From my point of view, the particular virtue is in the first section, which is mainly theoretical in its orientation. One of the problems that I commonly encounter with students is their preconception that law is simply a means of social control. While this is certainly an important aspect, McIntyre shows very clearly how law is also creative and constitutive. The book opens with a discussion of contract. This was a central issue for the classic writers and McIntyre's astute use of examples brings out its importance in societies that we consider modern.
Contract is a way to organize people, relationships and expectations.
This last explores the problematic relationship between social and legal norms and the extent to which law can lead or simply follow social and economic change. A particular strength of McIntyre's treatment is her movement between abstract theoretical points, which are nevertheless generally made in a simple language, and the kind of exemplification that undergraduate students should identify with and relate to. I only have two gripes about the theoretical section. The first is that I was surprised to see so little attention to anthropological writing. The other is that McIntyre does tend to give rather short shrift to liberal theorizing about most of the issues that she deals with.