Excuses I provides a general introduction to excuse defenses by placing them within the larger context of the analysis of criminal liability. More specifically, Excuses I covers duress, entrapment, and mistake (or "ignorance"). Insanity and infancy are covered in Excuses II.
Read moreThis lesson reviews the structural canons covered in Chapter 4 of the CALI eLangdell casebook, Statutory Law: A Course Source (covering intrinsic source
Read moreThis is an introductory lesson on Canadian legal research. This particular lesson treats research techniques and sources from the perspective that you are faced with a statute based problem. A second separate lesson treats Canadian legal research from the perspective that you have a case based problem. The lessons assume no knowledge of the areas, but treat basic research in Canadian federal statutes, administrative material, and cases.
Read moreThis lesson covers basic and specific measures of damages recoverable for tortious invasions of the interest in exclusive possession of personal property. The student will be presented with concrete situations in which to consider application of rules and concepts of the law of damages. Analytically, invasions of the interest are separated into permanent deprivations and temporary deprivations and the different rules applicable to the two different contexts are explored.
Read moreThis is an exercise requiring the student to apply the concept of intent, as defined in Restatement (Second) of Torts. The student is asked (1) to approve or disapprove asserted propositions applying the concept to a fact situation; (2) to identify the errors in erroneous propositions; (3) to indicate how erroneous propositions can be corrected; and (4) to identify, in the role of associate counsel at trial, appropriate grounds of objection to a proposed charge to the jury.
Read moreThis exercise is designed as a review for students taking the basic first year course in criminal law. Suspendatur! (Latin for “let him be hanged”, the final entry in medieval plea rolls in capital cases) is patterned after the familiar game of hangman, in which each wrong answer adds a part to a stick figure on the gibbet. The student must answer multiple choice and true-false questions based on hypothetical situations. Each right or wrong answer provides substantive feedback in what aims to be at least a mildly humorous fashion.
Read moreA hundred years ago, a law professor said of the parol evidence rule, "There are few things darker than this or fuller of subtle difficulties." Many students and professionals who have studied the rule would agree with that assessment. Hopefully this exercise will illuminate the rule. It does so by examining the functions served by the rule, taking the user through a series of questions that can be used to resolve most issues involving the application of the rule. The Uniform Commercial Code enactment of the rule is examined in detail.
Read moreThis lesson addresses the application of the statute of frauds to leases of real property. Topics include the conveyance and contract provisions of the statute; the contents of the lease document that are required to comply with the statute of frauds; the effect upon the parties when a tenant takes possession under an invalid oral arrangement; the doctrine of part performance; and the statutory exception for short-term leases.
Read moreThis lesson introduces students to one of the constitutional issues that can arise as a result of environmental and natural resources regulation: regulatory takings under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It begins by giving students an overview of regulatory taking claims, their distinction from physical takings of private property, and some of the rules that apply in evaluating whether a regulatory taking has occurred.
Read moreThis lesson is designed to help students understand the basic principles of diversity and alienage jurisdiction in the federal district courts. It examines both the constitutional authority for diversity and alienage jurisdiction, U.S. Const. Art. III, § 2, and the statutory provisions that bestow diversity and alienage jurisdiction on the federal district courts, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1)-(a)(3). It consists of both text and explanatory problems.
Read more