A method is a systematic way of doing something. The legal method is the disciplined way lawyers and law students read, analyse, interpret and apply the law to facts — and communicate the result. Where "law" is the subject-matter, legal method is the tool-box for handling that subject-matter.
In essence, legal method answers four practical questions:
1. What is the law? (identifying the relevant rule — statute, precedent, custom)
2. What does it mean? (interpretation and construction)
3. How does it apply to these facts? (reasoning by analogy and deduction)
4. How do I communicate the conclusion? (legal writing and argument)