Chapter 2 1 Are the initial conduit between the barristers and the clients

CHAPTER TWO. HISTORY AND THE LAW

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To understand the nexus of law and history

• To understand the common law and civil (Romano-Germanic) law history and traditions

• To understand the development of the United States law in the English tradition

• To understand the law as a profession including legal education

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The goal of this chapter is to provide students with a miscellany of historical antecedents

in order that they understand that the law builds on the rules that governed older civilizations and

that it evolves through an incremental process. Also discussed are the four legal models—the

I. Introduction

II. Law Through the Ages

III. The English Heritage

A. Development of the Common Law

B. Development of Equity

IV. The American Experience

V. The American Legal Profession

TERMS/CONCEPTS/PEOPLE

Code of Hammurabi Canon law

Islam Henry II of England

Talmud Socialism

Cicero Æthelbert

Justinian Canute

Specific relief Substitutionary relief

Commentaries on Laws of England Chancery

Christopher Columbus Langdell Henry of Bracton

Henry I of England George Wythe

Romano-Germanic law William Blackstone

Pentateuch Edward I of England

Magna Carta Curia Regis

CHAPTER TEST QUESTIONS

1. In the British system, solicitors:

A. Are primarily trial lawyers;

B. Are never university trained;

C. May establish their own solo practice immediately upon completion of their training;

D. Must join one of the Inns of Court;

E. Are the initial conduit between the barristers and the clients.

2. Certain principles of contract law—identification of parties and specifications regarding obligations—can

be traced to:

A. Mesopotamians;

B. Greeks;

C. Romans;

D. Canon law;

E. Hebrews.

3. Today, lawyers:

A. Receive their legal training in formal educational settings;

B. Are not controlled in the practice of their profession by any governing bodies;

C. Are known as either solicitors or barristers in this country;

D. Enter the legal profession through apprenticeships;

E. None of the above.

4. The Inns of Court in England:

A. Are the only organizations that may call people to the bar;

B. Are composed of chambers or groups of offices of solo practitioners;

C. Are the British equivalent of Holiday Inns;

D. A and B;

E. B and C.

5. The primary function of French (and other civil law) prosecutors is.

A. Secure convictions;

B. Insure that justice is done;

C. Insure that society‘s interests are served;

D. A and B

E. B and C

6. The most important factor in the selection of law school is:

A. Price;

B. Location in the state where you plan to practice;

C. Prestige;

D. ABA approval;

E. All of the above.

7. Which of the following statements is correct?

A. The law of the United States is not the product of experience;

B. The jurisprudence of all the states is based solely on the common law traditions of Great Britain;

C. One of the earliest extant sets of laws is the Code of Hammurabi written around 2000 B.C.E.;

D. Laws are created in a vacuum;

E. All of the above.

8. The person known as the first professor of law in this country was:

A. George Washington;

B. George Wythe;

C. George Clooney;

D. George Foreman;

E. None of the above.

9. The roots of the common law system in this country lie in:

A. German legal decisions;

B. English legal decisions;

C. Chinese legal decisions;

D. Scandinavian legal decisions;

E. Scottish legal decisions.

10. Which of the following is correct?

A. Initially, laws relating to family matters and to inheritance were decided primarily on principles from

religious entities under both Islamic and Christian cultures;

B. Under Æthelbert in England, injuries to persons or property resulted in fines as determined by the

code;

C. Under the Chancery, writs provided access to the courts for payment of a fee, determined which

court heard the case, and directed the sheriff to summon the parties to court;

D. All of the above;

E. None of the above.

11. Equity:

A. Is known for its flexibility;

B. Requires that the wrong can be completed and then assesses damages.

C. Was not developed through the Chancery in England;

D. Is vested in a separate court system in this country;

E. B and D.

12. The system of law that is based on the notion of an appeal to the conscience of the judge and to a

higher system of justice is:

A. Equity;

B. Substantive law;

C. Procedural law;

D. Constitutional law;

E. Contracts.

13. Under the theory of the divine right of kings in medieval Europe:

A. The pope, in religious matters, and the king, in secular matters, were deemed God‘s

representatives on Earth;

B. All law, spiritual and temporal, was inspired by God;

C. Law was considered to be eternal and immutable;

D. Disobeying the monarch was tantamount to disobeying God and carried punishment;

E. All of the above are true.

14. Which of the following is correct regarding the origins of British jurisprudence?

A. The native population had no established system of justice before the Norman Conquest;

B. The first codification of laws in Great Britain took place under George III;

C. The Plantagenets are credited with centralizing the judicial system and the beginning of

common law;

D. Feudalism, the social system based on a series of reciprocal obligations, had no effect;

E. All of the above.

15. Which of the following is not correct?

A. American lawyers today are trained in the traditional method of “reading“ law with

practitioners;

B. The solicitors in the British system are those who represent clients at trial in the higher

courts;

C. French judges are elevated from among the ranks of practicing

attorneys;

D. The American system is the only one that requires an apprenticeship for young lawyers;

E. All of the above.

16. The distinction between civil (Romano–Germanic) systems and common law systems is:

A. The type of activities that are barred or condoned;

B. That the civil law tradition was spread by colonization of new areas while

common law was not;

C. The approach taken in legal reasoning and methodology;

D. That the civil law tradition is found only in western Europe while common law dominates in such

far–flung places as Australia;

E. All of the above.

17. Corpus Juris Civilis is the:

A. Code of Ǽthelbert;

B. Code of Justinian;

C. Treatise written by Draco;

D. Collected works of Plato;

E. Statute written during the Plantagenet era in France.

Essay Questions

1. Identify and discuss the contributions of past legal systems to American jurisprudence.

2. Discuss the Corpus Juris Civilis, its origins, its history, effect of Natural Law School, and its

role of the dominant legal system in the world.

3. Compare and contrast the differences between the common law system and the Romano-

Germanic law including, but not limited to, antecedents and approach to legal reasoning.

4. Discuss the characteristics of a socialist system of law.

5. Discuss the law and legal systems in Anglo-Saxon England.

6. Discuss the role of the crown from the time of William the Conqueror through the

Plantagenets on the development of English law including equity.

7. Trace the development of equity and discuss its import.

8. Discuss American law during the colonial and immediate post-Revolutionary periods.

9. Discuss the training of American lawyers and contrast that with other systems.