Introduction to Law, 7th edition

Published by Pearson (October 25, 2024) © 2025
  • Joanne B. Hames
  • Yvonne Ekern
  • Hannah Barnhorn

Title overview

For introductory courses in law.

An orientation to legal systems, principles and concepts

Introduction to Law supports the launch of an education in substantive and procedural law. By learning to read cases, students begin to truly comprehend the rules of law, while developing a strong legal vocabulary and analytical skills. They also become familiar with key cases, statutes and regulations, as well as the Constitution, as the source of all US laws.

The 7th Edition has more than 30 new and updated cases highlighting new and revised US statutes. This edition also explores modern applications of technology in law practice, including uses of AI mechanisms and federal rules affecting e-discovery.

Hallmark features of this title

Applications of law

  • Case law in each chapter and follow-up questions for analysis help students interpret and think critically about the law.
  • Chapter-opening case files contain a hypothetical situation and prompt learners to assess it in the context of a law office.
  • Ethical Concerns: What Should the Lawyer Do? feature in each chapter encourages students to consider ethical ramifications of the daily experiences of legal professionals.

Learning resources

  • A Point to Remember feature focuses on the essential skills and concepts of legal studies.
  • Legal vocabulary is identified in boldface type, defined in margins and listed at the end of chapters.
  • Application and Analysis Problems at the end of each chapter challenge students to apply chapter concepts.

New and updated features of this title

New cases and legal statutes

  • EXPANDED: More than 30 new and updated court cases appear throughout chapters. Topics include Second Amendment restrictions (Ch. 2); warrantless searches, voting rights and abortion rights (Ch. 6); intellectual property rights (Ch. 11); and forensic policies (Ch. 17), among many others.
  • NEW: A new section on AI and its uses in legal writing and research (Ch. 4) is accompanied by the case Mata v. Avianca, Inc. This case addresses a lawyer’s submission of non-existent judicial opinions obtained through ChatGPT.
  • REVISED: Updated legal forms and statutory law have been added on the topics of family law (Ch. 8) and sex discrimination (Ch. 12).

Student-focused updates

  • UPDATED: All main headings in chapters have been aligned to a single chapter Learning Objective. This helps students pinpoint the key takeaways of each section of the text.
  • UPDATED: All Applications and Chapter Cases have been carefully introduced so that students have a clear preview of what each boxed feature addresses.
  • EXPANDED: A new mock trial fact pattern has been added to Appendix II. The mock trial provides a fun, memorable way for students to apply course material.

Table of contents

PART 1: THE LEGAL SYSTEM

  1. Introduction to Law
  2. The U.S. Legal System
  3. The Courts and Legal Personnel
  4. Finding the Law: Legal Research
  5. Using the Law: Analysis and Legal Writing

PART 2: LEGAL PRINCIPLES

  1. Constitutional Law & Civil Rights
  2. Tort Law
  3. Family Law
  4. Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts, and Probate
  5. Contract Law
  6. Property Law
  7. The Business Environment: Agency, Employment, Business Organizations, and Bankruptcy Laws
  8. Civil Procedure Before Trial
  9. Criminal Practice: Criminal Law and Juvenile Law
  10. Criminal Procedure Before Trial
  11. Rules of Evidence
  12. The Trial
  13. Alternative Dispute Resolution

APPENDICES

  1. Law-Related Careers, the Paralegal Profession, and the Law Office
  2. Mock Trial
  3. Legal Citation

Glossary

Author bios

About our authors

Joanne Banker Hames is an attorney and paralegal educator who has been actively involved in paralegal education since 1977. She was an instructor in and the former coordinator for the ABA-approved paralegal program at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, California, as well as an adjunct instructor at Santa Clara University’s School of Law. She serves as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Paralegal Program at DeAnza Community College. She earned her JD degree from Santa Clara University Law School and has been an active member of the California Bar since 1972. As an attorney, she has been involved in research and writing for legal memoranda and appellate briefs. Among the classes she teaches are Legal Research and Writing, Advanced Legal Research and Writing, Computer Assisted Legal Research, Civil Litigation and Introduction to California Law. She is the coauthor of Civil Litigation, Legal Research, Analysis and Writing and Constitutional Law: Principles and Practice.

Yvonne Ekern is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Santa Clara University’s School of Law and a full-time member of the Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing faculty. For seven years she was the chairperson of the West Valley College Paralegal Program (ABA approved). Prior to attending law school, she taught high school English and Math in California and Missouri. She graduated from the University of Idaho School of Law in 1985. While working in criminal and family law offices, she taught part time in several Silicon Valley paralegal programs. Among the classes she teaches are Legal Research and Writing, Advanced Legal Research and Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Advanced Legal Research and Writing Using LEXIS, and Legal Analysis. She has over 25 years’ teaching experience. She is the coauthor of Legal Research, Analysis and Writing and Constitutional Law: Principles and Practice.

Hannah Barnhorn is an attorney and paralegal educator who has been active since 2005. She is the former paralegal director of National College in Kettering, Ohio, where she successfully received ABA programmatic approval. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio; University of Cincinnati in Batavia, Ohio; and Midlands Technical College in Greenville, South Carolina, where she teaches legal research and writing and develops courses on various legal speciality topics. She has presented Continuing Legal Education programs on legal research and writing for National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) and the Cincinnati Bar Association. She is a frequent lecturer on the intersection of social media and professional responsibility for law firms as well as other professional organizations. As an Ohio licensed attorney, she represented pro-bono domestic relation clients in the Greater Dayton area. Professionally, she worked at LexisNexis as a legal researcher before creating the first Paralegal Programming Manager position at LexisNexis. In this role, she created the paralegal student training program and worked with many programs throughout the country, providing student trainings and professor CLEs. She moved into a legal librarian role at a large regional firm in Cincinnati, where she onboarded new associates, assisted summer associates with their projects and provided a variety of research and trainings firmwide. She is currently the first Legal Operations Specialist at a mid-sized manufacturing company in the Cincinnati area, where she implements new AI-assisted programs into the organization and handles the day-to-day operations of the legal department.

Loading...Loading...Loading...