【正文】 pecial form of action, a writ, with the result that the original mon law represented a system of actions similar to that of classical Roman law. If a writ existed (in 1227) a claim could be enforced。s conscience, to afford relief in hardship cases. In the fifteenth century, however, equity law and equity case law developed into an independent legal system and judiciary (Court of Chancery) which peted with the ordinary mon law courts. Its rules and maxims became fixed and, to a degree, inflexible as in any legal system. Special characteristics of equity law include: relief in the form of specific performance (in contrast to the mon law award of pensatory damages), the injunction (a temporary or final order to do or not to do a specific act), the development of socalled maxims of equity law which permeated the entire legal system and in many cases explain the origin of modern legal concepts. However, equitable relief regularly will lie only when the mon law relief is inadequate. For instance, specific performance for the purchase of real property will be granted because mon law damages are deemed to be inadequate since they cannot pensate the buyer in view of the uniqueness attributed to real property.As the mon law, equity law became part of American law either through judicial acceptance or through express statutory provision. Today, both legal systems have been merged in many American jurisdictions (beginning with New York in 1848), with the result that there is only one form of civil suit in these jurisdictions as well as in federal practice. Only few States continue to maintain a separate chancery court. Nevertheless, the reference to the historical development is important because, on the one hand, it explains the origin and significance of many contemporary legal concepts (for instance the division of title in the law of property) and, on the other hand, it is still relevant for the decision of such questions whether, for instance, there is a right to a trial by jury (only in the case of mon law suits, in other cases only before the judge). In addition, the differentiation will determine whether the ordinary mon law relief of damages applies or whether the extraordinary equity remedy of specific performance is available.Case lawdescribes the entire body of judgemade law and today includes mon law and equity precedents. In imprecise and confusing usage the terms mon law and case law are often used synonymously, with the term mon law in this usage connoting judgemade law in general as contrasted with statutory law. Case law always connotes judgemade law, while mon law in contrastdepending on the meaning intendeddescribes either the judge made law in mon law subject matters or, more extensively, all judge made law.Lesson Two：Legal Profession 法律職業(yè)Background背景美國的法律職業(yè)由律師、法官、檢察官和法學教師組成。由此可見，美國法律職業(yè)內部的職業(yè)劃分并不象中國及世界上大多數國家那樣嚴格和確定。美國的法官一般都從律師中產生，而且他們在擔任法官期間仍可保留律師資格，只是不能從事律師業(yè)務而已。實際上，美國的檢察官就被稱為律師(attorney)。此外，美國的法學教師一般都是當地的律師。據1984年的統(tǒng)計，美國共有649萬名律師，其與人口的比例為1∶364。除各種法律糾紛外，人們從生到死、從結婚到離婚、從生活到工作，往往都需要律師的幫助。誠然，這說明美國人具有很強的法律意識，但也說明美國的許多法律規(guī)定過于復雜。例如，美國有一個流傳頗廣的諧音字謎：有一種套服無人喜歡，是什么?(There is a kind of suits that nobody likes. What is it?)回答是：打官司。因此，美國的律師才得到了各種各樣、褒貶不一的外號，如：租用之槍(hired guns)；訟棍(shysters)；職業(yè)投刀手(professional knife throwers)；限用之友(limited purpose friends)。Text課文Part One： The BarThe regulation of the legal profession is primarily the concern of the states, each of which has its own requirements for admission to practice. Most require three years of college and a law degree. Each state administers its own written examination to applicants for its bar. Almost all states, however, make use of the Multistate Bar Exam, a daylong multiplechoice test, to which the state adds a daylong essay examination emphasizing its own law. A substantial fraction of all applicants succeed on the first try, and many of those who fail pass on a later attempt. In all, over forty thousand persons succeed in passing these examinations each year and, after an inquiry into their character, are admitted to the bar in their respective states. No apprenticeship is required either before or after admission. The rules for admission to practice before the federal courts vary with the court, but generally those entitled to practice before the highest court of a state may be admitted before the federal courts upon pliance with minor formalities.A lawyer39。美國法學院的學生都是本科畢業(yè)生。這反映了美國人注重權利和法律的傳統(tǒng)。從理論上講，在任何專業(yè)領域內獲得學士學位的人都可以考法學院；但是在實踐中，法學院學生多在政治學(Political Science)、經濟學(Economics)、刑事司法(Criminal Justice)、社會學(Sociology)、新聞學(Journalism)等學科獲有學士學位。一般來說，美國法學院設置的學位主要有法律博士(JD, 即Juris Doctor)、法學碩士(LLM，即Master of Laws)和法學博士(SJD，即Doctor of Juridical Science)。法律博士學位的學制一般為三年，其第一年以必修課(Required Course)為主，包括合同法(Contract Law)、侵權法(Tort Law)、財產法(Property Law)、刑法(Criminal Law)、民事訴訟(Civil Procedure)和法律文書寫作(Legal Writing)等；第二年和第三年則以選修課(Elective Course)為主，學生可以根據自己的興趣和意愿從幾十門法律課程中選修若干門，但要達到學校規(guī)定的學分標準。攻讀法學碩士學位的人必須已經獲得了法律博士學位或者在其他國家獲得了法學學士學位；其學制一般為一至二年；其學習方式以修課為主，而且法學院一般允許學生以增修一定學分的方式代替畢業(yè)論文。法學院很少開設專門面向研究生的課程，因此研究生多與本科生(JD生)一起聽課。誠然，在美國的法學教授中亦不乏偏愛講演式教學法(Lecture Method)的說書人(storyteller)。 private law schools supported by contributions from individuals and foundation funds。 the distribution of power and prestige reflected in the hierarchy within and among the law schools。fortable39。聯邦法院行使美國憲法授與聯邦政府的司法管轄權。州法院的司法管轄權較為廣泛。在實踐中，絕大多數刑事案件和大多數民事案件都是由各州法院審判的。它由聯邦最高法院(the Supreme Court)、13個聯邦上訴法院(Courts of Appeals)和94個聯邦地區(qū)法院(District Courts)組成。各州的法院系統(tǒng)并不完全相同，但一般也都包括三級法院：基層法院多稱為審判法院(Trial Court)或巡回法院(Circuit Court)；中級法院多稱為上訴法院(Appellate Court or Court of Appeals)；高級法院多稱為最高法院(Supreme Court)，但在紐約等州，高級法院稱為上訴法院。此外，每個城市還有自己的法院，主要負責審理交通違法、青少年犯罪、家庭糾紛及其他與城市法令有關的案件。一般來說，聯邦和州最高法院的法官稱為大法官(Justice)，上訴法院和審判法院的法官則稱為法官(Judge)。美國的法官雖沒有職稱級別之分，但人們有時也會看到副(Associate，或譯助理)法官的稱謂。在美國，一審案件一般由一名法官獨立審判，上訴案件則由若干名法官組成合議庭(Collegiate Panel or Collegiate Bench)共同審判。 they are an independent, coordinate system authorized by the United States Constitution, Art. 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