Hart and Wechsler's the Federal Courts and the Federal System (University Casebook Series)

Rating:
Summary: Hard class, horrible book
Review: Federal Courts and Federal Jurisdiction is generally recognized as the hardest course in law school. After surviving the course myself, I can attest to this fact. Unfortunately, my course used this text which was useless in imparting an understanding of the material, and in fact did more to confuse my peers and me than anything else. Learning this material is already difficult enough, so it is extremely unhelpful when your text makes the subject even more mystifying.

The biggest problem with this book was the utter lack of organization and its ocean of endnotes following the selected cases. The thousands of cases and articles discussed in the endnotes made organizing the material for review impossible.

The editors of this text would do well to get rid of many of the confusing endnotes in each section. They should organize them more concisely, and do all law students a favor and just entirely delete sections and discussions of law review articles. Let's be honest: law students might be generally intellectual, and possess a thirst for knowledge, but NO ONE reads the parts of a casebook that reproduce unreadable, painfully boring law review articles. Do us all a favor and stop including them.

For those students crazy enough to take fed courts -- probably to learn the ropes for a US District Court clerkship -- and get stuck with this book, you would do well to let this book collect dust in your locker or on your floor, and buy Erwin Chemerinsky's hornbook. It is an excellent resource for learning this difficult subject. It's concise, and much easier to read than this brutal casebook.