Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
External
Intellectual Property: Law & the Information Society—Cases and Materials
James Boyle; Jennifer Jenkins · James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins · 2016
This book is an introduction to intellectual property law, the set of private legal rights that allows individuals and corporations to control intangible creations and marks—from logos to novels to drug formulae—and the exceptions and limitations that define those rights. It focuses on the three graphmain forms of US federal intellectual property—trademark, copyright and patent—but many of the ideas discussed here apply far beyond those legal areas and far beyond the law of the United States. The book is intended to be a textbook for the basic Intellectual Property class, but because it is an open coursebook, which can be freely edited and customized, it is also suitable for an undergraduate class, or for a business, library studies, communications or other graduate school class. Each chapter contains cases and secondary readings and a set of problems or role-playing exercises involving the material. The problems range from a video of the Napster oral argument to counseling clients about search engines and trademarks, applying the First Amendment to digital rights management and copyright or commenting on the Supreme Court's rulings on gene patents.
External
Ethics in Law Enforcement
Steve McCartney; Rick Parent · BCcampus · 2015
In this book, you will examine the moral and ethical issues that exist within law enforcement. This book will also familiarize you with the basic history, principles, and theories of ethics. These concepts will then be applied to the major components of the criminal justice system: policing, the courts, and corrections. Discussion will focus on personal values, individual responsibility, decision making, discretion, and the structure of accountability. Specific topics covered will include core values, codes of conduct, ethical dilemmas, organizational consequences, liability, and the importance of critical thinking. By the end of this book, you will be able to distinguish and critically debate contemporary ethical issues in law enforcement.
External
Wetlands Law: A Course Source
Stephen Johnson · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2024
This is the revised, fifth edition of The Wetlands Law Course Source. It can be used as the primary text for a two credit seminar or as a supplemental text to cover wetlands material in an environmental law, natural resources law, or water law course. In addition, the administrative law chapter can be used as a supplement in a range of administrative law-related courses, such as environmental law, health law, labor law, immigration law, and others, to introduce basic administrative law concepts. Unlike traditional casebooks or coursebooks, a “course source” includes resources to train students in all three apprenticeships identified by the Carnegie Foundation in its influential report on legal education, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law. To address the knowledge apprenticeship, the Wetlands Law Course Source includes all of the traditional elements of a casebook or coursebook (cases, commentary, notes and questions) and includes several hypotheticals and problem exercises that focus on reinforcing wetlands law. In addition, as one of the many forms of summative and formative assessment included in the book, every chapter includes one or more CALI exercise as a “quiz” to reinforce the material covered in the chapter. To address the skills apprenticeship, the Wetlands Law Course Source includes sixteen separate legal research exercises, several drafting exercises, a negotiation exercise, and an interviewing and counseling exercise. To address the values apprenticeship, the Course Source includes several professionalism scenarios, with questions related to the scenarios. The Course Source also incorporates a wealth of audio/video materials and external links to bring the cases, disputes and materials in the book to life, including the audio for the oral arguments in most of the principal cases excerpted in the book, a Google map identifying the location of the properties involved in all of the principal cases excerpted in the book, decision docu
External
Torts: Cases and Contexts
Eric Johnson · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2016
Plain-spoken and convivial, this casebook makes a deliberate effort to explain the law, rather than to provide a mere compilation of readings and questions. Simple concepts are presented simply. Complex concepts are broken down and accompanied by examples and problems. By being clear and straightforward, the casebook aims to quickly get students to the point where they can navigate regions of gray and build nuanced arguments. The book is written from the conviction that when students stop to puzzle over something, it should be because the law itself puzzles, not because the book obfuscates. Students describe the book as easy to read. A key aim is context, with explanations of how pieces of doctrine fit into the bigger picture. There is also a continual effort to plug doctrine into the real world of practice, getting students to think about litigation strategy and tactics. Another key feature is a high-degree of organization. Doctrine is explained upfront, independent of and before the cases. After the cases, there is no notes-and-questions mishmash. Historical notes, check-your-understanding questions, questions to ponder, and problems are all separately labeled as such. The readings are rich with variety. The classic cases are here, of course. But there are also atypical readings that allow students to see tort law from different perspectives, including an opening statement, a closing argument, administrative-enforcement letters, an excerpt from a novel, and an opinion on tribal law from a Navajo court. Many selections are also startlingly modern, with facts involving texting-and-driving, alcoholic energy drinks, Facebook libel, suddenly accelerating Toyotas, and the misery of a six-hour tarmac delay. Please note that the publisher requires you to login to access and download the textbooks.
