Product Review

Evidence: A Structured Approach offers a unique, structured approach facilitates learning and motivates students to prepare for class. One Federal Rule of Evidence introduces each section, followed by text explaining the background, rationale, and details of the rule. The text includes numerous diagrams as visual aids to learning and short transcripts that illustrate how the rules are applied in the courtroom. The authors emphasize the rules over cases, but include edited versions of some judicial opinions, including the seminal cases that every lawyer should know. The heart of the “structured approach” is the Questions for Classroom Discussion, which follow the narrative explanation for each rule. These questions consist of simple hypothetical cases allowing for a step-by-step analysis of each rule. Because students know what will be the focus of class discussion, they quickly learn that preparation pays off. The book’s website allows students to download the questions directly into their notes before class, freeing students to spend more time listening and thinking while in class.