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From the author:

The guiding purpose in writing the book was to include enough material to get a basic understanding of American law without becoming embroiled in the great detail that the study of law entails. While the book attempts to be as clear as possible, inevitably some concepts are difficult and I encourage you to ask for clarification of points that you do not understand. The text is divided into two important parts in each chapter. I start off with comments and explanations of topics pertinent to each chapter. Interspersed with the comments are cases. In this instance, the cases are condensed versions of judicial decisions written by judges in deciding cases. In most instances these are appellate decisions, meaning that they are not trial court, that is, lower court, decisions, but come from courts of appeals and supreme courts, both state and federal. This means that one of the parties was not content with the decision at trial and has appealed the lower court's decision to a higher court. In our system, judicial decisions are consulted when making new decisions and the case method is the primary focus of law school training.