Today I’m very pleased to share with you the approved cover design for the book, and as you can see I have utilised the red, white and blue of the American flag, which I hope compliments the overall aesthetic and inspires some degree of patriotism when looking at it first hand.
Naturally this is just the first step in several, however it does indicate that publication is not too far away, and needless to say that with two years in the making, it’s a body of work that I am incredibly proud of.
More posts will follow as things progress, but for now I hope you like the final product as it stands right now, and here’s to getting it out to market in the coming weeks…
It’s been a wee while since my last blog post, and yet so much has happened, including a relocation from Cambridge to Cornwall, the commencement of my legal career, countless readjustments, and our annual Christmas preparations, and yet one of the more pressing questions was whether, with all of the work ahead of me now and moving forwards, I would be able to find sufficient time to complete my latest and most ambitious book titled ‘United States Law: A Case Study Collection’.
Having worked out how best to finish this labour of both love and a passion for law, I’m now happy to say that I’ve sketched out a plan that will hopefully bring things to a close sooner rather than later, and so I suppose the real purpose of this post is simply to say that I am now firmly back on track, and feel very confident that the book will be published in the first quarter of 2020.
With little more to add besides my palpable sense of relief at picking up the proverbial thread, I will duly sign off and get cracking, as there’s almost two years of arduous legal research and writing just waiting to be shared with the world.
Oh, and should I forget to say it at any point – “A Happy New Year to all!”
As I am now in the preparatory stages of this frankly amazing book, I thought it wise to share with you the work ahead, as for many of you that have never written nor self-published a book before, this kind of information is very useful should you ever decide to ‘take the bull’ by the horns so to speak.
As with any body of work there is a need to edit, proof-read, and index so as to allow future readers the opportunity to navigate the final product as they see fit, and so when reflecting upon how long it took me to finalise ‘The Case Law Compendium’, memory suggests that it took perhaps 1-2 weeks of work, and even then there were noticeable errors once committed to print.
By way of comparison, I have calculated that when working between 7-8 hours per day (without undue interruption), it will take me a little over two months to bring this title to fruition, which as you can imagine is substantially more than my last serious project, however this time around I feel beyond happy inside, and although there are no guarantees that anybody will ever want to buy a copy, I am unashamed to say that I have given all of myself into its writing, and that I have relished absolutely every second of the journey too.
On top of that, my mind and conversely my knowledge of law, is now way beyond anything I could of ever imagined when all of this started, and so if there’s anything that would make me even happier, it would be to have the chance to promote this book across the United States of America (a dream I know), and also to know that thousands of law students and law scholars will draw tremendous benefit from having read it, while to establish myself as a credible legal consultant either here or overseas would simply be the icing on the cake (unless someone out there is willing to help me become a US lawyer, in which case I would probably cry and then pass out).
And so with all of the above now put to electronic ink, I think it’s time for me to get back to work, and look forward to the day when this, my biggest project ever, gets to see the light of day, and hopefully catch the eyes of those seeking legal knowledge in a way never before delivered…so until then please just watch this space and thanks for reading.
After working on this final chapter of the book for the past few months, I’m very pleased to announce that it is now finally complete, which has left me feeling a mixture of emotions, particularly as this wonderful and frankly unprecedented project has been the primary focus of my energy since November 2017.
As I have always done with the previous disciplines shown in the forthcoming ‘United States Law’, the final listing is here for you to view, and so I can only hope that you enjoy reading about them as much as I have studying and preparing them for publication.
1. Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila
2. Anderson v. St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Co.
3. Beul v. ASSE International Inc.
4. BMW of North America Inc. v. Gore
5. Boim v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
6. Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co.
7. Borsheim v. Great Northern Railway Co.
8. Brown v. Kendall
9. Burton v. Cowell Publishing Co.
10. Christensen v. Superior Court
11. Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn
12. Dillon v. Legg
13. Dillon v. Twin State Gas & Electric Co.
14. Dun & Bradstreet Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders Inc.
15. Earles v. Perkins
16. Escola v. Coca Cola Bottling Co. of Fresno
17. Falcon v. Memorial Hospital
18. Foster v. Preston Mill Co.
19. Garratt v. Dailey
20. Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc.
21. Goldberg v. Florida Power & Light Co.
22. Greenman v. Yuba Power Products Inc.
23. Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors Inc.
24. Intel Corp. v. Hamidi
25. Jacque v. Steenburg Homes Inc.
26. Katko v. Briney
27. Kline v. 1500 Massachusetts Ave. Apartment Corp.
28. Knight v Jewett
29. MacPherson v Buick Motor Co.
30. Marshall v. Nugent
31. Martin v. Herzog
32. Metro-North Commuter Railroad Co. v. Buckley
33. Mohr v. Williams
34. Nash v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
35. New York Times Company v. Sullivan
36. Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
37. Philip Morris USA v. Williams
38. Ploof v. Putnam
39. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey v. Arcadian Corp.
