First Day Assignment for Civil Procedure Section B – Professor Gundlach

Please access my Blackboard course page through the Hofstra portal, review the opening announcement, the syllabus, and the first module under Course Materials entitled Introduction and Overview Materials. Be sure to post a comment in the Discussion Thread entitled Introductions. And for our first class, read pp. 3-24 in the Freer Casebook.

Fall 2021, Professor Sample
james.sample@hofstra.edu
Office: Law School Room 233

1. Syllabus: Reading assignments are set forth in this syllabus. The class-by-class breakdowns represent approximations. During the semester, there will be alterations, deletions and additions. Any changes will be announced in class. This is a 5-credit one-semester course. Accordingly, the workload is substantial and the expectations for your level of effort and preparation are very high.

2. Learning Objectives: The staple of legal education, particularly in the first year, is the appellate decision. In order to fully understand an appellate decision you must be able to think procedurally, to reconstruct the whole case from the beginning through the appellate decision. The objective of the course is to supply those thinking skills that are the foundation of legal education. Topics covered include civil actions at law historically and currently, a brief introduction to equity, provisional and final remedies, res judicata and collateral estoppel, relief from judgment and collateral attack, personal jurisdiction and venue, the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts, and choice of source of law. The course examines the reciprocal relationship between substantive law and procedure by recreating a whole case from pleadings through appeal. Substantive law draws meaning from its application at each stage of the litigation process. In other words, each stage of the process can provide a “window” on the meaning of substantive law. These stages include: issues of jurisdiction (both personal and subject matter); pretrial proceedings (pleadings, discovery, pretrial screening); the trial (admissibility of evidence, sufficiency of the evidence to get to the jury, terms of submission to the jury, the verdict); and the appeal (issues preserved for appeal, “facts” on appeal, standard of review). The focus throughout is on the need to develop the skill of thinking procedurally in order to understand the law and to help shape its development.

3. Texts: The case book that we will be using is the 12^h edition of Civil Procedure Cases and Materials by Friedenthal, Miller, Sexton & Hershkoff. The supplement we will be using is Friedenthal, Miller, Sexton, and Hershkoff, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Supplement (West 2021-2022) (Statutory and Case Supplement). You are welcome to use older and/or different editions of the statutory and case supplement to reduce expenses, provided you can adjust to pagination differences.

4. Optional “Plus” materials: You may wish to use the Casebook “Plus” features associated with Friedenthal et al, casebook. These digital features include all manner of extra, supplemental resources, including, perhaps most notably, practice questions. The publisher charges for this option and I will not reference it in class but this resource has been found to be a valuable way to complement our class discussions, particularly in areas where you find yourselves struggling.No one is required to purchase the “Plus” features. 

5. I will also supply additional materials. The first installment of additional materials is included on the TWEN page along with this syllabus.No other book is required. I will discuss optional commercial materials, including those that I think can be --- depending on the source and the manner in which they are used --- helpful and harmful early in the semester. For now, the critical point is that relying on outside sources instead of the course materials is to follow a well-worn path to the destinations of delusion (first) and disaster (second).

6. Preparation & Participation: You are expected to read and think about the assigned material before each class. Likewise, you are expected to contribute to the classroom discussions on both a voluntary and involuntary basis. I will call on you. Your participation may impact your grade at the margins. That does not mean that more talking is better. It does mean that preparation is expected; regular participation is part of the class; and that the nature of your participation is expected to be at a high level, such that your contributions are genuinely contributions to your classmates.

7. TWEN: There is a TWEN page for this course. Please familiarize yourself with it as the TWEN site will be the primary place where you will find updates to course materials and resources. 

8. Amount of Time Spent for Credit: The American Bar Association requires that you spend at least ten hours per week, on average, outside of class studying for this 5-credit course. This is in addition to the hours a week we spend in class. (The ABA has a formula for determining the requirement. In other courses, the required number of out-of-class hours may be different.)

