The Latest eLangdell Titles

Rules of evidence are, as the name indicates, the rules by which a court determines what evidence is admissible at trial. In the U.S., federal courts follow the Federal Rules of Evidence.

This series of Federal Rules books, consisting of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure,  are powered by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, and created in partnership with The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). You may download the books for free, but remember that publishing these books is not free for our organizations.

Civil procedure consists of the rules by which courts conduct civil trials. In the U.S., civil procedure usually takes the form of a series of rules and judicial practices. The federal courts follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

This text is designed for use in a Evidence course as a stand-alone chapter. Specifically, this material covers FRE 410. Federal Rule of Evidence 410 was an attempt to codify common law precedent finding that withdrawn guilty pleas, pleas of nolo contendere, and offers to plead guilty and nolo contendere were inadmissible against an accused.

12,900 Words, 38 Pages in PDF

Published 2013

This chapter on Propensity Character Evidence under Rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, is part of a continuing series of chapters written by the author exploring topics in evidence. The chapter is intended for law students and faculty to use in their Evidence course.

8,800 Words, 31 Pages in PDF

Published 2013

This is Volume 1 of a two volume set written for Property Law. From the Preface: Property, as a vaguely defined collection of contract, tort, and criminal cases, does not take on the natural structure of a substantive area of the law through the systematic study of duty, breach, causation, defenses, and damages. Instead this textbook and most Property courses survey various topics in law with two goals in mind. First, we will study a number of traditional property topics, those where the issue of "ownership" and what that entails have long been thought to be a central issue.

 This is Volume 2 of a two volume set written for Property Law. From the Preface to Volume 1: Property, as a vaguely defined collection of contract, tort, and criminal cases, does not take on the natural structure of a substantive area of the law through the systematic study of duty, breach, causation, defenses, and damages. Instead this textbook and most Property courses survey various topics in law with two goals in mind. First, we will study a number of traditional property topics, those where the issue of "ownership" and what that entails have long been thought to be a central issue.

This text explores the laws governing the use of land. Sometimes narrowly focused, often intensely local, land use regulation may give the impression of a highly specialized field with small stakes.

The text is divided into three parts:

(1) First, we will survey the ordinary, local administrative scheme of land use regulation. The cases in this section are intended to establish what that system is and what it’s standards are.

The Best Evidence Rule, contained in Article X of the Federal Rules of Evidence (Rules 1001-1008) and state counterparts, is a Rule that requires a party seeking to prove the contents of a writing, recording, or photograph to produce the original (or a duplicate) or account for its nonproduction. Through a series of cases and hypotheticals drawn from actual cases, this chapter gives readers a roadmap for how to address any Best Evidence Rule issue in practice.

The anti-jury impeachment rule, contained in Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) and state counterparts, is a rule preventing the admission of jury testimony or statements in connection with an inquiry into the validity of the verdict, subject to certain exceptions. Through a series of cases and hypotheticals drawn from actual cases, this chapter gives readers a roadmap for how to address any jury impeachment issue in practice.

10,682 Words in PDF, 35 Pages in PDF

Published April 2014