Preface

• Author: Eric E. Johnson
• Pages: 17-21

17

Preface

(For both volumes)

What Makes this Casebook Different

This book is different from other casebooks in at least three key

ways.

First, and most importantly, this casebook is free. It is free in both

senses of the word. In one sense, it is free in that it does not cost the

reader any money. That is, the price is zero. You can get an

electronic copy for free, or you can buy a printed copy for whatever

the paper and ink costs. You can also print it out yourself, if you’d

like. The no-money sense of free is great, but this casebook is also

free in a deeper sense: It is unfettered by proprietary legal claims

that would prevent it from being abridged, expanded, repurposed, or

adapted. That is to say, this book is “open source.” Consistent with

the terms of the Creative Commons license that this book is

published under, generations of instructors and students will be able

to rip and remix this book to suit their needs.

Next, this casebook is different from many traditional casebooks in

that it has made a deliberate effort to explain the law, rather than

just present a series of readings and questions. All casebooks contain

some explanatory matter, but few casebooks emphasize it. This is

changing. More and more casebooks are built around the idea of

actively explaining concepts to the reader rather than relying solely on

the judicial opinions’ internal exposition. This book embraces that

trend.

Finally, this casebook is offered not merely as a one-way

communication. Instead, this book constitutes an invitation to

you. If you are an instructor, please get in touch with me. I’d love to

hear how your class is going, and I would be happy to provide you

with notes, slides, advice, and anything else I can. If you are a

student, I would love to hear your comments about how this

casebook is working and how it could be improved. An advantage of

in-person speaking over writing is that you can see from the reactions