Curriculum

Required Courses

801 Civil Procedure I (3) Binding effect of judgments, selecting proper court (jurisdiction and venue), and ascertaining applicable federal and state law.

802 Civil Procedure II (3) Pleading, joinder of claims and parties, discovery, trials, verdicts, judgments, and appeals. Emphasis on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

803 Contracts I (3) The basic agreement process and legal protections afforded contracts: offer and acceptance; consideration and other bases for enforcing promises; the Statute of Frauds, unconscionability, and other controls on promissory liability. Introduction to relevant portions of Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

804 Contracts II (3) Continuation of study begun in Contracts I, with emphasis on issues arising after contract formation: interpretation; the duty of good faith; conditions; impracticability and frustration of purpose; remedies; third party beneficiaries; assignment and delegation. Considerable coverage of Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code with respect to remedies, anticipatory repudiation, impracticability, and good faith.

805 Legal Process I (3) Introduction to the lawyer-like use of cases and statutes in prediction and persuasion. Analysis and synthesis of common law decisions; statutory interpretation; fundamentals of expository legal writing and legal research.

806 Legal Process II (3) Continuation of Legal Process I. Introduction to formal legal writing, appellate procedure, and oral advocacy.

807 Torts I (3) Intentional torts, defenses and privileges related to intentional torts; negligence (including the standard of care, professional malpractice, and liability of owners and occupiers of land); defenses based on the plaintiff's conduct (including contributory and comparative negligence, assumption of risk, failure to take precautions, and avoidable consequences); causation, proximate cause; duty rules; and questions of joint and several or several liability.

808 Torts II (3) Vicarious liability and related concepts; strict liability for dangerous animals and abnormally dangerous activities; products liability; nuisance, defamation and invasion of privacy; economic torts (including misrepresentation and interference with contact and prospective opportunities); immunities (including those of the government, government employees, charities, and family members; and damages).

809 Criminal Law (3) Substantive aspects of criminal law; general principles applicable to all criminal conduct; specific analysis of particular crimes; defenses to crimes.

810 Property (4) Introductory course treating issues of ownership, possession, and title in the areas of: landlord-tenant relations; estates in land and future interests; co-ownership and marital property; real estate sales agreements and conveyances; title assurance and recording statutes; servitudes; and selected aspects of nuisance law, eminent domain, and zoning.

812 Constitutional Law (4) An introduction to the fundamental principles of American constitutional law, including federalism, separation of powers, equal protection of the law, and the constitutional protection of other fundamental rights.

814 Legal Profession (3) Study of the legal, professional, and ethical standards applicable to lawyers. Not open to students who have taken 815.

815 Introduction to Advocacy & Professional Responsibility (3) Study of the theory and morality of advocacy in an adversarial system, and the legal, ethical, and professional standards applicable to lawyers and especially lawyers as advocates. Not open to students who have taken 814.