External
The Law of Trusts
Browne Lewis · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2013
The use of testamentary trusts is becoming an important part of estate planning. As a result, students who want to make a living as probate attorneys will need to know how trusts fit into estate planning. In addition, bar examiners realize that it is important for students to have a basic knowledge of trust law. That realization will result in bar examination questions that test that knowledge. This book is designed for use as a supplementary text for a course on wills and trusts and the primary text in a seminar or course exploring the law of trusts.
External
Property
Christian Turner · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2012
This is Volume 2 of a two volume set written for Property Law. From the Preface to Volume 1: Property, as a vaguely defined collection of contract, tort, and criminal cases, does not take on the natural structure of a substantive area of the law through the systematic study of duty, breach, causation, defenses, and damages. Instead this textbook and most Property courses survey various topics in law with two goals in mind. First, we will study a number of traditional property topics, those where the issue of "ownership" and what that entails have long been thought to be a central issue. Second, but most importantly, our interdisciplinary study will introduce some of the major analytical techniques in law, from reasoning using precedent to law and economics to distributive justice. As we roam among topics, our goal is always, relentlessly to ask, "Why?" "Why should the law protect this party's interest?" These major techniques that we will pick up along the way will help us provide better and better answers to this question.
External
Property
Christian Turner · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2012
This is Volume 1 of a two volume set written for Property Law. From the Preface: Property, as a vaguely defined collection of contract, tort, and criminal cases, does not take on the natural structure of a substantive area of the law through the systematic study of duty, breach, causation, defenses, and damages. Instead this textbook and most Property courses survey various topics in law with two goals in mind. First, we will study a number of traditional property topics, those where the issue of "ownership" and what that entails have long been thought to be a central issue. Second, but most importantly, our interdisciplinary study will introduce some of the major analytical techniques in law, from reasoning using precedent to law and economics to distributive justice. As we roam among topics, our goal is always, relentlessly to ask, "Why?" "Why should the law protect this party's interest?" These major techniques that we will pick up along the way will help us provide better and better answers to this question.
External
U.S. Federal Income Taxation of Individuals 2023
Deborah Geier · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2017
This is the tenth edition of this textbook, updated through December 15, 2022 for use beginning January 2023. In addition to incorporating new law and all inflation adjustments, this edition builds on updates made for the ninth edition and incorporates new charts pertaining to economic and tax data, including December 2019 CBO charts showing that income inequality between 2015 and 2020 (with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in 2017) worsened after taxes and transfers than before taxes and transfers are taken into account. This textbook is not intended to be an exhaustive treatise; rather, it is intended to be far more useful than that for beginning tax law students by equipping the novice not merely with unmoored detail but rather with a rich blueprint that illuminates the deeper structural framework on which that detail hangs (sometimes crookedly). Chapter 1 outlines the conceptual meaning of the term income for uniquely tax purposes and examines the Internal Revenue Code provisions that translate this construct into positive law. Chapter 2 explores various forms of consumption taxation because the modern Internal Revenue Code is best perceived as a hybrid income-consumption tax that also contains many provisions that are inconsistent with both forms of taxation. Chapter 3 then provides students with the story of how we got to where we are today, important context about the distribution of the tax burden, the budget, and economic trends, as well as material on ethical debates, economic theories, and politics as they affect taxation. Armed with this larger blueprint, students are in a much better position to evaluate the myriad pieces that follow throughout the remaining 18 chapters. For example, they are in a better position to appreciate how applying the income tax rules for debt to a debt-financed investment afforded more favorable consumption tax treatment creates tax shelter problems. Stated another way, they can better appreciate how the tax system can someti
External
Torts: Cases and Contexts
Eric Johnson · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2016
