The Law of the United States ─ An Introduction

The Law of the United States provides an introduction and overview of the American legal system. With an emphasis throughout on up-to-date case law and current literature, it is an ideal first point of entry for students and practitioners alike and a starting point for further independent research.

Professor Hay provides a concise and straightforward explanation of the law and legal vocabulary as well as an introduction to the different types of law and legal techniques. He explains the role of Congress, the Executive and the Courts. He introduces the reader to the complexities of federal and state law, emphasizing that the many areas of public law and virtually all areas of private law are the separate law of the fifty States, the District of Columbia, and the (U.S.-dependent) Territories in which common language, legal tradition, history and culture have served to bring about a basic legal unity.

Peter Hay is Lamar L.Q.C. Professor of Law Emeritus at Emory University, USA. His research focuses on the fields of conflict of laws, European Union law, comparative law, contracts and sales.From 1963-1991, he held a chair at the University of Illinois and served as dean of its law faculty for ten years. From 1994 to 2000 he held, concurrently with his Emory appointment, the chair for Civil Law, Foreign and International Private Law, and Comparative Law at the University of Dresden, Germany, where he served as dean of its law faculty from 1997 to 2000. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, Central European University in Budapest, and Bucerius Law School, and the universities of Bonn, Freiburg, and Konstanz in Germany.