Teacher's Manuals for Casebooks Forum

[corporatelaw87]

What do teachers manuals for casebooks usually have in them. Would it be worth trying to find and buy one on Amazon for a difficult class?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Are there teachers' manuals for casebooks?? There aren't teachers' manuals for college-level textbooks. (There are some resources available, but they're not called "manuals," because they aren't.) I can't think what a casebook "manual" would look like or how it would be remotely helpful for a student. If such a thing exists - which I really don't think it does - it won't provide anything you can't get out of supplements and practice exams.

[MinEMorris]

I don't think they're publicly available for purchase, so even if you wanted one I think you'll either be unsuccessful or have to go through somewhat shady avenues to get it.

From the comments I've heard professors say, it contains a variety of guiding information. For example, it will tell you how to pronounce the names of the parties of the cases, and will also tell you things like "this case represents the minority rule, the majority of Jx.." or "this case can be used to demonstrate two separate points, first..." or "try comparing this case with X case to help students understand Y" type stuff. AFAIK professors rely on teacher's manuals to varying degrees, but to the extent that they rely on anything (e.g. accept that a certain case is a minority rule instead of treating it like a majority rule for the purposes of the class) I think they let it be known through class/lecture. In other words, I think think it's pretty pointless to have a copy of the teacher's manual.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that having a copy is a violation of your school's honor code. Probably not worth risking suspension or something to obtain a copy.

[I.P. Daly]

Edit, scooped ^

Are there teachers' manuals for casebooks?? There aren't teachers' manuals for college-level textbooks. (There are some resources available, but they're not called "manuals," because they aren't.) I can't think what a casebook "manual" would look like or how it would be remotely helpful for a student. If such a thing exists - which I really don't think it does - it won't provide anything you can't get out of supplements and practice exams.

Yes, there is a "teacher's manual" that generally accompanies casebooks. See, for example, http://www.aspenlawschool.com/books/knapp_contracts/. One of my professors let me look through his once. The manual provides notes about the cases, sample questions (w/answers) to ask the class, and answers to hypos presented in the casebook.

The manuals are almost impossible to obtain as a student, and imo, it's not worth the hassle. There are definitely better resources for studying.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Edit, scooped ^

Are there teachers' manuals for casebooks?? There aren't teachers' manuals for college-level textbooks. (There are some resources available, but they're not called "manuals," because they aren't.) I can't think what a casebook "manual" would look like or how it would be remotely helpful for a student. If such a thing exists - which I really don't think it does - it won't provide anything you can't get out of supplements and practice exams.

Yes, there is a "teacher's manual" that generally accompanies casebooks. See, for example, http://www.aspenlawschool.com/books/knapp_contracts/. One of my professors let me look through his once. The manual provides notes about the cases, sample questions (w/answers) to ask the class, and answers to hypos presented in the casebook.

The manuals are almost impossible to obtain as a student, and imo, it's not worth the hassle. There are definitely better resources for studying.

Thanks! Good to know. Though I still can't imagine them being helpful for students. (And yes, you have to verify that you're a prof or ordering on behalf of a prof to get teaching materials like that.) Such resources (again, based on college-level stuff) are usually designed to guide what profs do in class, and learning about that isn't going to help law students do better on the exam.

[taxlaw877]

Depends on the course. I found them useful in understanding the material for tax and corporate classes in undergrad, in law school, and as an LLM. Also, some second language LLMs would use them as useful study guides. You can usually find used ones on Amazon or eBay for the casebook you need.

[Mr. Archer]

As someone else mentioned, the teacher's edition isn't supposed to be available to students, and it probably is an honor code violation to have one. It will contain the answers to practice questions in the book. Some professors use hypos from the book, or very similar hypos, on exams.

I know someone who was sent a teacher's manual of the newest textbook edition by mistake when they ordered the student version. I know you can get teacher's editions of older textbooks online, but I'm sure it's much more difficult to get ones for the most current edition of a book.