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

By Jay M. Feinman

Book Overview

An authoritative and up-to-date introduction to the American legal system.

In this sixth edition of his bestselling classic, Jay Feinman provides an authoritative and up-to-date overview of the American legal system. In the years since the publication of the fifth edition, there have been many important developments on the legal front. The Supreme Court has become more conservative and is in the process of handing down important decisions that will change the law on affirmative action, abortion, gun rights, presidential power, and religious rights. Feinman covers all of this and expands his discussion of originalism, the guiding philosophy of many conservative jurists serving on the federal bench now. He also addresses the rapidly changing legal landscape in a variety of issue areas: race and the criminal justice system, cryptocurrency, and tort reform, among others.

This fully updated edition of Law 101 accounts for all these developments and more, as Feinman once again covers all the main subjects taught in the first year of law school. Drawing from noteworthy, infamous, and even outrageous examples and cases, he discusses every facet of the American legal tradition, including constitutional law, the litigation process, and criminal, property, tort, and contract law. A key to learning about the law is understanding legal vocabulary, and Feinman helps by clarifying terms like "due process" and "equal protection," as well as by drawing distinctions between terms like "murder" and "manslaughter."

Above all, Feinman reveals to readers of all kinds that despite its complexities and quirks, the law can be understood by everyone. Perfect for students contemplating law school, journalists covering legislatures, or even casual fans of "court-television" shows, Law 101 is a clear and accessible introduction to the American legal system.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0197662579
• ISBN13: 9780197662571
• Release Date: May 2023
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Simple Yet Effectively Useful

It breaks everything down into simple terms from the history of law, sample cases, and how it’s incorporated into your life! This information is not only useful for school but can be applied to your everyday life!

Great book

A good read for the price. The other is on the point and easy to understand.

A great resource

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.

Every American should read this book

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.

An useful introduction to the American Legal System

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.

A Great Intro to the Basics - and a fun read!

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.

Want to know how to be a lawyer?

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!