The strength of the text lies with these cases for they illustrate key points made by the author and demonstrate how legal concepts are operationalized in judicial decisions. The cases, which are varied and well chosen, are then followed by several questions designed to encourage students to think about the application of the law and the consequences of the decisions. Some of the questions turn on narrow points of the law. Other case questions lead directly to larger and more controversial issues. In reality, thorough discovery usually destroys any possibility of surprise.
Exhaustive discovery is very expensive.
One party will frequently be able to afford more discovery than his or her opponent. One other example shows the diversity of cases in the text. In the chapter on Judicial Decision Making, Schubert addresses precedent and the absence of precedent in one subsection. This is an intriguing case involving the legality of removing a kidney from a mentally incompetent man for transplant into his brother who is suffering from a fatal kidney disease. A divided court found this acceptable.