208.9S sec. 001 - Fundamentals of U.S. Law (Summer 2025)
Instructor: William H D Fernholz (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
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Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
MTuWThF 10:10 AM - 12:45 PM
Location: Law 170
From June 03, 2025
To June 24, 2025
Class Number: Click to show Class Number
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 0
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 39
As of: 03/13 11:14 PM
Fundamentals of U.S. Law introduces foreign-trained law students to the fundamental principles of the American legal system and the common-law method of case analysis. In this course, students will focus on crucial doctrines that underpin American governance, particularly as expressed in landmark cases of American constitutional law. Students will also study the structure of the U.S. court system, the sources of U.S. law, the lawyer's role in the system, and the culture of the law in this country. The course will introduce students to techniques associated with the common law, particularly the close reading of legal opinions in the context of prior precedent. Throughout the course, students will practice skills that will help them succeed in law school, on the bar examination, and in practice.
William H.D. Fernholz, who goes by “Bill,” has taught at Berkeley Law for twenty years. He has devoted his professional career to three missions.
First, Bill has taught Fundamentals of U.S. Law, the introductory substantive law course for LL.M. students, for over a decade. In that time, he has been the first teacher for more than 1,000 LL.M. students, and introduced those talented international lawyers to the successes and failures of the American system of governance and the common-law method of case analysis.
Second, Bill has educated a generation of domestic J.D. students in the skills of legal writing and oral advocacy, primarily through the upper-level course, Appellate Advocacy. Students in that course brief and argue cases currently pending in the California Supreme Court, using materials from the actual record of the case and adhering as closely to rules of that court as the classroom will allow. Bill also supervised the competitions program at Berkeley Law until 2018.
Third, Bill teaches lawyering for social justice. He co-directs the Ninth Circuit Practicum, in which J.D. students represent indigent clients in asylum and civil rights cases before the largest federal appellate circuit in the nation. He has previously taught social justice courses, such as Employment Discrimination and Civil Rights Litigation.
Before teaching at Berkeley Law, Bill practiced civil rights and poverty law at several Bay Area law firms and nonprofits. Bill is a 1993 graduate of Berkeley Law, where he served as Senior Executive Editor of the law review.
Exam Notes: (F) In-class final exam
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Exam Length: 3 hours
Course Category: LL.M. Required Courses
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Books:
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- Fundamentals of U.S. Law
William Fernholz, Jodi L. Collova
Publisher: Aspen Publishing
ISBN: 9781543829525
e-Book Available: unknown
Price: To Be Determined