Accident investigation/reconstruction is more than just a job or even a profession; it is more art than science and requires a dedication greater than a commitment of time. It takes constant reading, study, and analysis of accident information and case reconstructions to keep improving your performance, both in the field and in the courtroom.

Lawsuits over coffee burns, playground injuries, even bad teaching: litigation "horror stories" create the impression that Americans are greedy, quarrelsome, and sue-happy. The truth, as this book makes clear, is quite different. What Thomas Burke describes in Lawyers, Lawsuits, and Legal Rights is a nation not of litigious citizens, but of litigious policies—laws that promote the use of litigation in resolving disputes and implementing public policies. This book is a cogent account of how such policies have come to shape public life and everyday practices in the United States. As litigious policies have proliferated, so have struggles to limit litigation—and these struggles offer insight into the nation's court-centered public policy style. Burke focuses on three cases: the effort to block the Americans with Disabilities Act; an attempt to reduce accident litigation by creating a no-fault auto insurance system in California; and the enactment of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. These cases suggest that litigious policies are deeply rooted in the American constitutional tradition. Burke shows how the diffuse, divided structure of American government, together with the anti-statist ethos of American political culture, creates incentives for political actors to use the courts to address their concerns. The first clear and comprehensive account of the national politics of litigation, his work provides a new way to understand and address the "litigiousness" of American society.

Litigation finance sits at the intersection of many well-known subjects within the law school curriculum: contracts, torts, civil procedure, evidence, professional responsibility, insurance, and capital markets. There are no professionally produced materials for a professor who wants to teach an entire semester-long course on litigation finance. This casebook is an attempt to fill that gap. Its ten chapters provide a foundation for a two- or three-credit class, although many of the chapters could also be used individually as supplemental material for a free-standing unit on litigation finance in another course, such as torts, civil procedure, or the law of lawyering. Notwithstanding the fact that the law of litigation finance is rapidly developing as investment in litigation and legal services grows, the cases and other materials contained in this book will remain relevant and useful to anyone trying to teach students about this important new body of law. Benefits for instructors and students: Careful selection of the leading cases in the United States about the development and current law of assignment and litigation finance. Diverse selection of secondary source material, including major law review articles, as well as reports and advocacy materials from supporters and critics of litigation finance. Notes following the readings help the student progress through the materials in a logical and coherent manner.