Whose Monet? An Introduction to the American Legal System (Introduction to Law Series)

This extraordinary paperback provides a highly accessible and appealing orientation to the American legal system and presents basic concepts of civil litigation to first-year law students. Whose Monet? An Introduction to the American Legal System focuses on a lengthy dispute over the ownership of a painting as a vehicle for introducing students to the basic law school tasks of reading analytically, understanding legal materials, and working with the common law.

The author and his colleagues have used these materials successfully in their classrooms for many years, ensuring their teachability and effectiveness:

Whose Monet? can be used as primary course material in orientation courses or seminars, as well as collateral reading for in-semester Legal Process or Civil Procedure courses
The organization is logical and straightforward and the accessible writing style-lucid, descriptive, and conversational-is ideal for incoming students
The major events in a lawsuit are considered, and the text sheds light on how the law is applied in a civil dispute, introducing common law and statutory law and the various courts and their interrelationship (trial/appellate, state/federal)
The author draws on judicial opinions, litigation papers, transcripts, and selections from commentators and various jurisprudential sources, thereby exposing the first-year student to as broad a spectrum of materials as possible
Telling the story of a real lawsuit (DeWeerth v. Baldinger)-from client intake through trial and various appeals-draws students into the legal process by means of an engaging narrative and makes for a truly enjoying teaching experience for professors
The lawyer's role is examined in both its functional and moral dimensions: What do lawyers do? What does society legitimately expect lawyers to do?
This book is suitable for both classroom and stand-alone assigned reading

Professor Humbach, with over 30 years of experience teaching and writing articles and instruction programs for first-year property students, includes a separate Teacher's Manual. Drawing upon his own classroom experience with these materials, he:

suggests "learning objectives" for each chapter
offers different teaching approaches
provides answers to questions in the book
suggests sample syllabi

Customer Reviews:

Ideal

By Michael Duff - September 2, 2009

I direct a law school academic support program and have read most if not all introduction to law-type books. This is the best of the genre. I did not find the grammatical problems discussed by another reviewer to be excessive or distracting. Sadly, they may not even be noticeable to many first year law students. With respect to the repetition of certain concepts that has also be complained of, I say great! During the first semester of law school repetition of foundational concepts is desirable and probably essential. I found it useful to have similar discussions of the same concepts at different points in the book.

Nice product

By J - August 29, 2011

I liked the book. It was a good introduction to law school. It reads more like a book then a textbook. I am guessing anyone here has to read this book for a class instead of for fun, but its worth the money.

Still remember this book, 7 years later...

By DBK - February 24, 2010

The author of Whose Monet? was my first-year property law professor. My entering law school class was assigned this book before it even became an actual, published book. I remember reading it before law school, and then using it as a basis for classes during orientation. It also frequently came up during all three years of law school, as it was something the professors knew we had all read, and it had many themes that were relevant in other classes. I highly recommend Whose Monet? to be used as part of an introduction to law school and the legal process. Whether used in orientation, or in a class, it is a great tool for the first-year law student.