This book is designed to introduce students to the highlights of the first-year curriculum at a U.S. law school. The first chapter provides an overview of the U.S. legal system. The seven chapters that follow focus on basic foundational subjects: constitutional law, civil procedure, contracts, torts, property, criminal procedure, and criminal law, each in a separate chapter. Although the first chapter consists entirely of articles and other commentary, the other seven chapters consist mainly of edited court decisions.

All of the chapters contain notes and questions, highlighting important issues for discussion and providing citations to cases, articles, and other materials for more in-depth study.

The book is intended for several types of students:

First, it is designed for international students who are attending a U.S. law school to pursue an LL.M degree or an S.J.D. degree. This book gives such students the opportunity to take an intensive course on U.S. law, thus enabling them to learn the fundamental concepts before taking upper-division courses.

Second, this book is designed for international students who want to learn about U.S. law but who are not planning to attend a U.S. law school. U.S. law professors can teach the course in foreign law schools using this text. Also, foreign professors who have been trained at a U.S. law school can teach U.S. law at their home institutions.

Third, the book is designed for an undergraduate pre-law course at a U.S. college or university. Fourth, the book can be used at U.S. schools that train and certify paralegals.

All four types of students share a common desire to learn the basics of U.S. law in one course. And all four types will benefit not only from the substantive materials but also from the experience of learning core subject areas.