9. Attendance: You may miss no more than six class hours this semester. Accommodations may be made in truly compelling circumstances. In the event you believe yourself to be in such circumstances, you should send an e-mail to me within twenty-four hours of your absence. I will do nothing respecting these issues until late in the semester. At that point, I will review the file of anyone with more than six hours of missed class and determine whether to forward the file to the Office of Student Affairs possibly resulting in denying you credit for the course. All of the above pertains only to the bare minimum floor for attendance. Early in the term, we will have a couple of extended and/or additional sessions on dates TBA.

10. Exams: Your grade will turn primarily on a final exam at the end of the semester. More will be said about this in due course. Your grade may, secondarily, encompass a MidTerm examination. In some years, I treat the MidTerm as purely a practice opportunity; in other years, it counts towards the grade. I will seek your collective input as to preferences, but inevitably, some students prefer the opposite. If the MidTerm counts, the MidTerm will count for less than the Final, with the exact percentages to be announced early in the term. I will be covering matters in class that are not part of the readings, and your readings will cover matters that are not covered in class. All of it is fair game for the exams. You will develop a good sense of the relative import of the material as the semester develops, but I will also give some additional specific guidance on this in the period leading up to the exam. 

11. Office: In a “normal” year I would say that you are welcome to drop by my office at any time and that if I’m in and can’t meet with you right away, we’ll find a time to do so. To a certain extent, you remain welcome to do just that. However, as it appears that this semester is obviously not going to be “normal” in terms of the ease of in-person interaction, I will be available for in-person meetings to the extent that they remain COVID-practicable and will also likely hold additional zoom-based “office hours” to facilitate one-on-one and small group discussions. I will determine the exact time for these early in the semester (once various committee and other obligations are determined) and I will coordinate these with your section’s class schedule to the extent feasible. 

NB: First reading assignment is below.

Class 1 (Read prior to 1^st class session)

• Read pp. 1-28 in the Casebook
• Look at Judicial Map, “Geographic Boundaries of United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials available on TWEN
• Read Avista Management, Inc. v. Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials available on TWEN)
• * Optional Reading: Professor Freedman’s “Eight Minutes of Reading on Eight Hundred Years of Procedure to Help You Understand the Next Eight Months” (contained within the PDF of supplemental materials).

Syllabus available on the course blackboard/portal.

I will be using Blackboard during the semester. I will post the syllabus prior to the start of the semester. Please be on the lookout for it as well as other announcements.

Please note that as of this writing, we will not have class on Monday, 13 September. We will make up the time by extending our class time by 30 minutes on the following dates, 25 August, 1 and 8 September. 

Course Materials 

We will be using Kadish, Schulhofer, Steiker & Barkow, Criminal Law and Its Processes (1OTH edition) as our casebook. 

Pages 

Weeks 1 -2: Chapter 3: Legality 157 - 202 

Chapter 2: Justification for Punishment 150 - 156; 81 - 106; 118 - 138

The required text for this class is Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (9th ed.) by Kaplan, Weisberg & Binder. This is the first year of the ninth edition. 

The assigned, required reading for the first day of class is pages 1-13 and 19-29 of the casebook PLUS an excerpt from Understanding Criminal Law by Joshua Dressler, which is posted on Blackboard under “Assignments."

First Class Assignment

Text: Kadish, Schulhofer, & Barkow, Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials (10^th edition)

For the first class (Tuesday, August 24) please read in the Text as follows:

Justification for Punishment & Legality, pages 89-102, 118-125, 128-129, 160-162

View First Assignment (PDF)

View First Assignment (PDF)

Welcome to Hofstra Law School. Our first class is on Tuesday, August 24 from 8:10am-10:00am in Room 238.

Prior to our first class, please:

1. Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore:
   • Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (9th ed.);
   • The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.).
   • Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book.
2. You need to register for both Westlaw and Lexis+, the two computer-assisted legal research providers that we will be using. To register, please click the links below, and they will take you to the registration pages.
   • Registration Link: https://register.lexisnexis.com
   • Registration Link: https://lawschool.westlaw.com/register
   • If you have any problems registering your accounts, please contact a reference librarian or the database reps:
     • If you have any questions on Lexis, please contact your Lexis representative Ms. Stafilias. Her e-mail is: Antoinette.stafilias@lexisnexis.com
     • If you have any questions on Westlaw, please contact your Westlaw account manager Estee Waxman at estee.waxman@thomsonreuters.com.
3. Please be aware that you must also register for the TWEN page for this class. I post many class assignments and other documents there, and use it to communicate with the class.
4. Read the following documents, posted on TWEN, and bring copies to class:
   1. Syllabus;
   2. Tentative Class Schedule;
   3. Lexis Learn Modules.
5. Read Neumann, Chs. 1 – 3 and 6.

