Statutory Law: A Course Source

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 Statutory 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 statutory law and developing students’ analytical and writing skills. In addition, as one of the many forms of summative and formative assessment included in the book, every chapter includes one or more CALI exercises as “quizzes” to reinforce the material covered in the chapter. To address the skills apprenticeship, the Statutory Law Course Source includes several legal research exercises (focusing on finding statutes, analyzing statutory structure, and understanding the notice and comment rulemaking process) and drafting exercises in addition to the hypotheticals and problem exercises described above. To address the values apprenticeship, the Statutory Law Course Source includes several professional identity formation exercises.

The Statutory Law 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. For instance, links are provided to the audio for the oral arguments in most of the principal cases excerpted in the book. For many of the principal cases that are excerpted in the book, there are also links to decision documents, local media coverage or other background materials. While the principal cases have been edited, the book includes links to the full unedited versions of all of the principal cases in the book. Throughout the book, there are also several “Resource” sections that identify reports, databases, audio or video materials, government documents, and other materials that are relevant to the topics covered in the chapter.