An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States, Fourth Edition

Author E. Allan Farnsworth, (1928-2005) was the distinguished Alfred McCormack Professor of Law at Columbia University and renowned for his scholarship on American contract law, among other topics. His lectures throughout the U.S., and his many articles, brought clarity and a much larger degree of uniformity to the commercial law of the fifty states. He was the author of numerous best-selling books and publications. Editor Steve Sheppard is the William H. Enfield Professor of Law at University of Arkansas School of Law. He has written widely on legal history and legal philosophy and is the co-author of American Law in a Global Context: The Basics with George P. Fletcher (Oxford University Press, 2005) and editor of Bramble Bush: The Classic Lectures on the Law and Law School (Oxford University Press 2008).

Editor's Introduction
Table of Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
A Note on Terminology
 
Part One: Sources and Techniques
Chapter 1 Historical Background
Chapter 2 Legal Education
Chapter 3 Legal Profession
Chapter 4 The Judicial System
Chapter 5 Case Law
Chapter 6 The Legislative System
Chapter 7 Statutes
Chapter 8 Secondary Authority
 
Part Two: Organization and Substance
Chapter 9 Classification
Chapter 10 Procedure
Chapter 11 Private Law
Chapter 12 Public Law
 
Appendix 1 Reading Case Law and Statutes
Appendix 2 Selected Readings by E. Allan Farnsworth
Index