West Publishing Co., 1969. - 573 pp.
This book is a completion of the project begun by Benjamin Jonson Shipman and following the same title. The substantive law was formed subsequent to procedural law and adjective law. Lawyers today in American practice neglect this history to the detriment of their effective representation of their clients. As Maine said in "Early Law and Custom," page 389, the substantive law is "secreted in the interstices of procedure." A page of history is worth a volume of logic. The "writ" system is traditionally owing to the notion of "holy writ" following the divine right of kings. One petitioned or "prayed" to the King for relief. Understanding the history of the writ system, developed in Medieval England, will highlight the internal logic of manipulating the legal rules and will aid to your client's benefit. For example, understanding the difference between special assumpsit and indebitatus assumpsit is the difference between - respectively - full recovery versus partial recovery for contracts fully performed and contracts partially performed. Similarly, while one files a writ of certiorari for appeal, one can simultaneously file a writ of mandamus "at the same time." Thus, if one is appealing an administrative decision in a Superior court, one can simultaneously file a writ of mandamus on the same day, compelling an agency to grant your client, say, a liquor license, while you are appealing the administrative decision via certiorari denying the same. Although this book is packed with information about the writ system, I recommend F. W. Maitland's 57 page treatise on the writs before tackling the contents of this tome. A copy of Maitland's book is available online via its reference to in wikipedia since the book is now exceeded as to its copyright.
