CBA Record July-August 2022

SUMMARY JUDGMENTS

REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS!

Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fifth Edition Robert Haig, Editor-In-Chief Thompson Reuters and American Bar Association Section of Litigation, 2021

M any commercial litigators practice in the federal courts, but until the first edition of Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts was published in 1998, there was no definitive treatise on the subject. The treatise’s Fifth Edition, published by the ABA’s Section of Litigation, adds 26 chapters to the previ ous edition and has grown to 16 volumes and almost 20,000 pages. The resource covers every conceivable aspect of com mercial litigation, including chapters on construction, civil rights, e-commerce, and many other substantive areas. New chapters include subjects as diverse as animal law, artificial intelligence, climate change, constitutional litigation, space law, and many others. The treatise is a “step-by-step prac tice guide that covers every aspect of a commercial case,” from the beginning through enforcement. Not only is it the only “book on commercial litigation in federal courts,” it is also a rich combina tion of substantive law with federal civil procedure. This is one of the publica tion’s strong points, as the authors “point out the interplay between the rules of procedure and substantive law.” They identify detailed substantive strategies for

both plaintiffs and defendants, addressing the substantive-specific areas of law that has grown with this latest edition. The editor and authors have made a strong attempt to make the treatise “come alive” by providing numerous examples and specific applications to facts and hypotheticals. Authors from Chicago include two judges (United States District Judge Edmond E. Chang of the United States District Court for the Northern Dis trict of Illinois, and United States Bank ruptcy Judge Donald R. Cassling of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois) and 31 well known lawyers. This Fifth Edition is an amazingly comprehensive, step-by-step guide for the practitioner who litigates commercial cases in federal courts. From jurisdic tional and procedural issues to substan tive considerations, it covers all aspects of practice in the federal courts. Lawyers new to federal court practice–as well as seasoned practitioners–will find much guidance and useful information in this 16-volume set. Indeed, anyone practicing commercial litigation in the federal courts should have this set readily accessible to assist them in their practice.

Reviewed by Daniel A. Cotter

Daniel A. Cotter is Attorney and Counsel at Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC, a member of theCBARecordEditorial Board, and Past President of the CBA.

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