Professor James E. Moliterno, the Vincent Bradford Professor of Law at Washington and Lee recently published the third edition of his text, An Introduction to Law, Law Study, and the Lawyer’s Role. He wrote the text with Fredric I. Lederer, the Chancellor Professor of Law and Director, CLCT and Legal Skills at William and Mary.
The text is an overview and introduction to the many roles lawyers perform and fill in today’s society, including business people; learned, intellectual professionals; helping professionals; professional writers; people of moral influence; producers of justice; advocates; and counselors. The book is intended primarily for those who are interested in learning what law is and how law students become lawyers. It introduces the reader to a number of skills that are critical to law students, such as opinion reading and briefing, classroom participation, writing, and interpersonal relations.
The book also seeks to synthesize the study of appellate court opinions, the still dominant method of legal education, with the legal and pragmatic consequences that flow from the lawyer’s representation of a client. The book aims to aid the study and understanding of the law and the appellate court opinions by providing a perspective on the beginnings of the process that is not apparent from reading opinions alone.
Bearing in mind the intended audience of the text, Prof. Moliterno consciously attempted to make it easy reading by choosing an informal prose style without the multitude of citations and footnotes customary to formal legal writing.
Congratulations to Prof. Moliterno for getting the newest edition of this text on the shelves.