American Courts [Paperback]

Daniel John Meador (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0314251332 | ISBN-13: 978-0314251336 | Publication Date: December 2000 | Edition: 2

American Courts describes the state judicial systems and the federal judicial system. It then sketches in simple, understandable terms many of the complications stemming from the coexistence of multiple court systems applying various bodies of law—circumstances unique to American federalism. Describes judicial personnel, with special attention to judges and the concept of an independent judiciary. Likewise, the role of lawyers is described, underscoring the significance of an independent bar. The author is the James Monroe Professor of Law at the University of Virginia where he teaches Civil Procedure and Federal Courts and directs the Law School's Graduate Program for judges.

Product Details

• Paperback: 113 pages
• Publisher: West Publishing Company; 2 edition (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0314251332
• ISBN-13: 978-0314251336
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Law > Procedures & Litigation > Courts
  • #64 in Books > Law > One-L > Civil Procedure

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every American Should Own This Book, June 13, 2001

By 

G. Hunter "XAHTEP" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Courts (Paperback)

This really is a fantastic book. Professor Meador, having spent half a century as a teacher at one of the world's finest law schools and as a consultant and advisor to legal scholars and judges from state courts to the Supreme Court, manages to speak to everyone who hasn't had the opportunity to attend law school. Reading this book won't make you a lawyer, but you will understand exactly what happens in our court systems - a must for new law students, foreign lawyers and anyone interested in how their nation's legal systems work. It was an invaluable help in my first year of law school, and worth every dime.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Tool, September 12, 2005

By 

Dr. Lothar Goretzki - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Courts (Paperback)

Nice concise description of the US Court system. The American judicial system is quite complex. This little book explains it in easy terms.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Accomplishes What It Sets Out to Do, June 3, 2009

By 

Gregory Schneider (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Courts (Paperback)

This book accomplishes what it sets out to do: establish for its reader a very basic understanding of the American Court system on both a state and federal level. However, I found the book to oversimplify many subjects, giving the excuse that "to go further into this topic would require an entire law school course". For a book that's main content barely approaches 80 pages, this sounds more like laziness on the part of the author than an honest attempt to explore the issues in a condensed format. Also, the author, under the premise of writing an objective text-book, inserts his opinion about various judicial processes in a manner I found rather subversive -- and at points even laughable; take his opinion about the contentious issue of Judges relying too heavily on support staff to generate judicial decisions:

"The best protection against inappropriate delegation of judicial authority, whether to law clerks or staff attorneys, is the conscientious dedication of each judge to his professional responsibility to understand the law and the facts in each case and to reach his own reasoned decisions" (59).

While I am no expert in the field, surely the best protection against these sorts of delegation is not just hoping for conscientious judges. Again this seems to oversimplify a complex issue in the interest of conserving space - or the author's time.

Overall, however, the book does establish a good base knowledge of the American judicial system and some of the issues that are at play in it, and with a main text only 77 pages long, it does that very efficiently.