ABA Section of Business Law
ABA Section of Business Law
Business Law Today
July/August 1999
Speaking volumes
Six volumes for the serious business lawyer
Edited by Robert L. Haig
Reviewed by James L. Holzman
Holzman is chair of the Section’s Business and Corporate Litigation Committee.
The ABA Section of Litigation and West Group, collaborating on an ambitious project, have developed a unique and highly useful work — Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts , a six-volume set covering federal practice and procedure and substantive areas of business and commercial law.
The Litigation Section drew on the talents of more than 150 outstanding litigation practitioners, academics and highly regarded federal judges to compose nearly 7,000 pages of commentary. Authors include legal luminaries such as Warren Christopher and Benjamin Civiletti and several former ABA presidents. Contributors from the Section of Business Law leadership include Dick Phillips, Frank Balotti and John Peloso.
A distinctive feature of the collection is its treatment of both federal practice and procedure and substantive business and commercial law topics in a single work. Each chapter presents not a dry rehash of well-known principles, but instead interlaces an in-depth discussion of legal principles with practical suggestions and strategic advice for handling any number of problems and issues arising in business and commercial litigation. This last feature, together with the ambitious scope of the subject matter, truly sets this work apart from other collections and places it in the category of resources necessary to complete the business law library of the serious lawyer.
Just over three volumes explore federal practice and procedure. The reader who anticipates a long dull march through the federal rules will be pleasantly surprised, not only by the many practical insights into familiar areas defined by the rules, but also by the foresight of the editor in organizing chapters around practical "how to" topics like initial investigation of the case, discovery strategy, selection of experts, the conduct of trials and a concluding federal practice chapter discussing ethical issues in commercial cases.
Substantive commercial and business law areas are treated in 28 chapters in the last three volumes. In addition to covering topics that one would expect in a collection of this type (anti-trust, securities, patents, etc.), highly specific chapters will be of particular use to the commercial lawyer, such as letters of credit, warranties and franchising.
Editor Robert L. Haig deserves high marks for his excellent stewardship of many diverse authors and solid organization of the materials. Although the consistency of approach, depth of treatment, and writing styles may vary from chapter to chapter (and indeed can only be expected in a collaborative work of this sort), the organizational discipline imposed on each chapter promotes overall consistency and facilitates ease of use. The extensive emphasis on the practical is an important contribution to the overall quality of the work and perhaps its most useful feature.
Each chapter begins with a helpful "scope" section describing the coverage of the chapter and the approach of the authors. The scope note is followed by practical and strategic considerations that, generally speaking, contain thoughtful guidance for practical problem solving and attaining client objectives. Often, the advice is refreshingly direct and unvarnished. Analyses of the main topics consume the bulk of each chapter. The treatment of substantive topics is suffused with strategic issues and practical suggestions. Most of the chapters conclude with a "practice checklist" and forms, including jury instructions in many instances.
While one can agree with the claim that the work avoids oversimplification, the assertion in the foreword that the set provides "everything needed to handle commercial litigation" might be a bit of a stretch. To be sure, the work is an important and unique contribution to the literature, but it should, of course, be used in conjunction with primary authorities. The editor should be forgiven this single instance of hyperbole. He and the Section of Litigation’s many authors should be justifiably proud of an outstanding accomplishment.
West Group, six volumes, 6,690 pages and two diskettes of forms/jury instructions; $480, 15-percent discount to ABA members; to order, call 800/328-9352.
