This lesson is designed to provide you with an overview of the religion clauses (which include both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause) of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine their knowledge of these clauses.
Professor Lawrence Wilkins discusses the famous Torts case, Palsgraf v. Long Island RR Co., and the opposing viewpoints of Justices Cardozo and Andrews. Additionally, Professor Wilkins provides guidance to students on how they should approach understanding this decision.
This topic is also covered in Prof. Burnham’s CALI lesson The Parol Evidence Rule
A 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.
This lesson will provide an interactive overview of Pennsylvania Primary Resources. Follow Will Penn as he learns to research Pennsylvania's Constitution, Statutes, Legislative History, Administrative Regulations, Case Law, Citators, Court Rules & Briefs.
This lesson walks students through the use of Pennsylvania-specific: legal encyclopedias, forms, practice materials, treatises, and legal periodicals. From how to choose the right source, to how to use them, the student will learn the basics about how secondary sources can help their research needs.
When conducting legal research, it is frequently better to begin with secondary sources that explain and interpret the law rather than attempting to start with primary legal authority. Legal periodicals are excellent secondary source starting points. This lesson introduces strategies and resources to find legal periodicals in support of legal research projects.
Plagiarism in today's online social media world is both confusing and serious, especially for students of the law. This lesson will explain what constitutes plagiarism, distinguish between copyright and plagiarism, and offer opportunities for students to test their understanding of plagiarism.
This lesson presents an introduction to the doctrine that the performance of a pre-existing duty, or a promise to perform such a duty, does not constitute a sufficient consideration to make a promise binding. Through questions based on a series of hypothetical cases, underlying reasons for the doctrine are considered, as well as its ramifications in various contexts. Coverage includes: the performance of duties owed to the promise or third parties as consideration; modifications on one side of executory contracts; substituted contracts following rescission; executory accords; satisfaction; liquidated claims and offers to settle unliquidated claims.
This exercise is in three parts. First, the student surveys the basic law of preclusion (both claim preclusion and issue preclusion) to test and to solidify understanding of the area. The questions explore the elements of the doctrines, such as the requirements of a final judgment and necessary decision of an issue, as applied to various fact situations. Hypertext is available at all times for quick review or checking of the elements. The second part of the exercise becomes more complex as it turns to heavy emphasis on the policies behind issue preclusion. The student analyzes each fact situation from two perspectives: Blackletter Bart, who takes a rule-bound approach to issue preclusion, and Functional Felicia, who takes a policy-oriented approach to issue preclusion. Third, the student answers questions developing the abandonment by the courts of the requirement of mutuality for issue preclusion. Both defensive collateral estoppel and offensive collateral estoppel, from the perspectives of both the plaintiff and the defendant, are analyzed.
Preemption checking determines if an idea for a journal note or paper is original. This lesson identifies the sources to use and the process of conducting a preemption check.
This lesson will run through critical considerations to think about before stepping into the law school classroom, or the "theater of learning" for the first time! Through a series of interactive diagnostic questions and teaching pages, the lesson explores many themes of first semester, including choosing your seat, class participation and how to handle the Socratic method, pre- and post-class prep, time management, using professors' office hours, and how the basics of the court system and functions of each level of court generate the "case method" of law school teaching and learning.