First Year of Law School

Students will study both the Common Law contractual principles relating to contracts for services and the Uniform Commercial Code contractual principles relating to contracts for goods. They will learn the rules governing the formation of contracts such as offer, acceptance, consideration and defenses, i.e., the Statute of Frauds, incapacity, contractual conditions, and the law pertaining to the enforcement of contracts, liability and remedies for breach of contract, and warranty liability for goods under the Uniform Commercial Code. Finally, the students will study third-party rights and obligation, i.e., third-party beneficiaries, assignments and delegations.

This course is a survey of civil causes of action for which an injured party may seek redress and compensatory relief in court. Students will learn various theories of tort liability including intentional torts to person and property such as assault, battery, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress, trespass to land and chattel, and conversion. Students will also examine the law relating to causes of action for ordinary and professional negligence, wrongful death, product liability, and dignitary torts such as invasion or privacy, defamation, constitutional torts and nuisance. They will also examine strict liability causes of action such as animal and products liability. Finally, students will examine tor defenses of privilege, mistake, self-defense, consent, necessity, immunity, contributory and comparative negligence and assumption of the risk.

Student will examine Common Law and modern criminal justice systems including their classification of crimes and the necessary elements of various crimes. Students will study the criminal capability rules applicable to perpetrators such as principals, accessories and accomplices. Students will learn the elements of various crimes committed against person such as homicide, assault, battery, rape and mayhem. Students will also study property crimes such as larceny, embezzlement, false pretenses, receiving stolen property, robbery, burglary and arson. Further, students will examine the inchoate crimes of attempt, solicitation and conspiracy, and will also learn many justifications and excuses including mistake, self-defense, defense of others, crime prevention, force used to justifications and excuses including mistake, self-defense, defense of others, crime prevention, force used to effectuate an arrest, consent, insanity, infancy, intoxication, public authority, duress, necessity and entrapment.

This course will provide students with instruction related to both the concepts behind and practical applications of legal writing, research, and analysis. This course will include instruction in understanding and utilizing primary sources of law including case law, statutory and constitutional law as well as secondary, non-binding sources of law. Students will also receive instruction related to the basics of legal research, both traditional and online, and its importance to the legal process. Students will be introduced to the use and benefits of their Westlaw account.

This course is designed to assist in the student in preparation for the First Year Law Students’ Exam (FYLSX). All of the classes will include substantive review, exploring the answers to multistate questions and analyzing essay techniques and approaches. Every week students are required to write answers to two essays distributed each week. The answers the students submit for the questions will be returned with sample answers.