40. Riss v. City of New York
41. Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint
42. Rowland v. Christian
43. Scribner v. Summer
44. Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories
45. Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
46. Soule v. General Motors Corp.
47. Strauss v. Belle Realty Co.
48. Summers v. Tice
49. Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California
As I move ever closer to the completion of this ‘epic’ case law collection, I am happy to say that I have now finished writing the property law section, and while it’s one of the shorter chapters, the cases studied have been nothing short of diverse, which made a refreshing change from the often narrow English property law cases I have become so accustomed to reading in the past, and during my time as an undergraduate.
All mumblings aside, below is the final list, and I can only hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed studying them over the previous several weeks, while for me it’s now time to get started on the final ‘tort law’ discipline.
Having started work on this legal discipline in July 2018, I am just beyond thrilled to announce that this often harrowing, and yet equally compelling chapter of the United States Case Law Compendium is now well and truly finished.
While I’m aware that I listed the first half of this section in a previous blog post, I thought I would show the whole 122 cases here for convenience (plus it also helps me to acknowledge the sheer scale of this entry), and although I’m happy to be moving on to property law, it’s still an ending for me of sorts, and I can honestly say that it’s been an experience that has deepened my understanding of American criminal law to no end, which is more than I could have anticipated, and so my only wish is that potential readers will feel the same when they invest themselves into the cases studied (or rather simplified).
Anyway, without blathering on too much about it all, here is the criminal law section in all of its glory, and my apologies for such a long post.
Today I sit here grinning like a Cheshire cat in the knowledge that I have now completed just over half of the criminal law section of this incredible compendium, and when I calculate the hours spent writing and researching even this chapter, it’s a testament to my perseverance and absolute commitment to completing a body of work that is undoubtedly the biggest writing project I have ever undertaken.
When you consider that each case can take anywhere between 3-5 hours to read, analyse, research and write (and some even longer), and that I have been working on this section alone since late July 2018, my excitement and pride in having got this far is spilling over, and I genuinely cannot wait to see how this book looks and reads when its finally finished next year; while I would also add that its often proved harrowing having to read about some horrific acts of cruelty, not only to adults but also to young and innocent children, and its shown how awful human nature can be sometimes, but then again I wholly accept that it goes with the territory of crime, which perhaps also shows why it’s by far the largest section of the book.
Anyway without waffling on too much about my own struggles, below is a list of the first 63 cases contained within this particular segment, and next week I begin working on the final 61 cases before moving on to property law. Phew!
Today marks exactly one year to the day that I first started writing the ‘voluminous’ Case Law Compendium: United States Case Law, and its pretty incredible to think that so much time has already passed, particularly given that I’m not even midway through the book yet!
Anyway, needless to say my hard work continues on undaunted, and I’m hoping to share the first half of the criminal law section here in the next couple of weeks, so watch this space if you’re interested to learn more…
I am very pleased to announce that I have now completed the contract law chapter of the book, and so I can also share the contents here for those interested. There are a total of 47 cases available to read, and while it’s been a very insightful experience putting them all together, I genuinely hope they will help students get a quick grasp on the concept of contractual engagements, as well as the fundamental principles that frame them.
In all honesty contract law doesn’t have to feel like an overly complex field, and my conviction is that this section of the book (when it’s finished), will go a long way to dispelling the fears that many students doubtless carry into their Juris Doctor programs, and so without me droning on too much, below is the list of the historically notable contract-related cases included within the forthcoming Case Law Compendium: United States Law:
I have to admit to feeling somewhat sad that this part of the book is now over, largely because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning about American history through the historic cases studied, and also because my understanding and deep appreciation of the Federal Constitution has grown from being almost non-existent, to virtually integral to my fundamental outlook on life, while also helping me realise just how unprotected U.K. citizens are, despite the Human Rights Act 1998, and more especially because after the whole ‘Brexit’ travesty there is soon to be no more protection offered through the European Court of Human Rights.
In all honesty I feel I now identify more with America than ever before, and given that I’ve never visited the country, there are certainly more compelling reasons than ever to get that arranged, perhaps if I sell enough copies of this compendium, that moment might just arrive, who knows?
As a side note I also recently learned that my mother’s biological father was born and raised in San Francisco, so I guess that makes me part American, right?
Anyway, I digress, and so here is the list of cases that can be found in the constitutional law section of the compendium. I hope I haven’t missed any out, and I will close this chapter by saying that it’s been great fun going on this part of the journey, and I will certainly miss it.
