Evidence: Home

The latest version of the Federal Rules is the anchor of this book, with some state variations noted where important. The text summarizes significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including the latest Confrontation Clause cases; additional leading cases; forefront expert, scientific, and electronic evidence developments; and principal schools of evidentiary thought. Includes practical implementation as well as scholarly approaches. It pays attention to the litigation process as a whole and includes interdisciplinary cross-pollination where helpful. Numerous signpost-type headings and subheadings light the way, concisely summarizing the gist of each evidentiary concept. The detailed table of contents alone could serve as a complete course outline. Distinctively, an analytical, thoughtful approach is emphasized throughout.

The Nutshell, reflecting the Federal Rules of Evidence as restyled and amended up to and including December 1, 2020, contains a crisp, clear, concise, and complete explanation of each Federal Rule of Evidence designed to prepare every student for the course final, the multistate bar examination, and most significantly a successful litigation practice career. The United States Supreme Court's controversial testimonial/nontestimonial interpretation of the Confrontation Clause developed in Crawford and progeny is thoroughly analyzed as well. With respect to the definition of hearsay, the not hearsay definition, the most commonly encountered hearsay exceptions, expert witnesses, and character evidence even more exhaustive treatment is provided. Concrete illustrations are presented throughout.

In clear and engaging prose that makes concepts accessible without oversimplification, this Treatise explains the Federal Rules, selected state variations, major cases, essential doctrines, and important underlying policies. Frequent practical examples drawn from courtroom practice introduce students to courtroom procedure, provide a context in which evidence problems arise, and acquaint them with the language of the courtroom. This volume can serve as background for beginning students and as a one-stop refresher for those taking advanced courses. Professors can assign various sections to track the syllabus or simply recommend this book as useful background reading.

Study guide aimed at law students. Provides a description of evidentiary topics then tests user knowledge with practice questions.

Annotated guide to the Rules of Evidence explains the rules in more depth and provides case law to illuminate concepts.

Focuses on the Federal Rules of Evidence as a model code. Provides an annotated overview of the rules broken up by subject headings.

Less of a classroom training manual and more of a theoretical explanation, this book is less concerned with ensuring the reader learns the black letter law than answering the question of "why" evidentiary rules are structured as they are. Useful for practicing attorneys interested in trial strategy.

As Gary Lawson shows, legal claims are inherently objects of proof, and whether or not the law acknowledges the point openly, proof of legal claims is just a special case of the more general norms governing proof of any claim. As a result, similar principles of evidentiary admissibility, standards of proof, and burdens of proof operate, and must operate, in the background of claims about the law. This book brings these evidentiary principles for proving law out of the shadows so that they can be analyzed, clarified, and discussed. Viewing legal problems through this lens of proof illuminates debates about everything from constitutional interpretation to the role of stipulations in litigation. Rather than prescribe resolutions to any of those debates, Evidence of the Law instead provides a set of tools that can be used to make those debates more fruitful, whatever one's substantive views may be. As lawyers, judges, and legal subjects confront uncertainty about what the law is, they can, should, and must, Lawson argues, be guided by the same kinds of abstract considerations, structures, and doctrines long used to make determinations about questions of fact.

There is no ignoring the impact of science on law today. New information in areas such as digital and multimedia sciences, canine scent detection, touch DNA and neuroscience is emerging daily. This thought-provoking book was written to provide you with a glimpse into a new dawn of the future of evidence and will help keep you on top of the multitude of new theories, policies, laws and rules that you face every day.