5. Courses
The fields of inquiry in the following courses range from technical questions of little public interest to general ones of great social concern. In each course, one aim is to qualify the student as a strategist and an advocate, equipped with the knowledge, insight, and skills to serve clients through advice, negotiation, and planning, as well as by representing them in litigation. Another aim is to qualify the student as a responsible member of a profession that, throughout the history of this nation, has been prominent in the resolution of social, economic, and political problems and has been profoundly concerned with the public welfare. Hence, every law course focuses on the need for creative solutions to conflicts between individuals and between individuals and society. This is as it should be, for the function of law is to serve as a catalyst that makes community life possible and a better society attainable.
The faculty has approval to offer the following courses in the academic years 2008–2009 and 2009–2010; however, not all courses are taught each semester or summer session. Each spring the law school issues a manual of course descriptions and academic advice; law students should consult this manual before registering.
The first digit of a course number represents the value of the course in semester hours; for example, students taking Law 233 earn two semester hours of credit, while those taking Law 333 earn three semester hours.
The dean and faculty of the School of Law may, from time to time, change the courses of instruction. Such changes may include a determination that a course formerly listed as a first-year course should be offered as an advanced course, or the reverse.
First-Year Courses
221, 321, 421, 521, 621. Contracts. Methods by which rights and duties of promissory and quasi-promissory origin are created, transferred, limited, discharged, breached, and enforced. Two, three, four, five, or six lecture hours a week for one semester.
323, 423, 523. Criminal Law I. Promulgation, interpretation, and administration of substantive laws of crime; constitutional limitations and relevant philosophical, sociological, and behavioral science materials. Three, four, or five lecture hours a week for one semester.
227, 327, 427, 527. Torts. Limits of liability and methods of establishing liability for intentional and unintentional injuries to persons or property. Two, three, four, or five lecture hours a week for one semester.
231, 331, 431, 531. Property. A survey of interests in land and limited topics involving chattels: estates, cotenancy, landlord and tenant issues, conveyancing, private and public control of land use. Two, three, four, or five lecture hours a week for one semester.
132, 232, 332. Legal Research and Legal Writing. Types of law books and their functions in research; practice in writing various kinds of legal material, designed to develop research technique and good style; preparation of a brief and delivery of an oral argument. The equivalent of one, two, or three lecture hours a week for one semester.
233, 333, 433, 533. Civil Procedure. Introduction to the civil adjudicative process, primarily that of the federal courts, including jurisdiction, pleading, dispositive motions, discovery, and trial procedure. Two, three, four, or five lecture hours a week for one semester.
334, 434, 534. Constitutional Law I. Distribution of powers between federal and state governments; constitutional limitations on and judicial review of governmental action. Three, four, or five lecture hours a week for one semester.