Customer Reviews

Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ever heard of Tort Law? Roe V. Wade? The Miranda Warning? What is Constitutional Law, what rights does it protects? How does a lawsuit begin? What happens at trial? What is a criminal act? The answers to those and many other similar questions are in "Law 101" an excellent introduction to the American Legal System. In nine chapters, organized in questions and answers format, that cover Constituional Law, the litigation process, personal injuries and tort law, businesses, consumers and contract law, property law, criminal law and criminal procedure,the book offers an easy to read and highly educational insight of the legal system, explaining clearly how courts, judges, juries and lawyers operate and work to solve the legal issues that reflect everyday's life. Well written and covering the basic subjects that every lawyer learns during the first year of Law School, this book is accesible to lay readers and law students alike. Outstanding and useful. A five stars book that will help you to understand the law and many of the legal issues you commonly have to face.

Since I just recently reviewed Jay Feinman's excellent _Un-Making Law_, I may as well review this one too.

This book is a terrific resource, both for people in general who want to know how U.S. law works and for students headed to law school who want to jump-start their studies.

Basically, it's a user-friendly (but not oversimplified) introduction to the entire first-year law school curriculum. Feinman's claim is that the law isn't something mysterious that you have to belong to an esoteric priesthood in order to understand; on the contrary, it's possible for the ordinary layperson to understand what the law is and how it works.

His book bears out that claim. Heck, I wish _I'd_ had it to read before I started law school; he sets out the major concepts clearly and intelligibly, in the process touching on many of the key cases. I'd have had a _much_ better idea of what to expect during my first year if I'd read this first. (Nor would that have exhausted its usefulness. It would probably be handy to have around while, say, Putting Together The Big Picture for your state bar exam.)

Nor, of course, is it just for future lawyers. It's suitable for anyone who wants to know how the U.S. legal system works. ('Knowing how it works' here means 'understanding the principles and competing incentives that drive the development of U.S. law', not 'knowing how to act as your own lawyer'. This book isn't about 'how'; it's about 'why'. If you want to draft your own employee handbook or something, get a book from Nolo Press.)

You don't have to be of any particular political persuasion to profit from it, either. It's very fair and even-handed, carefully presenting both sides of every controversial issue.

In fact, just about the only people in the U.S. who may not get much out of it are practicing attorneys, who are already supposed to know all this stuff. And even there, it's just barely possible that . . . nahhhhh.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of law but does not want to read through tedious, mind-numbing text. This book covers a lot of ground (basically all of the main doctrines of US law) and is entertaining at the same time due to the author's clear / concise narrative and numerous examples.

From the beginning, Feinman explains that "law is not in the law books" but that law "lives in conduct; it exists in the interactions of judges, lawyers and ordinary citizens". Law is how we interpret it to be at a given time - it is in and of the people. From this and other insights, Feinman has helped me gain a greater appreciation for the US legal system as well as making me a more legal savvy citizen. In this day and age this is important - at one time or another we will all have to consult a lawyer for something.

Although I do not regret my decision, after deferring entry to law school for three years, to finally choose another vocation, I maintain a strong interest in legal philosophy and history, and comparative and international law. For me, Jay Feinman's book was an especially delightful find on the law section of a general bookstore. Few jurists, other than those like Alan Dershowitz and Richard Posner, seem to communicate clearly and effectively in non-specialist books which can satisfy curiosity outside of immediate needs such as writing wills or understanding consumer rights.

The claim of this book to provide "everything" you need to know about American law is undoubtedly exagerrated. This being said, Feinman provides a clear, thoughtful, and insightful coverage of the essentials of all that is covered in the first-year curriculum of a first-year U.S. law school program without the pain of wading through extensive case material - contracts, criminal law, torts, property, constitutional law, and legal procedure.

The strength of this book lies in its emphasis on the open nature of many legal issues -- where there are no straightforward answers. I especially enjoyed, in the section on constitutional law, the superb discussion of the scope of the justiciability doctrine which eshews intrusion of courts into the authority of other branches of government. But what exactly constitues a nonjusticiable political question which the courts should not decide?

An extract from the author's section on civil procedure underscores his invitation to the reader to avoid thinking about the law as cut and dried subject matter and process: "The lesson from all of this is that clear, rigid legal rules are often not what they appear to be. They either produce injustice as they are applied in varying fact situations, or they demand interpretations and exceptions - yet interpretations and exceptions cause complexity and uncertainty. Broad, flexible legal rules, on the other hand, give the courts great discretion, and discretion produces conflicting decisions and uncertain rules, which is another form of complexity and injustice."

The last one and a half pages are a tour de force in clarity and simplicity for those seeking to appreciate legal reasoning. It identifies a limited set of questions which can be applied to any layman's encounter with legal issues in newspapers or eleswhere, and give him some sense of what lawyers and judges have to do.

Readers show be aware that this book, while a good introduction to the frame of mind of a U.S. jurist, is not intended to be a comprehensive introduction to the U.S. legal system.

I heard about this book on a web page about good books to read prior to law school. I just finished reading it yesterday, and I am very impressed. The author writes in such a way that any reader can acquire a basic understanding of our legal system. He explores the foundational areas of our body of laws, and he describes both sides of hotly debated issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Most of all, the author emphasizes that the law is not something that ordinary people cannot understand. It is not just for lawyers, judges, and politicians. Rather, the law is determined by the way we shape our society, and it starts from the ground up.

If you do read this book. Law 101 gives you the perfect intro into the world of law. This book tells you what is a suitable case, how to compile a case, and the terms one needs to know about the American legal system. This book is amazing! Jay M. Feinman does it again!

I was advised to read this book before I enter law school in the fall, and I'm glad I did. I knew little about torts, contracts, and all other aspects of introductory law before this book (I still know little, but know more than before). Feinman writes well and easy to understand. He explains the concepts and theories behind the law and fills almost every page with real life examples from previous cases. This is an excellent read even for those not going to law school. The laws and theories governing our everyday lives are contained in simple format here in this book. You can't afford not to read this book.

With my first year of law school looming over my head I wanted to get a little bit of exposure to what I will be studying. I found the book very helpful in providing a broad outline of the subjects I will be studying this year. The book is written in a clear, concise style that is very easy to read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone in my situation.

This book was a delight to read. It gives a clear review of most law procedures, and the true meaning of legal terms. It takes you through simplified ideas on how the law is applied so that it is readily understandable for someone with absolutely no knowledge of it. I highly recommend this book if you are in some type of litigation at the present. Although it is not a "how to" book, it will give you a better understanding of the court proceedings.

Before my first year classes started I had read most of the parts that were applicable. The reading definitely gave me some sort of foundation and framework for understanding all the information they throw at you in law school. Some of the reading is a little dry, but compared to some Marshall opinions you'll read for class, this book's a breeze.