K.W. Junker, U.S. Law for Civil Lawyers, 2021, C.H.Beck
Kirk W. Junker
U.S. Law for Civil Lawyers
A Practitioner’s Guide
Handbuch
1. Edition
Munich: 2021, XXXVIII, 362 S., 140,00 Euro inkl. MwSt.
In englischer Sprache/in english Language
ISBN 978-3-406-75346-6
– In Gemeinschaft mit Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden und Hart Publishing, Oxford –
Das Werk ist Teil der Reihe: Kooperationswerke Beck – Hart – Nomos
This book not only presents U.S. law at the current state of the art, but also develops its own comparative law approach. This comparative law approach is extremely interesting. In essence, it relies on working with non-U.S. lawyers to identify structures of U.S. law that need explanation and translating them in context, so that the readers can understood the whole context. This book allows it to overcome the gaps between different legal cultures. In his „Dedication“ the Editor wrotes „Travelling Teaches Tolerance“, he found this true sentence on a bus in India.
Explanations are often found in the footnotes in German, French, Italian and Spanish. The translation method is central to understanding the text. It is very central in this book to let the reader understand contexts. No other legal system can be learned without knowledge of the cultural, economic, social and political backgrounds, especially since legal norms are predominantly generated in political discourses.
In fifteen chapters the book explains the U.S. Law from civil procedure, to white collar crimes, arbitration law, of course: contracts, maritime law and immigration law, among many others, including a last chapter regarding to Food Law. Environmental protection aspects are also included.
The contents of all chapters are very informative and also deal with the fact, how U.S. law is viewed in Europe, for example, by means of disputes with rulings of the European Court of Justice. The methodology and structure of the volume is presented in detail by the editor in an extensive introduction. The book also addresses questions of methodology and problems of interpretation, as well as differences in the various states. All chapters clearly argue and do not just impart knowledge.
Chapters include in-depth information on contract law, corporate law (with nonprofits), and tax law. It also lays the groundwork for being able to comprehend current legal changes.
This book explains various areas of private, public and criminal practice in the United States, as well as US legal research, to the audience of practising civil lawyers who may interact with US lawyers.
It is a stated goal of this book to improve transnational communication between lawyers. To this end, it contains many practical tips, cases and background information.
Each chapter is written by a recognised specialist in his or her respective field who has practiced and taught in that field. Further, the first chapter is an introduction to the „foreign“ nature of US law for civil lawyers, written by the editor, Kirk W Junker, who holds the Chair in US Law at the University of Cologne, who has been teaching US law to law students in Germany and France for ten years, and who previously practiced US law for nine years. As a practitioner’s guide, a special feature of the book is that every term of art, regardless of which field of law, is translated into both German and French in accompanying footnotes on each page. In addition, every chapter includes “Practice Tips,“ “Checklists for Practice,“ and illustrative “Examples,“ each of which is clearly marked in a separate box. Some chapters offer tables, example draft documents and templates to make the book easy to use as a reference book and a handbook.
Contents:
- Chapter 1: US Law as Foreign Law (Kirk W. Junker)
- Chapter 2: Federal Civil Litigation (Steven F. Baicker-McKee)
- Chapter 3: Civil Procedure Brief Drafting Strategy (Heidi K. Brown)
- Chapter 4: U.S. Arbitration Law and Practice (Katherine M. Simpson)
- Chapter 5: Aspects of United States Application of International Maritime Law: A Focus on Jurisdictional, Procedural and Substantive Issues Unique to the US System
- Chapter 6: Contracts—Drafting and Content (Keith E. Wilder)
- Chapter 7: The Back to Back Contract. The Birth of a New Contract Type (Antonio Lordi)
- Chapter 8: Confidential Information and Restrictive Covenants in Employment (Patrick Sorek)
- Chapter 9: Income Taxation and Audits (P. Matthew Roy)
- Chapter 10: The U.S.‘ Charitable Sector: Nonprofit Organizations (Ryan Kraski)
- Chapter 11: Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement in the United States: An Introduction (Jacob H. Rooksby)
- Chapter 12: Food Law: Implementing Food Sovereignty in Local Sustainable Food Systems (Gabriela Steier)
- Chapter 13: Issues of United States Immigration Law – A View from the Inside (Katherine M. Simpson)
- Chapter 14: Issues of US Environmental Law Encountered from Abroad (Kirk W. Junker)
- Chapter 15: White Collar Crime (Barbara Carlin)
This new edition is very structured, well written and the content is very easy to understand.