Federal Jurisdiction, Third Edition

by Erwin Chemerinsky

Book Overview

This powerful student treatise incorporates new material and builds on its strengths as it enters into its Third Edition. Chemerinksky's textbook is widely viewed as 'the bible of federal jurisdiction' by both professors and students who appreciate its authoritative yet accessible coverage of this challenging subject. Unlike other books for this course, Chemerinksky's FEDERAL JURISDICTION goes beyond black-letter law to illuminate underlying issues...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735500371
• ISBN13: 9780735500372
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Aspen Publishers
• Length: 1003 Pages
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

essential resource

If you plan on taking Federal Courts, get this book. Even if you are a genius or a masochist and would prefer to go hard-core and use only Hart and Wechsler, get this book anyway. Seriously, just get it. :-)

Every law student should have a copy.

I'm a very average law student, and my federal courts class was stacked with the top 2nd and 3rd year students in my school. Despite this, I got the highest grade in the class. The reason...this book. Chemerinsky is able to take a complicated topic that takes 50 pages of a textbook to explain, and summarize it in a single paragraph. This single most impressive book I have encountered in 3 years of law school. And if you plan to practice in the federal court system, this book is essential. Buy it.

An invaluable resource for Federal Courts

All of the thousands of law school study guides tout themselves as a means of breaking down the often complex material for students. Unfortunately, however, few are able to accomplish that goal, as the study guides themselves are often almost as large as the casebooks and do little to demystify law school courses. Chemerinsky's text is a refreshing change, as his Federal Jurisdiction hornbook helps you understand what is universally seen as the hardest course in law school, Federal Courts. Federal Courts is such a difficult class because of the sheer complexity of the material. Sadly, many students, me included, are forced to use Hart and Wechsler's Federal Courts casebook which is itself very difficult to learn from (for reasons I discuss in my review of that book). Many casebooks try to go over too much: they spend time on general principles, certainly, but often get caught up in discussing every single case with some relevance to the course, with less focus on hammering down an understanding of the general principles. Hart and Wechsler is a prime example of this. Their casebook is difficult to digest because there is so much to learn. Their endnotes are filled to the brim with hundreds of cases, many of which are unnecessary to obtain a general understanding of the course. And let's be honest, while these cases might be vital for aspiring future clerks taking Federal Courts, not all of us are clerking for the D.C. Circuit anytime soon. Chemerinsky's hornbook very adequately solves this problem. Of all of the study guides and hornbooks I have perused in law school, Chemerinsky's book helped guide me the most, in what is the hardest class I have taken. In well-defined sections, Chemerinsky breaks down the daunting Federal Courts in a manner that is easy to read and ultimately understand. Chemerinsky clearly as well as concisely lays out a framework for each of the key bedrock principles of Federal Courts and federal jurisdiction without getting caught up in going over every possible case with implications for federal courts. Chemerinsky does discuss the key exceptions as well as minor cases, but they flow very well with his general discussions of the base material of Federal Courts. His book, therefore, was extremely easy to absorb and helped me immensely in understanding Federal Courts. I was often bewildered and perplexed by the material discussed in Hart and Wechsler and in class lectures. Chemerinsky's book tore down much of my confusion by helping me focus on the key concepts of Federal Courts, and not getting lost in the forest of cases delineated by the casebook and by my professor. I strongly recommend that any student taking Federal Courts buy this book. It is invaluable to learning the course. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you did not take a look at Chemerinsky.

Nice reference tool

As usual, Chemerinsky provides a clear and concise summary of this area of law. Practitioners and law students alike will find it to be a valuable reference tool. Like his treatise on Constitutional law, Chemerinsky has a unique ability to briefly encapsulate lengthy and sometimes conflicting Supreme Court precedent. I read it as a practitioner, but I'm sure law students will find it to be a helpful, though expensive supplement. The book does fail in maintaining any semblance of objectivity when it comes to the scope of federal judicial power. Although arguments are mechanically given for both sides of an issue, one gets the impression that Chemerinsky, in his weaker moments, would love to get rid of the 11th Amendment, standing requirements, amount in controversy requirements, and any other obstacle to a federal court's ability to hear a case.

Helping you through Fed. Courts

This book was a great help to me getting through Federal Courts in addition to my textbook. As any law student can tell you, Federal Courts or Federal Jurisdiction probably outranks civil procedure as the most dreaded class at law school. I am a firm believer in the importance of the subject and this book was invaluable to me in class and in work. If you have a legal problem that will involve federal litigation, this book is a must have. It makes a subject that I often believe is as clear as reading tea leaves a little easier.