Federal Courts

View or download the free 2016 Online Supplement for this product.

The Third Edition of Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process follows the approach of the two previous editions (published in 2005 and 2009). It concentrates on the main lines of doctrinal development and their implications for future disputes rather than attempting an encyclopedic treatment of subsidiary points. It emphasizes elements of litigation strategy and the practical application of doctrine as well as the underlying policy and theoretical issues.

Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process is the product of the authors' rethinking of what a Federal Courts course can be. Although fully attentive to the deeper theoretical issues of federalism and separation of powers raised by the cases, the book also focuses on giving students the grounding they will need to be effective lawyer-litigators. The objective of the book is to provide students with the doctrinal, theoretical, and practical education that will enable them to identify and strategically employ jurisdictional tools to effectively serve their clients.

Two major themes make Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process distinctive among Federal Courts casebooks:

1. This book gives sustained and systematic attention to the role of state courts as a forum for litigation of federal issues.
2. This book is grounded in the realities of litigation today — in particular, the strong tendency of defendants in civil litigation to prefer federal court over state court. The statutory device of removal, and other issues that dominate contemporary litigation, are addressed throughout this book.

In addition, Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process is organized in a way that facilitates learning and reinforces important points. A modular design enables teachers to select particular aspects of larger topics for made-to-order course coverage.

Based on the authors' extensive classroom experience teaching Federal Courts, this book effectively integrates problems as teaching and learning tools. The problems have been carefully designed to require students to identify and apply relevant concepts from the governing law, including the cases in the book, from the perspective of a lawyer seeking to accomplish a particular goal. Many of the problems are based on recent appellate cases.

Federal Courts: Cases and Materials on Judicial Federalism and the Lawyering Process provides thorough coverage of the public law issues that dominate scholarly writings on federal courts, but it is also uniquely geared to preparing students to serve their clients effectively in more routine litigation matters.

Significant revisions to the Third Edition include:

• Extensive coverage of the important revisions to the law governing removal made by the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 (JVCA).
• Introduction of aspects of removal jurisdiction not previously covered.
• Seven new principal cases on topics ranging from qualified immunity to constitutional limits on non-Article III courts and state-court power to decline to hear federal claims.
• New problems on a variety of topics, including justiciability, the Anti-Injunction Act, supervisory liability under §1983, jurisdiction-stripping, and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
• Reorganization of the materials on the Erie doctrine in light of the Supreme Court decision in Shady Grove.

This book also is available in a three-hole punched, alternative loose-leaf version printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with wider margins and with the same pagination as the hardbound book.