Introduction to the Study of Law

This coursebook is designed for use by beginning law students. The first three chapters provide background reading for the summer months preceding law school and are intended to initiate the student to legal reasoning, law school, and the case method of study. The four topics following these chapters provide several assignments for teaching an orientation course. These assignments focus on the techniques of the case method of study in the areas of Contracts, Property, Torts, and Criminal Law and include explanatory and thought provoking discussions, sample case briefs and sample questions. The purpose of the orientation course is not to teach substantive law, but to initiate the student to the methods of legal reasoning.

The Third Edition of Introduction to the Study of Law adds a number of new readings while at the same time streamlining the existing readings to provide a greater focus on what a student needs to prepare for the unique method of study found in law school. The previous edition split the nature of law and legal reasoning into separate chapters; this edition combines them in order to show their integrated nature. The final chapter continues to introduce the student to the unique case method of study, but this edition has added material to provide further guidance on the mechanics of reading, annotating, and briefing cases. The topics remain mostly the same, with a few exceptions. The most notable change is the addition of a topic in the area of criminal law and statutory analysis.