The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the Survivors of One of the Worst Disasters in Coal-Mining History Brought Suit Against the Coal Company--And Won


Gerald M. Stern - 1976
    It was one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history. 125 people were killed instantly, more than 1,000 were injured, and over 4,000 were suddenly homeless. Instead of accepting the small settlements offered by the coal company's insurance offices, a few hundred of the survivors banded together to sue. This is the story of their triumph over incredible odds and corporate irresponsibility, as told by Gerald M. Stern, who as a young lawyer and took on the case and won. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction


Akhil Reed Amar - 1998
    Constitution in this incisive new account of our most basic charter of liberty. Akhil Reed Amar brilliantly illuminates in rich detail not simply the text, structure, and history of individual clauses of the 1789 Bill, but their intended relationships to each other and to other constitutional provisions. Amar’s corrective does not end there, however, for as his powerful narrative proves, a later generation of antislavery activists profoundly changed the meaning of the Bill in the Reconstruction era. With the Fourteenth Amendment, Americans underwent a new birth of freedom that transformed the old Bill of Rights. We have as a result a complex historical document originally designed to protect the people against self-interested government and revised by the Fourteenth Amendment to guard minority against majority. In our continuing battles over freedom of religion and expression, arms bearing, privacy, states’ rights, and popular sovereignty, Amar concludes, we must hearken to both the Founding Fathers who created the Bill and their sons and daughters who reconstructed it. Amar’s landmark work invites citizens to a deeper understanding of their Bill of Rights and will set the basic terms of debate about it for modern lawyers, jurists, and historians for years to come.

Sinful


Victor McGlothin - 2007
    . . Everybody's got a weakness and Chandelle Hutchins' is a love of material possessions--a love that is causing serious trouble in her marriage. Chandelle's latest object of desire is an expensive new house. Her husband Marvin knows they can't afford it--and he also knows he can't talk Chandelle into giving it up. With their relationship crumbling under a mountain of debt, it may just be easier for Marvin to walk away. But with Chandelle's scheming cousin Dior in town, money may be the least of the couple's problems. . .Dior's weakness is her insatiable appetite for causing trouble--and her latest target is her cousin's marriage. When the time is right, Dior would like nothing more than to seduce Marvin on the rebound. But Dior is being trailed by her own troublemaker: a crazed female employer who refuses to release Dior from her twisted duties as nanny to her children and late night mistress to her kinky husband. Fortunately for everyone involved, the Lord works in mysterious ways. For despite a tangle of lies, manipulation, and mayhem, a series of unexpected events is about to bless everyone with a much needed second chance. . .

The Concept of Law


H.L.A. Hart - 1961
    First published in 1961, it is considered the masterpiece of H.L.A. Hart's enormous contribution to the study of jurisprudence and legal philosophy. Its elegant language and balanced arguments have sparked wide debate and unprecedented growth in the quantity and quality of scholarship in this area--much of it devoted to attacking or defending Hart's theories. Principal among Hart's critics is renowned lawyer and political philosopher Ronald Dworkin who in the 1970s and 80s mounted a series of challenges to Hart's Concept of Law. It seemed that Hart let these challenges go unanswered until, after his death in 1992, his answer to Dworkin's criticism was discovered among his papers.In this valuable and long-awaited new edition Hart presents an Epilogue in which he answers Dworkin and some of his other most influential critics including Fuller and Finnis. Written with the same clarity and candor for which the first edition is famous, the Epilogue offers a sharper interpretation of Hart's own views, rebuffs the arguments of critics like Dworkin, and powerfully asserts that they have based their criticisms on a faulty understanding of Hart's work. Hart demonstrates that Dworkin's views are in fact strikingly similar to his own. In a final analysis, Hart's response leaves Dworkin's criticisms considerably weakened and his positions largely in question.Containing Hart's final and powerful response to Dworkin in addition to the revised text of the original Concept of Law, this thought-provoking and persuasively argued volume is essential reading for lawyers and philosophers throughout the world.

Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame


Jim Dent - 2009
    For five straight years, from 1958 through 1963, the home of Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy could not produce one winning season. Plagued by a series of bad coaching choices, inept management, and a loss of institutional support, no one could be sure if the Fighting Irish would ever return to glory. When "Touchdown Jesus" was erected in 1964, it presided over a team so hopeless that the entire football program was on the brink of collapse.Little did anyone know, help was on its way in the form of Ara Parseghian, a controversial choice for head coach---the first one outside of the Notre Dame "family"---who had only set foot on Notre Dame soil when his football teams played (and won) there. It was now his responsibility to rebuild the once-proud program and teach the Fighting Irish how to win again. This was no small task.The men of Notre Dame football were a bunch of unlikelies and oddballs, but Parseghian transformed them into a team: a senior quarterback who would win the Heisman Trophy two weeks before he picked up his first letter jacket; a five-foot-eight walk-on who would go on to make first team All-American; and an exceptionally rare black player, who would overcome much more than his quiet demeanor to rise to All-American, All-Pro, NFL Hall of Famer, and to justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.Parseghian would change everything, from the uniforms and pads to the offensive strategy. He switched players from position to position like pieces on a chessboard, and just before the season opener, he hung a motto over the locker-room door:"What tho the odds""Be great or small""Notre Dame men""Will win over all"It would be a huge gamble against great obstacles, but Ara Parseghian had that look in his eye. . . ."New York Times" bestselling author Jim Dent chronicles one of the greatest comeback seasons in the history of college football---the first season in what is known as the "Era of Ara." Once again confirming his position as one of the top sportswriters in the country, Dent writes with passion, humor, and incredible insight, bringing the legends of Notre Dame football to life in an unforgettable story of second chances, determination, and unwavering spirit.

The Bramble Bush: The Classic Lectures on the Law and Law School


Karl N. Llewellyn - 1953
    That book is The Bramble Bush. After all these years and many imitators, The Bramble Bush remains one of the most popular introductions to the law and its study.Llewellyn introduces students to what the law is, how to read cases, how to prepare for class, and how justice in the real world relates to the law. Although laws change every year, disputes between people haven't altered all that much since Llewellyn first penned The Bramble Bush, and the processof moving from private dispute to legal conflict still follows the patterns he described.Moreover, the steps of a legal dispute, from arguments to verdict, to opinion, to review, to appeal, to opinion have changed little in their significance or their substance. Cases are still the best tools for exploring the interaction of the law with individual questions, and the essence of what lawstudents must learn to do has persisted. If anything, many of the points Llewellyn argued in these lectures were on the dawning horizon then but are in their mid-day fullness now.

24 Hours with 24 Lawyers: Profiles of Traditional and Non-Traditional Careers


Jasper Kim - 2011
    Whether you want to be a full-time corporate lawyer, work as a legal consultant while pursuing your music career, or anything in between, this book gives you a unique "all-access pass" into the real-world, real-time personal and professional lives of twenty-four law school graduates. These working professionals each present you with a "profile" chronicling a typical twenty-four-hour day in their traditional and non-traditional careers. You will read actual twenty-four-hour accounts from the perspective of a venture capitalist, Wall Street lawyer, lobbyist, entertainment lawyer, IP attorney, sports broadcaster, JAG officer, prosecutor, criminal defense lawyer, mediator, and politician, just to name a few. From the time they wake up in the morning to the time they go to bed, each professional illustrates what their position entails on a day-to-day basis and will give you invaluable, informative, and honest insight above and beyond what many brochures, guest lectures, career workshops, or law firm website descriptions can provide. After reading 24 Hours with 24 Lawyers, you'll be better prepared to determine which career profile may suit you best before accepting a new job or investing in a legal education.

1L of a Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor's Roadmap to Success in the First Year of Law School


Andrew J. McClurg - 2008
    It essentially answers the questions, What s the first year of law school really like and how can I make the most of it? Readers learn what to expect, when to expect it, and how to respond to it. Other how to succeed in law school books exist, but 1L of a Ride is the only book that: Addresses each aspect of academic success, including the top five habits of successful law students, effective class participation, how to interact with professors, case-briefing, note-taking, outlining, exam preparation, and essay and multiple-choice exam strategies. Includes both a professor and student perspective, with comments from real law students as they progressed through their first year from beginning to end. Features authentic samples of Socratic dialogue, student case briefs, student class notes, and exam questions and answers. Focuses on practical advice that can be followed by any student from day one. Employs a lively first-person voice, humor, and dozens of anecdotes to bring the advice to life. Relies on educational research to back up advice. Includes input from other law professors, including an interview with five professors of Legal Writing, the course that causes the most angst and complaints from first-year students. Provides up-to-date advice in step with the changing landscape of U.S. legal education, including coverage of technology issues relevant to law students.

