Fundamentals of U.S. Law

Fundamentals of U.S. Law by Fernholz and Collova introduces LLM students to the common law method of case analysis through concentrated study of topics in Tort and Constitutional Law.

Fundamentals of U.S. Law teaches the "how" of legal practice in the United States. Students learn how to read cases, synthesize rules from reasoning, apply those rules to novel situations, and predict how the law may develop. The authors, two experienced lawyering skills instructors, use a half dozen fascinating and controversial topics to teach the signature skill of the common-law case method.

Highlights of the First Edition:

LLM students are bright, motivated, legally sophisticated, and ready to succeed. Fundamentals of U.S. Law plays to their strengths and mitigates their weaknesses. The textbook starts with a very short introduction to the legal system in the United States, followed by a discussion of one example of state common-law development. The rest of the textbook presents a set of interlinked topics of American constitutional law, all of which are likely to immediately engage student interest. No boring topics allowed.

• Students learn how courts use their decisions to create new law, the hallmark of common-law case development.
• Students also learn the fundamental skills of case analysis, including rule identification, rule synthesis, and application of the rule to novel facts.
• Students learn to apply these skills in American-style law school examinations.

Professors and students will benefit from:

• Lightly-edited cases in topics most likely to interest lawyers educated outside of the United States
• Extensive introductions before each case, placing the case in historical and legal context and indicating those issues the student should consider while reading the case
• Extensive editorial notes in the initial cases to help students read cases more efficiently and effectively
• Notes that particularly focus on developing the skills of common-law case analysis
• Sample exam questions at or near the end of each chapter