I look forward to meeting each of you. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer.

First Class Assignment:
Read Neumann, Chs 1-3; read the Roberson case (p. 26), and prepare Exercise II (p. 33).

Please also be sure to purchase the four required books for this class:

1. Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (9th ed.);
2. Sloan, Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (8th ed.);
3. The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.); and
4. Interactive Citation Workbook for the Bluebook (2021 ed.).

View First Assignment (PDF)

Welcome to Hofstra Law School. While you may be feeling somewhat intimidated by the prospect of three years of law school, don’t. Orientation is designed to lessen your apprehension and give you some tools to smooth the transition into law school. I will also do whatever I can to help.

Our scheduled class time is Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:10 am – 10:00 am in Room 205. You will be assigned a seat for the semester at the first class. I am always happy to answer your questions and to meet with you but in order to remain safe and healthy, our individual meetings this semester will be via Zoom. One of the many reasons that I love teaching legal writing is the pleasure I take in getting to know you each of you. I am confident that I will be able to build those relationships with you despite masking protocols.

President’s Fall 2021 Regulations for Face Masks

For the present, everyone must be masked while inside any building on the Hofstra campus, unless they are alone in a private office or in their residence hall room or suite. This mask policy is being reviewed on an ongoing basis to determine whether and when it should be revised.

Hofstra’s policies will continue to be guided by science and public health considerations.

Only students who are vaccinated are permitted on campus.

Prior to our first Legal Analysis class, please:

1. Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore: Neumann, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (9th ed.); Sloan, Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (7th Edition); The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.) and Interactive Citation Workbook for the Bluebook (2021 Edition). Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book.
   
   You need to register for both Westlaw and Lexis, the two computer assisted legal research providers that we will be using. The Westlaw registration information is in the packet that you received from admissions. To register for Lexis+, Go to lexisnexis.com/lawschool and click on “Register for Lexis+,” enter your name, email, and enter this code- qajn4f6.
   
   
2. Please be aware that you must also register for the TWEN page for this class. I post homework and handouts on the page, and use it to communicate with the class. You will also be required to hand in most of your assignments using TWEN.
   
   For our first class on Monday the 23rd please read Chapters 1-3 in Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing. Because case briefing is so important, we will be reinforcing the skills that you were introduced to during orientation. Please review the case brief that you prepared for the Roberson case for your ITL class and bring it with you. If you did not brief that case for ITL, please do so before our first class; please also prepare Exercise II, on page 33. Finally, prepare a brief of the Costanza case on pp. 35-36, using the Case Briefing Form posted on TWEN.
   
   A couple of comments about this assignment:
   
   
   • Please submit your typewritten Roberson and Costanza briefs through the “Assignments & Quizzes” tab on TWEN. This is how you will be submitting your assignments throughout the year so handing in the briefs this way is good practice.
     
     
   • Feel free to download the Case Briefing Form and use it for your briefs in all of your classes if you wish.
     
     
   • Be sure to allow enough time for this assignment as it is likely to take longer than you think and you will need to spend time looking up unfamiliar terms. You will be expected to participate in class discussions, even those held on the first day.

3. Please print out and read through the Course Outline and Guidelines that are posted on the TWEN page for this class. We will be discussing them during our first session.

4. Fill out the “Getting to Know You” form. The form is posted under the “Assignments & Quizzes” tab on TWEN. Once you have completed it, please submit it through the link that you will see on that page.

5. Finally, you will need to bring your computer to every class session because all homework and handouts for class will be posted on the TWEN page.

I look forward to meeting each of you. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer!

Welcome to Hofstra Law School. Our first class is on Wednesday, August 25 from 4:10 – 6 p.m. in Koppelman Hall, Room 0205.

