Introduction to U.S. Legal Research

"This book, suitable as a primer for foreign LLMs -- or as an introductory survey for American students of both procedural and substantive law -- is a comprehensive, though concise, survey of the American legal system -- its structure and its methodology."
American Law and the American Legal System in a Nutshell is available online.

“This book provides an overview of American legal institutions and sources of law, and presents a guide to the interrelationships between and among those institutions and legal authorities.”

“In the updated, fourth edition of this classic text which has been translated into over a dozen languages, constitutional scholar and Columbia Law School professor E. Allan Farnsworth provides a clear explanation of the structure and function of the U.S. legal system in one handy reference.”

“This text provides an introduction to U.S. law. It is intended for law students, lawyers, and legal scholars from foreign countries; U.S. non-law graduate and undergraduate college students; and anyone else who seeks a "big picture" of the law and legal system, including U.S. law students.”

“This book provides a very short, but complete introduction to the institutions and people, the rules and processes, that make up the American judicial system.”

“Much of our law is based on authoritative texts, such as constitutions and statutes. The common law, in contrast, is that part of the law that is established by the courts… In this lucid yet subtly argued book, Melvin Eisenberg develops the principles that govern this process.”
The Nature of the Common Law is available online.

“The Common Law is a book that was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in 1881, 21 years before Holmes became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The book is about common law in the United States, including torts, property, contracts, and crime. It is written as a series of lectures.”
The Common Law is available online.

“This book considers two key constitutional principles, the rule of law and separation of powers, by examining the generality, certainty and predictability of law, relations between the different branches of the state, and the mechanisms of accountability within our democracy.” Written from a U.K. perspective, but the discussion of the roles of the three branches of government is applicable to the U.S. government as well."

“In this book, the author relies on a separation-of-powers analysis that emphasizes the advantage of the legislature to draft precise words to fit intended situations, the judiciary’s advantage of being able to do justice in an individual case, and the executive’s homogeneity and flexibility, which best suits it to decisions of an ad hoc nature.”

“This authoritative text lays out the constitutional sources of federal judicial authority and its limits.”
Federal Courts in a Nutshell is available online.

“Examples & Explanations for Constitutional Law: National Power and Federalism… provides a clearly written, comprehensive examination of constitutional doctrine pertaining to national power and federalism.”

“This longstanding casebook addresses the law governing the federal courts and their relationship to the state courts.”
Federal Courts and the Law of Federal-State Relations is available online.

“An accessible and thorough exposition of the laws, issues, and policies that determine the jurisdiction of federal courts.”

“Designed for students in advanced courses and newly revised, this book explains the leading principles of federal jurisdiction… Perhaps most importantly, the book provides students with a sense of the argumentative possibilities available to lawyers and jurists working within the federal courts’ tradition.”
Principles of Federal Jurisdiction is available online.

“After explaining the constitutional and statutory bases for federal jurisdiction, the treatise discusses the intricate case law on the statutory procedures relevant to litigating actions in federal courts. The treatise concludes with an exploration of the important federalism problems inherent in our dual system of courts, and the interrelationship of federal and state courts.”

“American Law in a Global Context is an elegant and erudite introduction to the American legal system from a global perspective. It covers the law and lawyering tools taught in the first year of law school, explaining the underlying concepts and techniques of the common law used in U.S. legal practice.”
American Law in a Global Context is available online.

“Heavily classroom-tested by the authors and other instructors, this powerful teaching tool puts an emphasis on vocabulary and solid learning aids to introduce the American legal system to foreign law students.”

“Using a case-centered approach, the materials in this book have two goals: introduce key basic concepts in the U.S. legal system and prepare students for the manner of learning in a U.S. law school classroom.”

“This book bridges that gap for aspiring lawyers in America as well as for foreign legal practitioners. Fandl clearly and concisely demonstrates how to research, analyze, and ultimately condense legal ideas into written form in the American legal style.”

“In United States Legal Language and Culture, experienced educators and professors Teresa Kissane Brostoff and Ann Sinsheimer answer the needs of law students and non-English speaking lawyers who are unfamiliar with the use of English in legal settings.”

“Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students helps readers understand and approach legal research and writing assignments the way attorneys do in the United States.”

“This concise guide provides instruction for foreign legal practitioners or advanced LLM students on the basics of the U.S. legal system and the process of legal reasoning, using substantive topics in U.S. law as example.”
Narrowing the Gap is available online.