Introduction to United States Law

Research Basics #10 - Dorraine Zief Law Library Handout

For new LL.M. students, or any other students interested in law, the following will provide general background and context. For more help, speak to a reference librarian or call 415-422-6773.

General Introductions

Ansay, Tugrul & Clark, David Scott, eds., Introduction to the Law of the United States, 2d ed. (Kluwer Law International, 2002)
KF 385 .I58 2002 Law Stacks

Bonfield, Lloyd, American Law and the American Legal System in a Nutshell (Thomson/West, c2006)
KF 386 .B59 2006 Law Open Reserve

Burnham, William, Introduction to the Law and Legal System of the United States, 4th ed. (West Group, c2007)
KF 386 .B87 2007 Law Stacks

Byrd, B. Sharon, Introduction to Anglo-American Law & Language, 2d ed. (Stampfli, 2001)
K 213 .B97 2001 Law Stacks

Cappalli, Richard B., The American Common Law Method (Transnational Publishers, c1997)
KF 394 .C37 1997 Law Stacks

D'Amato, Anthony A., Introduction to Law and Legal Thinking (Transnational Publishers, [1996?])
KF 380 .D353 1996 Law Stacks

Farnsworth, E. Allan, An Introduction to the Legal System of the United States, 3d ed. (Oceana Publications, 1996)
KF 387.F3 1996 Law Stacks

Feinman, Jay M., Law 101, 2d ed. (Oxford University Press, 2006)
KF387 .F45 2006 Law Open Reserve

Fine, Toni M., American Legal Systems: a Resource and Reference Guide (Anderson Pub. Co., c1997)
KF 240 .F56 1997 Law Open Reserve

Friedman, Lawrence Meir, American Law: an Introduction, 2d ed. (Norton, c1998)
KF 387 .F74 1998 Law Stacks

Hay, Peter, Law of the United States: An Overview (Verlag C.H. Beck, 2002)
KF 385 .H394 2002 Law Stacks

Hay, Peter, An Introduction to U.S. Law, 2d ed. (Butterworth Legal Publishers, c1991)
KF 385 .H3 1991 Law Stacks

Johns, Margaret Z. & Perschbacher, Rex R., The United States Legal System: An Introduction (Carolina Academic Press, c2002)
KF 386 .J64 2002 Law Stacks

Morrison, Alan B., ed., Fundamentals of American Law (Oxford University Press, 1996)
KF 385 .F86 1996 Law Stacks

Van Dervort, Thomas R., Equal Justice under the Law: an Introduction to American Law and the Legal System (West Pub. Co., c1994)
KF 385 .V36 1994 Law Stacks

Von Mehren, Arthur T, Law in the United States, 2d ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
KF 385 .V66 2007 Law Stacks

The Study of Law

Nedzel, Nadia E., Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students (Aspen Publishers, c2004)
KF 240 .N43 2004 Law Stacks

(See the Zief Law Library research guide Succeeding in Law School [PDF] for books on studying law and coping with law school in general.)

Legal English

Brostoff, Teresa & Sinsheimer, Ann, Legal English: an Introduction to the Legal Language and Culture of the United States, 2d ed. (Oceana Publications, c2003)
KF 272 .B76 2003 Law Stacks

Daigneault, Edward W., Drafting International Agreements in Legal English (Manz, 2005)
K 94 .D35 2005 Law Stacks

Lee, Debra S., Hall, Charles & Hurley, Marsha, American Legal English: Using Language in Legal Contexts (University of Michigan Press, c1999)
KF 250 .L3915 1999 Law Stacks

Wojcik, Mark E., Introduction to Legal English: An Introduction to Legal Terminology, Reasoning, and Writing in Plain English, 2d ed. (International Law Institute, 2001)
KF 250 .W65 2001 Law Stacks

Courts and Judicial Process

Carp, Robert A., Stidham, Ronald & Manning, Kenneth L., Judicial Process in America, 7th ed. (CQ Press, c2007)
KF 8700 .C37 2007 Law Stacks

Meador, Daniel John., American Courts, 2d ed. (West Group, 2000)
KF 8700 .M42 2000 Law Stacks

Miller, William S., A Primer on American Courts (Pearson Longman, c2005)
KF 8720 .M55 2005 Law Stacks

Zelden, Charles L., The Judicial Branch of Federal Government: People, Process, and Politics (ABC-CLIO, c2007)
KF8700 .J84 2007 Law Reference

Civil Procedure

Kane, Mary Kay., Civil Procedure in a Nutshell, 6th ed. (Thomson⁄West, c2007)
KF 8841 .K36 2007 Law Open Reserve

Subrin, Stephen, & Woo, Margaret Y. K., Litigating in America: Civil Procedure in Context (Aspen Publishers, c2006)
KF 8840 .S83 2006 Law Open Reserve

Criminal Law and Procedure

LaFave, Wayne R., Criminal Law, 4th ed. (Thomson⁄West, c2003)
KF 9219 .L38 2000 Law Open Reserve

LaFave, Wayne R.; Israel, Jerold H. & King, Nancy J., Criminal Procedure, 4th ed. (Thomson⁄West, 2004)
KF 9619 .L342 2004 Law Open Reserve

United States Government & Administrative Law

Magruder, Frank Abbott & McClenaghan, William A., Magruder's American Government (Prentice Hall, 2007). Useful despite being intended for secondary-school students.
JK 274 .M34 Law Stacks

Strauss, Peter L., Administrative Justice in the United States, 2d ed. (Carolina Academic Press, c2002)
KF 5402 .S76 2002 Law Stacks

Federal Legislative Process

Johnson, Charles W., How Our Laws Are Made, rev. and updated. (U.S. Gov't Printing Office, 2003)
Available on the web at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html.

Keefe, William J. & Ogul, Morris S., The American Legislative Process: Congress and the States, 10th ed. (Prentice Hall, c2001)
KF 4945 .K44 2001 Law Stacks

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