Evidence Problems and Materials

by Steven I. Friedland

The rules of evidence can be effectively and directly understood through applied learning methods such as problem-solving. More than just a supplemental source of problems, this book can be used in conjunction with the federal or state rules of evidence and their associated legislative history as an all-purpose guide to the rules of evidence. Each section of Evidence Problems and Materials commences with a brief explanation of a particular area of evidence law, followed by problems to test understanding of the evidentiary rules and their intended meaning. Methods of presentation of the problems
Courtroom transcript form;

Lawyering skills settings such as qualifying an expert, distinguishing and comparing statutes; and

Examination of identifying characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity that may significantly affect evidentiary rulings.

The role-playing problems allow students to consider different perspectives and focus on how to persuade others to adopt those perspectives, thereby facilitating an understanding of the evidence rules and their constitutive framework, and offering a broader perspective of how the rules relate to lawyering, legal theory, and human nature

453 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Steven Friedland was a founding faculty member at Elon Law School after teaching at several other schools, including the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, as well as Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where he served as a professor of law for more than a decade. Friedland was elected to the American Law Institute in 2010, named to the board of trustees for the Law School Admissions Council in 2012 and to the Lexis Publishing Company Advisory Board the same year. Friedland has co-authored several Constitutional Law, Evidence Law, and Criminal Procedure textbooks, as well as three books on law school teaching. He is a national leader and speaker on law school teaching, and has advised the Japan Legal Foundation about starting law schools in Japan and Afghanistan law professors as part of a U.S. A.I.D. project on law teaching in that country. He was one of twenty-six law teachers included in the Harvard University Press book by Michael Hunter Schwartz and Gerry Hess, What the Best Law Teachers Do.

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 1 out of 5]

i couldn't stand 'problem' texts in lawyer school--it dialed up the affliction of regular class, to an end that was not obviously beneficial--humiliation for its own sake. the difficulty is that the study of actual cases and controversies that have been disposed of on their respective merits after argument by interested parties demonstrates how law works; problems on the other hand are constructs invented by someone, often based on real cases, but omitting the vast majority of the material from the published case. it distills actual cases to abstract issues to be argued by students. that allows too much to the imagination; the abstraction does not create focused inquiry, but a kenomatic state of exception.

anyway, this text is as good as any other for learning evidence.