Our Professors Wrote The Book

June 21, 2023

At Thomas Jefferson School of Law, students in both the residential and online programs learn from professors who have literally written the book on the area of law.

TJSL Professors wrote two of the leading books on how to learn the law. Ken Vandevelde’s “Thinking Like a Lawyer: An Introduction to Legal Reasoning” (‎Routledge) is read by law students everywhere and has been translated into numerous other languages. Prof. Vandevelde has also written the leading treatise U.S. International Investment Agreements (Oxford). Marybeth Herald’s “Your Brain on Law School” (LEXIS-Nexis) may be the best book for those considering law school who want to understand what it means to be a law student.

Other professors have authored the books—typically called “casebooks”—that other professors throughout the country use to teach their classes. Steven Semeraro’s “An Introduction to Property Law in the United States” (Semaphore Press) is an e-book offered to students on a pay-what-you-want model. Steven Berenson has published multiple case books, including Family Law: Doctrine and Practice and Family Law Litigation, both published by Carolina Academic Press, and Judicial Ethics and Conduct (CALI).

Emeritus professor William Slomanson has published “Fundamental Perspectives on International Law” (Cambridge Univ. Press) and “Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure”, 6th ed. (West Academic). Professor Slomanson also wrote the practitioner focused “California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell” (West).

Ellen Waldman has authored the well-respected “Mediation Ethics: Cases & Commentaries” (Jossey-Bass). And Sam Bettwy has written the innovative “Comparing Criminal Procedures through Film”, 2nd ed. (Vandeplas).

Last, but certainly not least, Ben “Ally” Templin has authored the highly ranked casebook “Contracts: A Modern Coursebook“. In writing the book, Professor Templin focused on best learning practices for Millennials and Generation Z students. “Law schools need to change the way they teach to adapt to how this generation of students learn,” says Professor Templin. Templin and their co-author “see the book as being responsive to the changes happening not only in education, but also in the law profession, technology and society in general.”