The Nature And Functions Of Law By Harold J Berman And William R Greiner

A philosophical approach to American system of law.

The essays in this volume appeared in slightly different versions in the Emory Law Journal, volume 42, number 2, pages 433-560. The edited and revised versions of those essays are published with the consent of the editors of the Emory Law Journal to whom grateful acknowledgment is given.

This book focuses on the special character of law in performing certain social functions including resolving disputes, maintaining historical continuity and doctrinal consistency, protecting and facilitating voluntary arrangements, and resolving acute social conflict. The text presents aspects of criminal and civil procedure; judicial reasoning on the basis of precedents (focusing on manufacturers' liability in tort); the law of contracts; and labor, race, and gender laws to test the success of the legal system in carrying out these basic purposes. Includes American and comparative and international law materials.

Completed in 1964, Harold J. Berman's long-lost tract shows how properly negotiated, translated and formalised legal language is essential to fostering peace and understanding within local and international communities. Exemplifying interdisciplinary and comparative legal scholarship long before they were fashionable, it is a fascinating prequel to Berman's monumental Law and Revolution series. It also anticipates many of the main themes of the modern movements of law, language and ethics. In his Introduction, John Witte, Jr, a student and colleague of Berman, contextualises the text within the development of Berman's legal thought and in the evolution of interdisciplinary legal studies. He has also pieced together some of the missing sections from Berman's other early writings and provided notes and critical apparatus throughout. An Afterword by Tibor Várady, another student and colleague of Berman, illustrates via modern cases the wisdom and utility of Berman's theories of law, language and community.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this widely used text offers a concise introduction to the American legal system for students without a legal background. The book's coverage is cross-disciplinary, informed by the literature of law, business administration and the social sciences, especially public administration and policy. Its goal is to give non-lawyers in all these areas a lucid overview of the workings of the American legal system as it may affect individuals and organizations in their interactions with each other and the environment.Unlike longer, more expensive competing works, "The Dynamics of Law" presents its subject with clarity and precision, and minimal use of legal terms. It offers clear explanations of how to brief a case and how statutes and regulations are codified in the United States. Study problems and review questions in each chapter, drawn from legal literature as well as general interest articles and books, are designed to stimulate classroom discussion.