Why Marijuana Should Be Legal


Ed Rosenthal - 1996
    Despite government efforts to isolate and eliminate its use, it is more popular now than ever. Why Marijuana Should Be Legal analyzes the effects of marijuana and marijuana laws on society. The book addresses the drug's industrial and medical applications, preserving our Constitutional rights, economic costs, health effects, and sociological aspects. New and updated information includes how state officials are acting against the legalization of marijuana and how U.S. marijuana laws are based on inaccurate and outdated information. In discussing such issues and many more, the book presents clear, documented evidence for all of its conclusions. Also included is an annotated list of organizations that lobby for change of marijuana laws. "Rosenthal and Kubby offer crisp, well-reasoned arguments for legalizing marijuana."—Mike Tribby, Booklist "[A]n important contribution to the current national dialog on moves toward the decriminalization of this controversial drug."—The Midwest Book Review

The Common Law


Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. - 1963
    (1841–1935) is generally considered one of the two greatest justices of the United States Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Marshall being the other. In more than 2000 opinions, he delineated an impressive legal philosophy that profoundly influenced American jurisprudence, particularly in the area of civil liberties and judicial restraint. At the same time, his abilities as a prose stylist earned him a position among the literary elite.In The Common Law, derived from a series of lectures delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston, Holmes systematized his early legal doctrines. The result was an enduring classic of legal philosophy that continues to be read and consulted over a century later. Beginning with historical forms of liability (thought to have originated in the desire for vengeance in ancient Roman and Germanic blood feuds), the book goes on to discuss criminal law, torts, bails, possession and ownership, contracts, successions, and many other aspects of civil and criminal law.Encompassing Holmes's profound, wide-ranging knowledge of the law in its historical aspects, yet written in a manner easily accessible to the layman, The Common Law provoked this observation from another famed jurist; "The book is a classic in the sense that its stock of ideas has been absorbed and become part of common juristic thought … they placed law in a perspective which legal scholarship ever since has merely confirmed." — Felix Frankfurter, Of Law and Men.Now the influential ideas and judicial theory of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. can be studied and appreciated in this superb edition — the only one in print — of his magnum opus. This edition also features a new introduction by Professor Sheldon M. Novick, author of Honorable Justice: The Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes. First published in 1881, this book is still indispensable reading for lawyers, political scientists, historians, general readers — anyone interested in the origins, development, and continuing evolution of the laws that govern human society.

Dismembered


Susan D. Mustafa - 2011
    I wanted to keep those legs."One by one, investigators found the women's bodies. Each one carefully posed. Each one brutally mutilated. An arm here. A leg there. A breast, nipples, a tattoo. The killer was cutting his victims to pieces. . ."At that point, I pretty much went for the head."For ten years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the killings went on. Women of slight stature were hunted down, bludgeoned and strangled. And what the killer did with their bodies in the privacy of his car, his home, his kitchen, and his shower was beyond anything police could imagine."I was pure evil."When investigators finally caught mild-mannered, Star Trek fan Sean Vincent Gillis, he couldn't wait to tell his story. In the presence of shocked veteran detectives, Sean told them every detail of his killings, everything he did with the bodies. . . And he smiled the whole time. . .Includes 16 pages of shocking photographs. Warning: Contains graphic details.

Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning


Frederick Schauer - 2009
    It argues, among other things, that the best decision in a case is not always the best legal decision.

Landmark Judgments That Changed India


Asok Kumar Ganguly - 2015
    Of these, it is the judiciary’s task to uphold constitutional values and ensure justice for all. The interpretation and application of constitutional values by the judicial system has had far-reaching impact, often even altering provisions of the Constitution itself. Although our legal system was originally based on the broad principles of the English common law, over the years it has been adapted to Indian traditions and been changed, for the better, by certain landmark verdicts.In Landmark Judgments that Changed India, former Supreme Court judge and eminent jurist Asok Kumar Ganguly analyses certain cases that led to the formation of new laws and changes to the legal system. Discussed in this book are judgments in cases such as Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala that curtailed the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution; Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India and Others that defined personal liberty; and Golaknath v. State of Punjab, where it was ruled that amendments which infringe upon fundamental rights cannot be passed.Of special significance for law students and practitioners, this book is also an ideal guide for anyone interested in the changes made to Indian laws down the years, and the evolution of the judicial system to what it is today.

The Missing Girls: A Shocking True Story of Abduction and Murder


Linda O'Neal - 2006
    As a shocked community came together and police began a frantic search, another tragedy was just about to take place.Miranda Gaddis was Ashley's best friend. Just two months after Ashley's disappearance, Miranda was on her way to school when she, too, was abducted. Nobody knew the scandalous, unspeakable secret that the two girls shared…except for one man who lived just one block away.The police and FBI managed to overlook the girls' neighbor whose daughter was a friend of Miranda and Ashley's—and who had a catalog of sexual-assault allegations behind him. Author Linda O'Neal was a private investigator intimately involved in this shocking case. Now, she and her co-authors—also participants in the case—tell the chilling story of one town's devastating loss…and how the murderer was finally found.

The Art of Cross Examination


Francis Lewis Wellman - 1962
    But not anymore.