doesn't indicate the form of that success.   I'll hold onto A for now.

(B) The litigation strategies that Marshall devised in pursuit of the NAACP’s civil rights goals during the 1940s and 1950s constituted significant innovations that have since been adopted as standard tactics for public interest lawyers.
 Analysis : Litigation strategies are mentioned in the 2ns and 3rd paragraph, the last line covers 4th paragraph, this covers the main point of the passage in a much better way, states public interest which is what the success of the tactics is related to.   I'll hold onto B,   and drop A instead ,  since B is more convincing.

(C) Although commentary on Marshall has often focused only on a single ideological aspect of his accomplishments, a reinvestigation of his record as a judge reveals its influence on current divergent political objectives.
 Analysis : The first half of the sentence only covers the 1st paragraph which is more of providing context of the passage, the 2nd sentence doesn't talk anything about the litigation strategies, the outcomes, etc.   I'll eliminate this option choice.

(D) In his work with the NAACP during the 1940s and 1950s, Marshall adopted a set of tacticsm that were previously considered a radical departure from accepted practice, but which he adapted in such a way that they eventually became accepted conventions in the field of law.
 Analysis : This sounds good, but this somewhat summarises the 4th paragraph only.   Seems incomplete, I'll eliminate this option choice as well.

(E) Contrary to the impression commonly given by commentary on Marshall, his contributions to the work of the NAACP have had more of a lasting impact than his achievements as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
 Analysis: " Contrary to the impression commonly given by commentary on Marshall" catches my attention, too strong, also no comparison has been made regarding which achievements are more successful. We just know which achievements were better known and which weren't. Even then, this barely summarises the 1st paragraph.   I'll eliminate this as well.

B is the correct answer choice.

2. Which one of the following most accurately describes two main functions of the first sentence of the passage?

Let's look at the first sentence:

"Most of what has been written about Thurgood
Marshall, a former United States Supreme Court justice
who served from 1967 to 1991, has just focused on his
judicial record and on the ideological content of his
(5) earlier achievements as a lawyer pursuing civil rights
issues in the courts."

Pre-thinking : We know this has been mentioned to give readers a contrast of how well-known Marshall's one set of achievements was to other achievements (his work with NAACP for public interest law).
 
(A) It disputes a claim that has often been accepted and summarizes Marshall’s achievements.
(B) It establishes the passage’s main topic and indicates the controversial nature of Marshall’s ideologies.
(C) It introduces two aspects of Marshall’s career and outlines the historical significance of both.
(D) It identifies Marshall’s better-known achievements and suggests that commentary has neglected certain other achievements.
(E) It provides a new perspective on Marshall’s achievements and corrects a historical inaccuracy.

Matching the pre-thinkling with the answer choices, D fits well.   D is the correct answer choice here.

4. It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that the author views the test case strategy developed by Marshall as

(A) arbitrary
(B) inflexible
(C) unprecedented
(D) necessary
(E) subjective

We know overall the Author is praising Marshall's work. The bigger picture helps here since we know Author feels positive about Marshall's work and it's outcome, even if it was unconventional. (A) and (B) don't indicate positive views, I don't even recall Author mentioning these terms or their similar meaning words, (C) hits bang on, hold on to it. (D) isn't talked about anywhere, we don't know if the strategy was needed or not. Same with (E).

C is the correct answer choice here.

5. The passage provides the most support for which one of the following statements?

(A) The ideological motivations for Marshall’s work with the NAACP changed during his tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.
 Analysis : Motivations aren't mentioned here,   A is out.

(B) Marshall declined to pursue some cases that were in keeping with the NAACP’s goals but whose plaintiffs’ likely impression on the public he deemed to be unfavorable.
 Analysis : We know that Marshall preferred cases where plaintiff's impression on the public was favorable, can we say the opposite was also true? Maybe. But I'm not too sure about this yet.   We'll hold onto B.

(C) Marshall’s tactics were initially opposed by some other members of the NAACP who favored a more traditional approach.
 Analysis : Tactics were opposed by legal scholars not other members of NAACP,   C is out.

(D) Marshall relied more on expert testimony in lower courts, whose judges were more likely than higher court judges to give weight to statistical evidence.
 Analysis : 3rd paragraph does talk about Marshall relying on expert testimony for discriminatory law cases but do we know if it was used in lower courts against higher courts? I go back to the third paragraph to verify this and nowhere it's mentioned that Marshall used this testimony in certain courts. We don't know. While D looks tempting at first, it's inaccurate.   D is out.

(E) Marshall’s colleagues at the NAACP subsequently revised his methods and extended their applications to areas of law and politics beyond those for which they were designed.
Analysis: Out of scope, this is nowhere mentioned in the whole passage.   E is out.

B is the correct answer choice here.

6. Based on the passage, it can be most reasonably inferred that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) In light of a reconsideration of Marshall’s career, it seems that commentary has undervalued both his innovations in litigation strategy and his accomplishments on the U.S. Supreme Court.
 Analysis : Has the commentary "undervalued" Marshall's innovations in litigation strategy? They aren't well known. We can't say that it was undervalued.   A is out.

(B) The most controversial of Marshall’s methods was, somewhat paradoxically, the most unequivocally successful part of his overall campaign with the NAACP.
 Analysis : Marshall's methods are called "unconventional". You can say maybe one of the strategies (expert testimony one) was controversial. However, I don't remember any of them being "paradoxical".   B is out.

(C) Lawyers representing private interests had previously used sociological evidence in court cases.
 Analysis : Out of scope, passage doesn't mention any previously used evidence by private interest lawers. Infact private interest isn't even mentioned.   C is out.

(D) In response to Marshall’s successes in NAACP litigations, the first public interest law firms were established, and they represented a radical change from previous types of U.S. law firms.
 Analysis : The last paragraph mentions in response to Marshall’s successes in NAACP litigations,   more   public interest law firms were established, and they represented a radical change from previous types of U.S. law firms. The option choice says   first.   That's inaccurate. Interesting how one word changes the meaning of the entire sentence!   D is eliminated.

(E) Marshall’s techniques lend themselves to being used even for purposes that Marshall might not have intended.
 Analysis : This sums up the 4th paragraph of what Author thinks about the outcome of Marshall's strategies. Also since I could eminate all other 4 options on reasonable grounds without any doubts, I won't think too much on this.

E is the correct answer.

7. According to the passage, some legal scholars have criticized which one of the following?

(A) the ideology Marshall used to support his goals
(B) recent public interest campaigns
(C) the use of Marshall’s techniques by politically conservative lawyers
(D) the use of psychological statistics in court cases
(E) the set of criteria for selecting public interest litigants

The passage summary helps a lot with this, 3rd paragraph tells us that legal scholars criticized psychological statistics in court cases. I skim through the options very quickly in this one and mark   D as the correct answer.

Sg0110 · Answer

In Q4, the author never mentions that Marshall developed the Test Case Strategy or that no one before him used such a strategy.

Most of what has been written about Thurgood Marshall, a former United

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Most of what has been written about Thurgood Marshall, a former United

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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