Common Law Press: Foundations of American Law
Common Law Press · Grades 10-12
Attorney-authored American law elective for high schoolers and co-ops. Students read the same cases a first-year law student sees, in plain language, and practice real legal writing. A multi-semester sequence delivered as digital modules.
Digital download (Gumroad)
Overview
Common Law Press is an attorney-authored American law elective for high schoolers, written by a homeschooling lawyer and career legal writer. It teaches genuine law-school architecture at a high-school level: Articles I-III and separation of powers, the Federalist Papers, judicial review (Marbury), standing (Lujan), federalism (Lopez), personal jurisdiction (International Shoe), and Fourteenth Amendment incorporation; then criminal procedure, the Fourth Amendment and exclusionary rule, hearsay, the Eighth Amendment, the Model Penal Code, and juvenile justice, anchored by the young-reader edition of Just Mercy. Each lesson pairs a Google Classroom assignment set with a written lecture and worksheets, and students practice real legal writing: an IRAC memo, a motion, and a mini moot court. It is delivered as digital modules through Gumroad. Structure and pricing are being reorganized as of mid-2026.
Strengths
- •Authentic legal reasoning: real cases, an IRAC memo, a motion, and a mini moot court
- •Attorney-authored and scaffolded, with answer keys and lectures that assume no prior knowledge
- •Secular and notably even-handed (teaches originalism, textualism, and living constitutionalism side by side)
- •Honest with hard history: the Constitution's prejudicial clauses, the carceral state, Just Mercy
- •Credit recommendations and AP U.S. Government alignment notes for transcripts
Limitations
- •Brand new and tiny; no independent reviews, and the samples are marked drafts
- •Structure and pricing in flux; the Gumroad store is mid-reformatting
- •Requires two purchased texts (Just Mercy YA edition; the Barnett/Blackman constitutional-law reader)
- •Just Mercy carries mature content; the author recommends grades 10-12 and a parent preview
- •Dense material; a real teaching lift for a non-lawyer parent despite the scaffolding
Best fit for
High-school families who want a rigorous civics or law elective that builds legal reasoning and an honest picture of how the justice system works; strong fit for a teen eyeing debate, pre-law, or informed citizenship
The honest read
We read two full module samples. This is the real thing: not a civics survey but an actual legal-reasoning course. Students read Marbury and Lujan and International Shoe, brief cases, write an IRAC memo, draft a motion, and argue a mini moot court, with Just Mercy anchoring the criminal-justice unit. The author is a practicing attorney and career legal writer, and it shows: complex doctrine is scaffolded down to a willing tenth grader without being watered down, and the answer keys treat most questions as reasoned argument rather than one right answer. It is also careful and even-handed, teaching originalism, textualism, and living constitutionalism side by side and handling the Constitution's ugliest clauses honestly. The cautions are about maturity, not quality. It is brand new and very small, the samples are still marked drafts, the structure and price are mid-reorganization, and it leans on two purchased books including Just Mercy, which carries heavy content and suits grades 10 to 12. For a teenager headed toward debate, pre-law, or serious citizenship, there is very little else like it.
Get Common Law Press: Foundations of American Law
Attorney-authored American law elective for high schoolers and co-ops. Students read the same cases a first-year law student sees, in plain language, and practice real legal writing. A multi-semester sequence delivered as digital modules.
SHOPRelated in History
Common Law Press: Foundations of American Law
Digital download (Gumroad)