The casebook helps students recognize the relevance of procedural issues in litigation by:
- using the Socratic method to encourage student thought, with introductory text, examples, and hypotheticals
- creating a sophisticated yet clear and straightforward text
- opening with an overview of the entire civil litigation process, using the landmark N.Y. Times v. Sullivan case, real pleadings, and actual discovery materials to introduce basic elements of civil litigation
- showing the connection between the classroom and the courtroom with an innovative "Anatomy of a Litigation" case study chapter that leads students systematically through the process from pleadings to verdict and requires students to apply what they learn to a factually complex tort case centered around an airplane crash
- providing comprehensive coverage of the full range of topics
- utilizing extensive notes and questions to frame deep, conceptual issues and provide the beginning of the answer so students are able to develop strategic and critical thinking skills
- selecting an excellent assortment of leading cases and high-interest cases, balancing lightly edited cases for analysis with tightly edited cases to cover more conceptual ground and strategy objectives
The Second Edition introduces:
- new co-author, Tobias Barrington Wolff, brings his valuable experience and expertise to the writing team
- a new chapter on remedies and provisional relief
- additional coverage of trial procedures and juries allows instructors to emphasize the practical side of adjudication
- updated material on class actions and joinder (revised Federal Rule 23, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, and other recent developments in complex litigation) and notice, due process, and personal jurisdiction (expanded discussion of procedural due process and its relationship to notice and jurisdiction; more concise treatment of nationwide jurisdiction and other less central issues)
- revised preclusion chapter responds to feedback from adopters on how best to synthesize material for students and includes a section on the doctrine of judicial estoppel recently embraced by the U.S. Supreme Court in New Hampshire v. Maine
- thorough, easy-to-understand treatment of Semtek and its relationship to the Eric doctrine
- new comparative material on attorney's fees
- fully revised Teacher's Manual