.gif "Fordham Law School banner photo")
Spring 2013Welcome to Introduction to the U.S. Legal System. As you know, this course is required for all students who do not hold a degree from a U.S. law school. Please see the left-hand navigation panel to locate the tentative class syllabus and materials.The course will begin on an intensive basis during orientation, which begins Thursday, January 3. For more information, please consult the orientation schedule on the orientation webpage. Following orientation, the class will continue to meet for the first several weeks of the semester. The final examination is tentatively scheduled for Friday, February 8, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Before orientation week, I recommend that you read the Constitution of the United States of America (available under "Materials"). You may also wish to begin reading the materials for the initial sessions of the course. If you wish to read other things in preparation for your LL.M. studies, you might consider one or more of the following: • Steven Burton, An Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning Some students like to read judicial opinions before beginning their law studies in the United States. This is a good idea for those students who do not have much experience reading or analyzing case law. Depending on your interests, you might want to read recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States (available on a number of sites, including the Supreme Court's official website), or cases on specific substantive topics that interest you. Numerous open-access websites offer judicial opinions organized by legal topic or subject, including Cornell's Legal Information Institute and the University of Pittsburgh's Jurist. Sincerely, |
.JPG)