Thursday, May 16, 2013
I just got my review copy of Civil Litigation in New York, Sixth Edition, by Oscar G. Chase and Robert A. Barker. It is a casebook, not a treatise-- it is designed and intended to be an instructional tool, so before I make any other comment I feel that I should say this: the book on my desk retails for $194 bucks. A looseleaf edition is available for $155; and an e-book is available for $116. Lexis says it plans on keeping it on the shelves for "several years", which means that there is a reasonable chance that students who buy it will be able to sell it and get maybe half their money back for the same period. I realize that there is a limited market for a book like this, and I understand that Professors Chase and Barker worked hard on it, and that they deserve to be paid-- but $200 bucks-- or $116 bucks-- is too much. Way, way too much. I could stand in front of a class and simply teach from this thing as though it were a hymnal-- it would make teaching New York Practice, or Civil Procedure as simple as ringing a bell-- but I really cannot justify assigning a $200 textbook.
It is a damn fine textbook though.
It is a damn fine textbook though.
// posted by Bill @ 11:22 AM 
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