A library of difficult ideas
Hard Concepts in Law
Every hard idea, taken one step at a time, with a picture you will remember.
Some ideas in law are hard because of what they say, and some because of how they are built. This library takes them one at a time. Each concept has its own page, and each page explains the idea with an everyday picture that is built the way the rule is built, then shows where the picture stops working.
The picture
An everyday scene that is built the way the rule is built, and a plain note on where the picture stops working.
How it really works
The rule in steps, in the order a court or a student would take them, with the usual traps named.
Try it
A worked example with invented facts, then one trap question. Click to see the answer and why.
Choose a legal system
Open now · 20 conceptsUnited States law
Erie, minimum contacts, hearsay, future interests, the levels of scrutiny and other ideas that trip up law students.
See the concepts →
ComingUnited Kingdom law
The hardest ideas in the law of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
ComingIndian law
The hardest ideas in Indian constitutional, civil, criminal and commercial law.
ComingAustralian law
The hardest ideas in the law of the Commonwealth and the states and territories.
ComingEuropean Union law
The strange and difficult ideas of EU law: direct effect, supremacy, state liability and more.
Read this first
These pages are educational overviews for students and general readers. They state the usual formulation of each rule and name well-known decisions, but law differs between courts and jurisdictions, and a picture simplifies by design. They are not legal advice and not a substitute for the primary sources: the statute, the rule, the case itself.
To go further, try the Law Tutor, the case briefs and the legal dictionary.