Plain-spoken and convivial, this casebook makes a deliberate effort to explain the law, rather than to provide a mere compilation of readings and questions. Simple concepts are presented simply. Complex concepts are broken down and accompanied by examples and problems. By being clear and straightforward, the casebook aims to quickly get students to the point where they can navigate regions of gray and build nuanced arguments. The book is written from the conviction that when students stop to puzzle over something, it should be because the law itself puzzles, not because the book obfuscates. Students describe the book as easy to read. A key aim is context, with explanations of how pieces of doctrine fit into the bigger picture. There is also a continual effort to plug doctrine into the real world of practice, getting students to think about litigation strategy and tactics. Another key feature is a high-degree of organization. Doctrine is explained upfront, independent of and before the cases. After the cases, there is no notes-and-questions mishmash. Historical notes, check-your-understanding questions, questions to ponder, and problems are all separately labeled as such. The readings are rich with variety. The classic cases are here, of course. But there are also atypical readings that allow students to see tort law from different perspectives, including an opening statement, a closing argument, administrative-enforcement letters, an excerpt from a novel, and an opinion on tribal law from a Navajo court. Many selections are also startlingly modern, with facts involving texting-and-driving, alcoholic energy drinks, Facebook libel, suddenly accelerating Toyotas, and the misery of a six-hour tarmac delay.
External
The Story of Contract Law: Formation
Val Ricks · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2021
This book, revised as the Third Edition July 2019, is designed to teach contract doctrine beginning with the most fundamental concepts and building on these until the structure of contract doctrine as coherent and cohesive regulation appears. The order of presentation is, in fact, the order in which contract doctrine developed historically, but it is also, in general, the order in which arguments are introduced in litigation. The book begins with the most basic, core concept of contract law—exchange. The book teaches exchange using simple cases drawn from the actual development of the exchange concept’s most obvious manifestation—the doctrine of consideration. These cases have basic but engaging facts. They do not take long to read, but they must be read carefully. They make an excellent introduction to law study. Logically, every doctrine of contract formation is centered on whether and when a fair exchange occurred. In litigation, the plaintiff alleges a promise and consideration—an exchange (a plausible one, and therefore fair enough at that point). Defenses to formation are a response to the allegation that a fair exchange occurred. Allegations of both promise and consideration show that the defendant assented. As between assent and exchange, exchange is the more fundamental concept, but because the law talks so often about assent, assent is covered at length afterward so that the function of the assent doctrines is apparent. Other doctrines, such as remedies (just an introduction in this first volume), waiver, seals, the Statute of Frauds, definiteness, and general public policy limitations are placed where students can best grasp their import in the context of the other doctrines. Along the way, most of the doctrines in the book are repeated in the cases, questions, or in class discussion. This repetition cements understanding, builds trust, and also allows students to see how the doctrines mesh together to regulate coherently.
External
Sales and Leases: A Problem-based Approach
Scott Burnham; Kristen Juras · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2023
Sales and Leases is a coursebook for a 3-credit course in personal property sales and leases – the subject matter of UCC Articles 2 and 2A. Adjustments could be made for other credit allocations and chapters can be used on a stand-alone basis. The course is designed so that students both review the rules and principles they studied in their first-year course in Contracts and learn the rules that apply to the subset of contracts for the sale and lease of goods. Students taking this course should be well-prepared to solve legal problems in contracts and sales, and should be well-prepared for those parts of the bar exam as well. While the course in Contracts focuses on the rules of common-law contracts, the focus of this course is the rules found in legislation. Therefore, instead of emphasizing case analysis, the book contains a good deal of narrative that assists students in working through the complexity of the statutes. Students will need to supplement the book with a complete copy of the UCC that includes the Official Comments. Discussion of other statutes, such as UETA and Magnuson-Moss, is incorporated where appropriate. The approach is problem-based, which we believe is more appropriate for an upper-division course based primarily on statutes. The narrative is interspersed with problems for class discussion that require students to apply the principles and rules to particular fact situations. Many times there is an issue of interpretation or policy in the Code, however, and therefore each chapter also contains at least one case that explores an issue arising under the statute.
