The Law Library released a new digital resource, “Classic Cases: Historical Foundations of Law School First-Year Cases.” As part of the Library’s growing Digital Special Collections, the site provides access to historical precedents and authorities utilized by many of the classic cases studied by first-year law students. This site opens a revealing window into the judicial reasoning of an earlier age, and illuminates the extent to which fundamental American case law is based on English precedents reaching as far back as the thirteenth century. 

It is a common rite of passage for generations of law students to debate the ruling in Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad (1924), study the legacy of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), and review the complex rule against perpetuities in the Duke of Norfolk’s Case (1682). These classic cases, and many others taken from the pages of casebooks in first-year classes, are standard-bearers of legal history and the common law tradition. The precedents and authorities cited in these cases help to establish a vital historical context, offering valuable insight into the ways in which lawyers and judges have argued and decided cases in the past. 

This new research site features classic cases in five areas of law: constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, property, and torts. Following analytic summaries of the cases are descriptions of selected historical precedents on which their decisions were based, as well as additional resources, including images, maps, and links to more information. A timeline for the classic cases furnishes a visual and chronological context. 

The site provides access to case reports and bibliographic records for relevant volumes in the Law Library’s collections. By including scans of selected cases from the Library’s Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection, the site highlights the breadth and depth of the historical legal resources found within the Law Library’s Stefan A. Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center. 

The rich legal traditions that the research site reflects on are invaluable for research purposes. American property law, for example, has deep roots in English common law, tracing its origins to the medieval period. Though early American law liberalized English property rules, the English doctrinal inheritance remains important today. Perhaps more surprisingly, visitors will discover that English and American jurists once turned to other European sources for guidance on issues related to fundamental property rights. In Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823), the Supreme Court cited a natural law tradition developed in continental Europe to describe Native Americans’ right of occupancy in North America.Pierson v. Post (1805), one of the most famous American property law cases, reveals a similar influence of European traditions. Each of the subject areas included on the site examines older, often hidden, historical legacies through its featured cases. 

“Classic Cases: Historical Foundations of First-Year Law School Cases,” was supervised by Michael Hannon ’98, Associate Director for Access Services & Digital Initiatives, and Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections, with the invaluable assistance of law students and recent alumni Rachel Canoun ’24, Mason Medeiros ’22, Loren Olson ’26, and Alec Shaw ’19, who wrote and edited the case summaries. Joy Brown, digital technologist, designed and built the digital site, and Sophia Charbonneau, special collections assistant, assembled and reviewed the materials featured in the exhibit.