We have to use heuristics - mental shortcuts for quickly solving problems- in law school. That's what they are teaching us in all of our law school exams. We are taught to look at a hypothetical question and then recall "on point" cases and restatements to give the "right" answer to theoretical questions we may never encounter in a real world situation. How sad if the analogical reasoning we are using and the comparisons we are drawing are really just flights of fancy

I actually like that he is advocating his system as being more effective than most systems of legal research used in his time. I think that one of the problems that I've noticed amongst lawyers, is that many are too adversarial. They often don't want to help each other, and sometimes actively work to undermine each other. The "cagey, old lawyer" hiding the book is an example of a common behavior amongst the lawyers who want to be sharks. They are jealous of their knowledge and experience, and rather than sharing that knowledge and experience with the inexperienced or ignorant, they use that knowledge and experience to eat their young. Even Gardner displays some of that attitude, making fun of the uneducated mountaineer, and not showing much empathy for the frustrated widow who was desperate to find some case that would help her cause.