Many thanks to very many people. This book brings together work that I have been doing for a number of years. It has tremendously benefitted from all those that I have encountered along the way. I especially appreciate the varied audiences that have listened to different parts of it and offered their comments and reactions. There would be too many people and venues to list, from doctoral students at SJD colloquiums in the Harvard Law School Graduate Program to trial court judges in continuing education courses at ICESI University in Cali, Colombia. My heartfelt thanks to all of you. I am greatly indebted to librarians Marisol Florén Romero and Juan Jimenez at the FIU Law Library for their helpful research assistance. I am also grateful to Fernanda Nicola and Tim Sellers for suggesting the project for the American Society of Comparative Law Series.