California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (Nutshells)

The new edition of California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell is designed to bridge the gap between law school and law practice. While the booklet cannot provide legal advice, it will benefit these audiences in the following ways: (1) law students will consider it an effective aid for learning the key differences between their state and federal procedure courses; (2) bar applicants, who could not benefit from an upper-division course in California Civil Procedure, will value this booklet as a succinct pathfinder in their journey to enter the profession; (3) new associates will deem it a handy resource for their preliminary research; and (4) all readers will view its multiple Tables as pictures worth a thousand words.

Readability has been improved by placing the accompanying legal citations, with pinpoint cites, at the end of most paragraphs. Citing only the official reporter (when available) facilitates both brevity and flow. The ubiquitous case and statutory quotes promote an appreciation of content. One studying for an exam might find these citations helpful, when using the front-matter Table of Cases to link this Nutshell to your professor’s particular course. They are also invaluable short-cuts, for law clerks and associates in search of a handy reference tool.

The multiple end-of-paragraph parentheticals contain cite-specific reference phrases for reader convenience. This technique avoids the textual narrative being interrupted with sentence-by-sentence citation. It further eschews those ghastly, interruptive, downstairs doorbell-ringing footnotes―while retaining the flanking citations necessary for efficient legal research.

This Nutshell’s companion webpage is located at http://www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/T&F_WebQuiz&MC.docx.It offers true-false and multiple choice quizzes, designed to open doors which were previously ajar. This e-component contains:

• chapter review questions―intended to simultaneously evoke both true and false responses;
• answers―to facilitate self-assessment;
• a new multiple choice review segment; and
• answers―to support learning objectives.