About the Book
Civil Procedure: A Coursebook
A More Informative and Accessible Approach to Civil Procedure
Aspen Casebook Series
Civil Procedure: A Coursebook
Joseph W. Glannon
Suffolk University
Andrew M. Perlman
Suffolk University
Peter Raven-Hansen
George Washington University
2011. 1,328 pages. ISBN: 978-0-7355-9789-1.
With Teacher’s Manual, Rules Supplement, and PowerPoint slides
Companion website: www.aspenlawschool.com/books/glannon
About the Book
This innovative casebook, written by an outstanding team of Civil Procedure scholars and teachers, is more informative, transparent, and accessible than a typical casebook. For example, Civil Procedure: A Coursebook provides an introduction to each case to help students understand the context for the opinion and to flag important issues to look for while reading the case. After each case, the book provides textual materials and questions, but, unconventionally, the book answers almost all of the questions that are posed. The book has short chapters of manageable scope and uses a different font and a shaded border for the text of opinions. The book also includes multiple choice questions to test students’ understanding of new concepts – followed by an analysis. Each chapter ends with a summary of key concepts. Civil Procedure: A Coursebook is accompanied by an in-depth Teacher’s Manual, which contains sample teaching notes and numerous hypotheticals and other questions that professors can use in class. The book also has a Rules Supplement, PowerPoint slides, and a companion website.
This casebook aims to be approachable and accessible for students and professors alike. Characteristics that take it out of the realm of typical casebooks include:
- Different treatment of cases
- Cases are selected to clarify and convey basic concepts
- Brief, accessible introductions precede the cases and help students understand the opinions and guide them to the important issues
- Author-written textual materials and questions with answers—follow the cases, facilitating students’ understanding of the issues and allowing professors to focus class time on sophisticated material
- Different pedagogy
- Shorter chapters make the material more manageable
- Materials are organized with students and ease of study in mind: each chapter begins with a mini-table of contents and ends with a summary of the fundamental points covered in that chapter
- Questions are presented in various formats, including multiple choice questions and “issue analyses”
- Students are carefully walked through the thought processes involved in answering the questions
- Different design
- A different look signals and supports the innovations
- Interior design differentiates the various elements of the book, such as author-written text, case and statutory material, and pedagogy
- Use of visuals such as charts and photos



