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Donald Gjerdingen's Torts

Syllabus — Summer 2009

Week 1 — July 6

Introduction to Law School, Torts, and the Common Law
Common-Law Kitbag — Doing Things with Words
Intentional Torts — Intent, Battery, Assault, False Imprisonment
Intentional Torts — Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Torts to Property
Intentional Torts — Defenses — Consent, Insanity, Self-Defense, Defense of Property
Intentional Torts — Defenses — Recapture of Chattels, Public & Private Necessity
Common-Law Kitbag — Doing Things with Facts

• First Assignment

Class Policies

• Policy on Attendance and Professional Standards
• Class E-Mail Notice
• Policy on Grading
• Policy on Cell Phones

Things to Think about on the First Day of Law School

• Why Law School is Different — The Importance of Reputation
• What You Do and Say Here and How You Say It — "The Words of Lawyers"
• Standing on the Front Steps of the Law School — "The First Day"

Syllabus

• July 6 (1 & 2) PDF Word
• July 7 (3 & 4/5) PDF Word
• July 8 (6/7) PDF Word
• July 9 (8/9) PDF Word
• July 10 (10 & 11/12) PDF Word

Handouts

• How to brief a case
• The Common Law Comes to Indiana — [Ind. Code §1-1-2-1 (2008)]
• Garratt v. Dailey
• Talmage v. Smith
• Katko v. Briney

Resources

• CALI Lessons

Week 2 — July 13

Negligence — Introduction
Negligence — Standard of Care, Reasonable Person
Common-Law Kitbag — Giving Good Reasons
Negligence — Violation of Statute, Custom, Res Ipsa Loquitur

Syllabus

• July 13 (13 & 14/15) PDF
• July 14 (16 & 17) PDF
• July 15 (18 & 19) PDF
• July 16 (20 & 21/22) PDF

Handouts

• Hamer v. Sidway [Hamer I]
• Hamer v. Sidway [Hamer II]
• The Fact Game
• Adams v. Bullock
• Anatomy of a Torts Class

Resources

• Sample exam question [PDF] [Word]
• Sample exam answer #1 [PDF] [Word]
• Sample exam answer #5 [PDF] [Word]
• Bargain Story [PDF] [Word]
• Duncan Kennedy, "Form and Substance in Private Law Adjudication," 89 Harvard Law Review 1685 (1976). One of the standard works on the Rule/Standard distinction.

Week 3 — July 20

Common-Law Kitbag — Doing Things with Cases
Negligence — Duty — Malfeasance, Nonfeasance, Acts of Others
Negligence — Duty — Premises Liability, Emotional Harm
Negligence — Defenses — Contributory Negligence, Assumption of Risk, Immunity

Syllabus

• July 20 (23 & 24/25) PDF
• July 21 (26/27) PDF
• July 22 (28/29) PDF
• July 23 (30 & 31/32) PDF

Handouts

• Stockberger v. United States, 332 F.3d 479 (7th Cir. 2003) (Posner, J.) (interpreting Indiana law)
• Two Political Maps of Torts
• Delta Tau Delta v. Johnson
• Kelly v. Gwinell
• Chaffee v. Seslar

Week 4 — July 27

Negligence — Duty — Emotional Harm, Wrongful Birth, Economic Harm
Negligence — Causation — Traditional Causation, and Modern Issues
Negligence — Causation — Foreseeability
Tort Theory — Law & Economics
Tort Theory — Legal Education

Syllabus

• July 27 (33 & 34/35) PDF
• July 28 (36 & 37) PDF
• July 29 (38 & 39) PDF
• July 30 (40 & 41/42) PDF

Handouts

• Two Political Maps of Torts [PDF] [Word]
• Political Economy of Efficiency [PDF] [Word]
• Lessons of Law & Economics [PDF] [Word]
• Politics of Coase Theorem [PDF]
• Normative Aspects of the Coase Theorem (Draft) [PDF] [Word]
• The Psychology and Public Politics of Risk
  • Handout #1 [PDF]
  • Handout #2 [PDF]
  • Handout #3 [PDF]
• The Future of Our Past [PDF] [Word]
• 6-Boxes Chart on Legal Thought [PDF]
• Political Questions, Langdell's Answers [PDF] [Word]

Week 5 — August 3

Items marked (*) are optional.

Strict Liability — Rylands v. Fletcher, Animals, Introduction to Products Liability
Tort Theory — Alternative Compensation Systems
*Damages, Insurance, and Settlement
*Statutes of Limitations and Survival of Actions
*Advanced Torts — Defamation, Nuisance, Invasion of Privacy, Misrepresentation

Syllabus

• Aug 3 (43, 44, 45) [PDF]
• Aug 4 (46 & 47*) [PDF]
• Aug 5 (48* & 49*) [PDF]
• Aug 6 (50, 51, 52) [PDF]

Handouts

• *Torts — Extra Edition — Notes [PDF]
• Review Torts Template (handout)

Class 50- Review of Past Exam and Student Answer

• Review Exam format (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review Fall 1999 exam (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review Fall 1999 Common-Law Kitbag case (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review student answer (handout) [PDF] [Word]

Class 51- Common-Law KitBag Question

• Review Common-Law Kitbag Question from Fall 2002 Exam (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review sample student answers for Fall 2002 Exam (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review Common-Law Kitbag Question from Fall 2003 Exam [PDF] [Word]
• Review Common-Law Kitbag Case from Fall 2003 Exam (Biker v. Rancher handout) [PDF]

Class 52 - The Last Day

• Review exam tips and procedures (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review first-page instructions for 2009 (handout) [PDF] [Word]
• Review abbreviations for final exam (handout) [Word]

Frolic & Detour