What our legal system has in common with England, mostly, is the idea of the "common law."
The common law was a set of legal ideas that was developed over a long period of time in England. In England, this law began developing even before the Norman Conquest.
The ideas contained in the common law were not made by legislatures. Instead, they were made judges handing down decisions. These decisions would then come to be applied to similar cases. Through this process, legal doctrines came into being.
The US and England also share a legacy that goes beyond the common law -- jury trials, the idea of rights that comes from the Magna Carta, things like that.
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