Prior to our first class, please:

1. Purchase the following books, which are available in the Hofstra Bookstore:
   1. Neumann,Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing (9thed.);
   2. The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.); and
   3. Norton, Interactive Citation Workbook for The Bluebook (2021 ed.).
      
      Be certain that you have the correct edition for each book.
      
      
2. You need to register for both Westlaw and Lexis, the two computer-assisted legal research providers that you will be using to conduct legal research. To register, please click the links below, and they will take you to the registration pages.
   • Registration Link: https://register.lexisnexis.com
   • Registration Link: https://lawschool.westlaw.com/register 
     
     If you have any problems registering your accounts, please contact a reference librarian or the database reps:
     • If you have any questions on Lexis, please contact your Lexis representative Ann Stafilias at Antoinette.stafilias@lexisnexis.com
     • If you have any questions on Westlaw, please contact your Westlaw representative Estee Waxman at estee.waxman@tr.com 

3. Please register ASAP for the TWEN page for this class (via Westlaw). I post many class assignments and other documents there and use it to communicate with the class.

4. Read the (i) Syllabus, and (ii) Class Schedule & Assignments Part I posted on TWEN in the “Course Materials” folder and bring copies to class. These documents will be posted on TWEN by COB this Friday, August 20.

5. Read Chapters 1-3 and 6 in the Neumann book. Brief the Roberson case in Chapter 3 using the “Case Briefing Form” posted on TWEN in the “First Class Assignment” folder and be prepared to discuss same in class.

6. Please complete the “Student Survey 1” posted on TWEN in the “First Class Assignment” folder and email it to me at lisa.m.white@hofstra.edu by noon on Wednesday, August 25. Your answers are confidential and will be read only by me.

Again, welcome to Hofstra Law School. I look forward to meeting each of you!

Assignment for Our First Class (with carryover to Class 2):

Topics:

The Negligence “Theory”: “Wrongful” Conduct

Risk/Avoidance (R/Av) Theory

Please Read:

“Goals and Rules” (posted on Blackboard Course Docs)

Franklin Rabin (FR) Text pp. 1-20 (Hammontree), AND

FR pp. 37-55, 70-74 (Brown, Adams, Carroll Towing, Andrews – and notes)

Please also read, before coming to class, all Course Policies (posted under Syllabus on Blackboard Course Docs) and Additional Course Policies (posted on Blackboard Announcements). INFO ABOUT COURSE TEXT IS POSTED IN COURSE INFORMATION.

See you soon!

Prof. Bush

Assignment for First Class

Professor Barbara Stark, Room 116 (Library), e-mail: lawbjs@hofstra.edu

Welcome to Torts!  Our text is:

Dan B, Dobbs et al., Torts and Compensation: Personal Accountability and Social Responsibility for Injury (2017 Concise 8^th Edition) 

Please read the assignment set out below and be prepared to answer the indicated questions.

Also, please sign in on the Class TWEN page.  If you email me, please use the email account that you used in registering on TWEN. 

No Laptops or Phones During Class            

This course does not lend itself to laptop note-taking.  Surveys indicate that students are more satisfied with the learning environment in no-laptop courses.  Although some students prefer to use laptops, a larger number of students in the surveys say that classrooms are quieter, they can hear the teacher and other students better, and they feel more engaged in the classroom experience with fewer distractions. Accordingly, in Torts you may not use a laptop or any other electronic device, including phones, during class. If these devices are out during class, I will assume you are using them, and you will be considered unprepared for that class.

CLASS 1
pp. 3-24

1.  What is a tort?

2.  What was wrong with Van Camp’s complaint against Mark?

3. Please be prepared to answer the questions raised in Notes 3-6 at p. 10.

PART 1.  A First Look at Torts

Chapter 1.  Tort Law:  Aims, Approaches, and Processes

§1. What Is Tort Law?

§2. The Goals of Tort Law

      A.  Some Broad (and Conflicting) Aims

      B.  Van Camp v. McAfoos

§3. Implementing Torts Law’s Goals with Damages Awards

Chapter 2.  Reading Torts Cases and Understanding Trial Procedure

§1.  Looking for Facts, Rules, and Reasons

     §2.  Procedures at Trial