Professors Michael Hunter Schwartz, Sophie Sparrow, and Gerry Hess, leaders in legal education, have collaborated to offer a second edition of their book. Applying the research on teaching and learning, this book guides new and experienced law teachers through the process of designing and teaching a course. The book addresses how to plan a course, design a syllabus, plan individual class sessions, engage and motivate students, use a variety of teaching techniques, assess student learning, and how to be a life-long learner as a teacher. New chapters focus on creating lasting learning, experiential learning, and troubleshooting common teaching challenges.

The mandate for more experiential education raises a fundamental question for law teachers: how do we design and provide these learning opportunities for our students? This book offers answers to that question. Organized into four sections, it discusses specific techniques for incorporating various forms of experiential education into the law school curriculum, ranging from discrete modules of experiential instruction to complete curriculum reform. Section I provides the foundation for making curricular changes, with chapters providing guidance on building both institutional and student support for experiential education. Section II explores the spectrum of experiential education, starting with chapters that explain experiential modules and classroom exercises that can be included in first-year and upper-level courses before moving to chapters that describe and explain immersive learning experiences such as course-long simulations and semester-in-practice programs, culminating in chapters focusing on complete curriculum reform. Section III describes programs that offer experiential learning opportunities outside of the regular curriculum. Section IV concludes the book, offering online resources for experiential education and guidance on how to provide experiential education in an online format.

This work makes the case that cross cultural issues are central to the purposes of legal education, and no longer can such issues be seen as an add-on to the traditional curriculum. The authors argue instead for a critical multiculturalism that is attuned to questions of gender, class, sexuality and social justice, and that must inform the whole law school curriculum.

Fundamentals of U.S. Law by Fernholz and Collova introduces LLM students to the common law method of case analysis through concentrated study of topics in Tort and Constitutional Law. Fundamentals of U.S. Law teaches the “how” of legal practice in the United States. Students learn how to read cases, synthesize rules from reasoning, apply those rules to novel situations, and predict how the law may develop. The authors, two experienced lawyering skills instructors, use a half dozen fascinating and controversial topics to teach the signature skill of the common-law case method. Highlights of the First Edition: LLM students are bright, motivated, legally sophisticated, and ready to succeed. Fundamentals of U.S. Law plays to their strengths and mitigates their weaknesses. The textbook starts with a very short introduction to the legal system in the United States, followed by a discussion of one example of state common-law development. The rest of the textbook presents a set of interlinked topics of American constitutional law, all of which are likely to immediately engage student interest. No boring topics allowed. Students learn how courts use their decisions to create new law, the hallmark of common-law case development. Students also learn the fundamental skills of case analysis, including rule identification, rule synthesis, and application of the rule to novel facts. Students learn to apply these skills in American-style law school examinations. Professors and students will benefit from: Lightly-edited cases in topics most likely to interest lawyers educated outside of the United States Extensive introductions before each case, placing the case in historical and legal context and indicating those issues the student should consider while reading the case Extensive editorial notes in the initial cases to help students read cases more efficiently and effectively Notes that particularly focus on developing the skills of common-law case analysis Sample exam questions at or near the end of each chapter