External
Torts: Cases, Principles, and Institutions
John Witt · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2022
This is the Fifth Edition of Torts: Cases, Principles, and Institutions, a casebook for a one-semester torts course that carves out a distinctive niche in the field by focusing on the institutions and sociology of American tort law. The book retains many of the familiar features of the traditional casebook, including many of the classic cases. Like the best casebooks, it seeks to survey the theoretical principles underlying those cases. But it aims to supplement the cases and principles with editorial notes that focus students’ attention on the institutional features of our tort system, including features such as the pervasiveness of settlements, the significance of the market, the role of the plaintiff's bar, the importance of private insurance, the contingency fee, and the jury. These institutional arrangements are what make American tort law distinctive. They are how the substantive doctrines of tort law are translated into the practice of torts lawyers. And they are sociologically fascinating in their own right. TCPI integrates the institutional materials into the cases and notes rather than segregate them into separate sections of their own. It does so because its aim is not to teach the details of any one institution, such as the mechanics of the law of subrogation or workers’ compensation. Few one-semester torts classes can take up so much material. Instead, the book integrates the institutional material into the main text to draw general lessons about the massive, sprawling systems of private administration that American law has created under the umbrella of our torts system.
External
What Color is Your C.F.R.?
Elizabeth Gotauco; Nicole Dyszlewski; Raquel M. Ortiz · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2016
What Color is Your C.F.R.? is a problem-based law workbook with a colorful twist. Conceived and written by law librarians, it uses easy to understand plain language and is a light-hearted but helpful supplement to instruction on basic legal research. The book takes a non-traditional approach to legal research and uses short legal research exercises and coloring.
External
Basic Income Tax
William Kratzke · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2023
This book is the 8th edition of a basic income tax text. This edition incorporates the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It is intended to be a readable text, suitable for a three-hour course for a class comprised of law students with widely different backgrounds. The text integrates several of the CALI drills that Professor James Edward Maule (Villanova University) prepared.
External
Law of Wills
Browne Lewis · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2016
The purpose of this casebook is to train law students to think and act like probate attorneys. This book is meant to be used in conjunction with the author's book on the law of trusts. This book's focus is problem-solving and legal application; the book includes numerous problems, so law students can learn to apply the law they learn from reading the cases. It also contains collaborative learning exercises to encourage students to engage in group problem-solving. The book is divided into three parts to reflect the main types of issues that students will encounter if they practice probate law. The book's organization mirrors the manner in which probate law is practiced in the real world. The book starts with an examination of the intestacy system because the majority of people die without executing a will. Therefore, most of the legal issues a probate lawyer faces center around the intestacy system. Unlike the typical wills casebook, this book provides a detailed discussion of the intestacy system. A chapter on ethics is included because probate attorneys encounter ethical issues that are different from attorneys practicing in other areas of law. The second part of the book includes an exploration of the testacy system. It is arranged so professors can lead students from the client interview to the will execution. The first three chapters of this section deal with issues that directly impact the existence of the inheritance system. It analyzes a person's ability to control the disposition of his or her property after death. This serves as the students' first introduction to the power of the “dead hand”. These chapters are included to start a public policy discussion about the rights of the dead, the right of heirs, and the necessity of an inheritance system. I tell my students that, when executing a will, they must think of the ways that it can be contested. In addition, I tell them that a will can be contested on two fronts-an attack on the testator and an attack on
External
Sources of American Law: An Introduction to Legal Research
Beau Steenken; Tina Brooks · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2024
