The legal system of United States
A federal common-law system in which binding precedent, a written supreme constitution and fifty parallel state legal orders operate at once. Federal law is supreme within its enumerated fields; everything else is presumptively state law, which is why the same question can have fifty different answers.
Legal tradition
United States belongs to the common law tradition. A federal common-law system in which binding precedent, a written supreme constitution and fifty parallel state legal orders operate at once. Federal law is supreme within its enumerated fields; everything else is presumptively state law, which is why the same question can have fifty different answers.
How power is divided
Strict separation between Congress, the President and the federal judiciary, checked by veto, impeachment, advice-and-consent over appointments, and judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme law; invalidates conflicting federal and state action.
- Federal statutes
- Acts of Congress, compiled in the United States Code.
- Federal regulations
- Agency rulemaking under delegated authority, in the CFR.
- Treaties
- Ratified with two-thirds Senate consent; supreme law alongside statutes.
- Case law
- Binding precedent within each appellate hierarchy (stare decisis).
- State constitutions and codes
- Govern all residual, non-federal subject matter.
The legal profession
Admission is state-by-state: an accredited JD, a state bar examination, and a character and fitness review. There is no split between barristers and solicitors.
Law by topic in United States
- Employment & LabourAt-will employment with statutory anti-discrimination floorsAbsent a contract or union agreement, either party may end employment at any time for any reason that is not independently illegal. Protection comes from anti-discrimination and retaliation statutes rather than from general unfair-dismissal law.
- Civil ProcedureBroad discovery, jury trials and a strong settlement incentiveFederal civil litigation follows the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Wide pre-trial discovery and the availability of civil juries make American litigation unusually expensive, which is why the overwhelming majority of cases settle.
- Data Protection & PrivacySectoral federal rules plus comprehensive state statutesThere is no general federal privacy statute. Health data (HIPAA), financial data (GLBA) and children's data (COPPA) are regulated separately, while comprehensive obligations come from state law led by California.
- Immigration & NationalityThe INA, numerical caps and the per-country limitThe Immigration and Nationality Act sets out every category of admission. Immigrant visas divide into family-sponsored and employment-based preferences, most of which are numerically capped, while non-immigrant categories such as H-1B, L-1 and F-1 permit temporary stays for defined purposes. Immediate relatives of US citizens are exempt from the caps, which is why that route is far faster.
- Property & LandState real property law, recording of deeds and title insuranceReal property is state law and the United States never adopted a national title register. Instead deeds are recorded county by county, the record establishes priority rather than guaranteeing ownership, and the resulting risk is managed commercially through title insurance — a product that exists because the register itself is not conclusive. Louisiana applies its own civil-law property regime.
- Family LawState family law, no-fault divorce everywhere and community property in nine statesFamily law is state law, and the federal role is confined to interstate enforcement and constitutional limits. Every state now offers no-fault divorce on irretrievable breakdown or irreconcilable differences. Property division splits into two systems: nine community-property states treat marital acquisitions as jointly owned in equal shares, while the rest apply equitable distribution, which is discretionary rather than equal.
- Tax LawCitizenship-based federal taxation, plus state income and sales taxesThe United States is one of the very few countries that taxes its citizens and permanent residents on worldwide income wherever they live. The Internal Revenue Code is administered by the IRS, and disputes go to the Tax Court, which a taxpayer may petition without first paying the disputed amount. States add their own income taxes at widely differing rates, and several — Florida, Texas, Washington among them — levy none.
- Constitutional LawA written constitution with judicial review and strong federalismThe 1788 Constitution is the supreme law. Federal courts may refuse to apply any statute or executive act that conflicts with it, a power asserted in Marbury v. Madison (1803) rather than granted expressly.
- Business & CorporateState incorporation, Delaware's dominance and the federal securities overlayCorporate law in the United States is state law, and a corporation is governed by the internal affairs of its state of incorporation regardless of where it operates. Delaware holds the majority of large public companies because of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the specialist Court of Chancery, which sits without a jury. Federal law enters through the securities statutes once shares are publicly offered.
- Criminal LawFifty state criminal codes plus a federal code, with plea bargaining dominantUnlike Canada, the United States has no single criminal code. Each state defines and prosecutes its own offences, and the federal code in Title 18 covers conduct with a federal hook such as interstate commerce, federal property or federal officers. The overwhelming majority of convictions in both systems are secured by guilty plea rather than trial, which makes plea bargaining the operative procedure.
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