American Law in a Global Context The Basics

by Fletcher, George P.; Sheppard, Steve

• ISBN13: 9780195167238
• ISBN10: 0195167236
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

American Law in a Global Context is an elegant and erudite introduction to the American legal system from a global perspective. It covers the law and lawyering tools taught in the first year of law school, explaining the underlying concepts and techniques of the common law used in U.S. legal practice. The ideas central to the development and practice of American law, as well as constitutional law, contracts, property, criminal law, and courtroom procedure, are all presented in their historical and intellectual contexts, accessible to the novice but with insight that will inform the expert. Actual cases illuminate each major subject, engaging readers in the legal process and the arguments between real people that make American law an ever-evolving system.

Author Biography

George P. Fletcher is the Cardozo Professor Jurisprudence at Columbia University School of Law. He is the author of many works on the U.S. Constitution and legal theory, and has taught his comparative introduction to American law course to lawyers from universities throughout the world.
Steve Sheppard is a law professor at the University of Arkansas. He has written widely on legal history and legal philosophy and recently edited The Selected Writings and Speeches of Sir Edward Coke, a founder of modern common law.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	3	(12)
PART I Common Law and Civil Law
ONE The Common Law	15	(14)
TWO The Civil Law	29	(25)
THREE The Language of Law: Common and Civil	54	(21)
FOUR Legal Reasoning	75	(36)
PART II Constitutional Identity
FIVE The Constitution as Code	111	(21)
SIX Judicial Review	132	(18)
SEVEN Federalism	150	(22)
EIGHT The Alternative Constitution	172	(29)
NINE Equality Prevails	201	(23)
TEN Freedom Fights Back	224	(19)
ELEVEN The Jury	243	(16)
TWELVE Due Process Ascendant	259	(17)
THIRTEEN Coordinating the States	276	(26)
FOURTEEN Multiple Common Laws?	302	(17)
PART III The Theory of the Common Law: Liberalism and Its Alternatives
FIFTEEN Feudalism in Land Law	319	(19)
SIXTEEN The Triumph of Equity	338	(20)
SEVENTEEN Contemporary Property	358	(18)
EIGHTEEN The Frontiers of Property	376	(19)
NINETEEN Contract as Law	395	(18)
TWENTY Contract as Justice	413	(13)
TWENTY-ONE Contractual Harm	426	(14)
TWENTY-TWO Foundations of Tort Law	440	(12)
TWENTY-THREE Economic Efficiency	452	(20)
TWENTY-FOUR From Contributory to Comparative Fault	472	(16)
TWENTY-FIVE Disputed Boundaries: Punitive Damages	488	(14)
TWENTY-SIX The American Civil Trial in Outline	502	(29)
PART IV Criminal Law: The Adversary System and Its Alternatives
TWENTY-SEVEN Where Would You Rather Be Tried?	531	(18)
TWENTY-EIGHT The Fate of Bernhard Goetz	549	(19)
TWENTY-NINE Self-Defense: Domestic and International	568	(23)
SUMMARY The Right and the Reasonable	591	(24)
Appendices
APPENDIX ONE How to Read (and Brief) a Case	615	(10)
APPENDIX TWO Common Law Method; or, How to Do Things with Cases	625	(17)
APPENDIX THREE The Interpretation of Statutes	642	(7)
INDEX	649