Chapter 1: Foundations of Legal Authority

A guided tour of the U.S. sources of law and how they relate: cases, statutes, and regulations — who makes each, how it becomes law, and when to reach for it.

A map of the legal authority hierarchy: what makes one source control another, the line between primary and secondary, and why the same case can bind in one courtroom and only persuade in another.

Drills and applied exercises to test your command of legal authority: sort primary from secondary, tell binding from persuasive, decide when a statute controls, rank a full stack of authorities by binding effect, and place a court in its system.