At its most basic definition the practice of law comprises conducting research to find relevant rules of law and then applying those rules to the specific set of circumstances faced by a client. However, in American law, the legal rules to be applied derive from myriad sources, complicating the process and making legal research different from other sorts of research. This text introduces first-year law students to the new kind of research required to study and to practice law. It seeks to demystify the art of legal research by following a “Source and Process” approach. First, the text introduces students to the major sources of American law and describes the forms the various authorities traditionally took in print. After establishing this base, the text proceeds to instruct students on the methods they will most likely use in practice, namely electronic research techniques and the consultation of secondary sources. Sources of Law incorporates screencasts currently hosted on YouTube that actively demonstrate the processes described in the static text. Finally, the text illustrates how the different pieces come together in the legal research process. Sources of Law focuses on realistic goals for 1Ls to learn in a relatively small amount of instruction time, and so focuses mainly on the basics. It does introduce some advanced material so that 1Ls can recognize pieces of information they may encounter in research, but it does not fully cover researching materials outside the scope of the traditional 1L course. As such, it is best-suited for introductory legal research courses for 1Ls. What's New in the Eighth Edition: The Eighth Edition primarily expands Chapter 9’s discussion of the research process to compare currently available legal generative AI tools to previously existing research tools such as secondary sources and electronic citators. That expansion also addresses some of the AI tools’ limitations and further discusses how thoughtful evaluation of available re
External
Bankruptcy Law and Practice
Gregory Germain · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2024
This is the Fifth Edition of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, a Casebook Designed to Train Lawyers for the Practice of Bankruptcy Law. It is designed for a one-semester course in debtor/creditor law and bankruptcy. The book deals with both creditor remedies and debtor protections, starting with state law collection remedies, exemptions, and the important special protections for secured creditors under both Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and state real property recording acts. After a thorough review of state law debt collection practice, the book covers the basics of straight bankruptcy law with a focus on Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, both for individuals and businesses. Although the book has a practice focus, it covers the major Supreme Court cases (including those decided in June 2024), and important appellate cases with an emphasis on areas of uncertainty. The book also emphasizes the Bankruptcy Code itself, using problem sets to get students to work through the language of the Bankruptcy Code.
External
Contract Doctrine, Theory & Practice
J.H. Verkerke · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2012
This is Volume 3 in a three volume series written for Contracts Law. Its former title is "Collaborative Teaching Materials for Contracts." The first semester of law school is mostly about learning to speak a new legal language (but emphatically not “legalese”), to formulate and evaluate legal arguments, to become comfortable with the distinctive style of legal analysis. We could teach these skills using almost any legal topic. But we begin the first-year curriculum with subjects that pervade the entire field of law. Contract principles have a long history and they form a significant part of the way that lawyers think about many legal problems. As you will discover when you study insurance law, employment law, family law, and dozens of other practice areas, your knowledge of contract doctrine and theory will be invaluable.
External
The Ethics of Tax Lawyering
Michael Hatfield · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2015
This chapter’s objective is to raise interesting tax ethics issues in practical contexts. There are 42 notes and questions to prompt and guide discussions, and primary source materials to inform the discussions (e.g., cases, IRC provisions, and Circular 230 excerpts).
External
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Legal Information Institute · CALI's eLangdell® Press · 2016
Civil procedure consists of the rules by which courts conduct civil trials. In the U.S., civil procedure usually takes the form of a series of rules and judicial practices. The federal courts follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This series of Federal Rules books, consisting of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure, are powered by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, and created in partnership with The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). You may download the books for free, but remember that publishing these books is not free for our organizations. These rules govern the conduct of all criminal proceedings brought in Federal courts. Our Federal Rules ebooks include: The complete rules as of December 1, 2014 (for the 2015 edition). All notes of the Advisory Committee following each rule. Internal links to rules referenced within the rules. External links to the LII website's version of the US Code.