Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law has published a new edition of his highly-regarded, cutting-edge contract law textbook.

“Contracts: A Context and Practice Casebook” is a significant departure from traditional law school texts because of its focus on placing students in roles doing what real contracts lawyers do every day. Students who use the book write contract provisions, evaluate contracts, draft demand letters, and author mock court filings, all of which distinguish Schwartz’s text from other law school texts.   

The second edition of the book is part of the “Context and Practice Series,” which Schwartz created in an effort to fill a need in law school education.

Schwartz said he started the series because law school textbooks had two major flaws: They weren’t practical enough — lacking a focus on the work attorneys actually do — and they didn’t use modern teaching and learning principles.

“I wanted to create a textbook series that makes it easy for law professors to implement the changes we need to be making in how we educate future lawyers.”

After launching the series, Schwartz solicited authors at other law schools throughout the country who were not only respected law professors, but also experts in teaching. There are about 20 textbooks in the series so far with roughly another 10 in the works.

For his recently revised book, Schwartz collaborated with Adrian J. Walters, a professor of law at the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law.

The second edition of “Contracts: A Context and Practice Casebook,” published by Carolina Academic Press, retains the style and format of the original, but some cases have been replaced. Additional new material includes revised exercises and problems.

The book is available to order here.