Introduction to the U.S. Legal System
Download PDF version of guide for print
The Legal System
- Benítez, Alberto Manuel. An Introduction to the United States Legal System: Cases and Comments (KF385.A4 B42 2006).
- Burnham, William. Introduction to the Law and Legal System of the United States (4th ed.) (KF385.B87 2006).
- Farnsworth, F. Allan. An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States (3d ed.) (KF387.F37 1996).
- Feinman, Jay M. Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System (2d ed.) (KF387 .F45 2006).
- Fine, Toni M. (Duke Law ‘86). American Legal Systems: A Resource and Reference Guide (KF240 .F56 1997).
- Fletcher, George P. American Law in a Global Context: The Basics (KF380 .F59 2005).
- Fundamentals of American Law (Alan B. Morrison, ed.) (KF389. F85 1996).
- Hay, Peter. Law of the United States: An Overview (KF385 .H393 2002).
- Hegland, Kenney F. Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law in a Nutshell (4th ed.) (Reserve).
- Introduction to the Law of the United States (David S. Clark & Tugrul Ansay, eds.) (2d ed.) (KF385 .I58 2002).
- Johns, Margaret Z. & Rex R. Perschbacher. The United States Legal System: An Introduction (2d ed.) (KF386 .J64 2007).
- Melone, Albert P. & Allan Karnes. The American Legal System: Foundations, Processes, and Norms 2d ed. (KF386 .M45 2008).
- Moliterno, James E. & Fredric I. Lederer. An Introduction to Law, Law Study, and the Lawyer’s Role (2d ed.) (K237 .M65 2004).
- Von Mehren, Arthur Taylor & Peter L. Murray. Law in the United States (2d ed.) (KF385 .V66 2007). This presentation of the American legal system is designed for lawyers of civil law backgrounds.
The Courts
- Carp, Robert A., Ronald Stidham & Kenneth L. Manning. Judicial Process in America (7th ed.) (KF8700 .C37 2007).
- Englander, Marilyn & Curtis Karnow. How the Courts Work: A Plain English Explanation of the American Legal System (KF387 .E54 2008)
- The Federal Court System in the United States: An Introduction for Judges and Judicial Administrators in Other Countries (Office of Judges Programs, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts) (2d ed. 2001) (Documents JU 10.2: F31/2 and http://www.uscourts.gov/library/internationalbook-fedcts2.pdf).
- Meador, Daniel John. American Courts (2d ed.) (KF8720 .M43 2000).
- Miller, William S., A Primer on American Courts (KF8720 .M55 2005).
- Neubauer, David W. Judicial Process: Law, Courts, and Politics in the United States (3d ed.) (KF8719 .N48 2004).
- Segal, Jeffrey Allan, Harold J. Spaeth, & Sara C. Benesh. The Supreme Court in the American Legal System (KF8742 .S433 2005).
- Understanding Federal and State Courts (http://www.uscourts.gov/outreach/resources/ fedstate_lessonplan.htm#twosystems) examines the "differences, similarities, and interactions between the federal and state court systems."
Legal Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
- The entries in West’s Encyclopedia of American Law (2d ed.) (Ref. KF154 .G77 2005) define terms and highlight significant concepts, events, cases, and people.
- American Jurisprudence 2d (1962-) (Practice & Procedure KF154 .A42) and Corpus Juris Secundum (1936-) (Practice & Procedure KF154 .C56) synthesize federal and state law to provide a comprehensive summary of American law.
- Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed.) (Reserve and Ref. KF156 .B53 2004) is considered the most authoritative American legal dictionary. A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (2d ed. (Ref. KF156 .G367 1995) and Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage (Ref. KF156 .M45 1992) are dictionaries of legal language as used in the U.S. today. Legal Terminology (Ref. KF240.B7672006) provides basic explanations of legal terms.
Legal Language/Legal Writing
- Garner, Bryan A. The Elements of Legal Style (2d ed., 2002) (Reserve) and Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Exercises (KF250 .G375 2001).
- Rossini, Christine. English as a Legal Language (2d ed.) (Ref. K50 .R67 1998).
- Teply, Larry L. Legal Writing Citation in a Nutshell (Reserve)
Especially for International Students
- Alcaraz Varó, Enrique & Brian Hughes. Legal Translation Explained (K213 .A4182 2002).
- Brostoff, Teresa Kissane & Ann Sinsheimer. Legal English: An Introduction to the Legal Language and Culture of the United States (2d ed.) (KF272 .B76 2003).
- Gader-Shafran, Rachel. The International Student's Survival Guide to Law School in the United States: Everything You Need to Succeed (Reserve). Hoffman, Craig & Andrea Tyler, United States Legal Discourse: Legal English for Foreign LLMs (Reserve)
- Neacsu, Dana. Introduction to U.S. Law and Legal Research (Reserve).
- Nedzel, Nadia. Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students (2d ed.) (KF240 .N43 2008).
- Ramsfield, Jill J. Culture to Culture: A Guide to U.S. Legal Writing (KF250 .R358 2005).
- Widmer, Corinne. A Civil Lawyer's Introduction to Anglo-American Law: Torts (KD1949 .W53 2008).
- Wojcik, Mark E. Introduction to Legal English: An Introduction to Legal Terminology, Reasoning, and Writing in Plain English (2d ed.) (KF250 .W65 2001).
Katherine Topulos
11/2009
