The U.S. Legal System

The U.S. Legal System surveys the legal system of the United States in articles that emphasize basic legal concepts and offer a practical guide to how the federal and state legal systems work. Its articles examine such subjects as the training, practices, and ethics of attorneys and law firms; the organization, procedures and workings of the various kinds of courts; the selection, work, and ethics of judges; the responsibilities of other court officers, such as bailiffs, clerks, and reporters; the selection and use of juries; types of laws; and types of law enforcement bodies. Designed to be easy to use, this alphabetically arranged two-volume reference work contains 256 essays. Each essay begins with a short statement defining the subject at hand, develops the topic by means of historical background information and case examples, and concludes with a list of cross-references to related articles in the set.