1L - First Year Lesson Topics

This lesson is part of a series of lessons about Discovery. Discovery is the process through which the parties exchange information, documents, electronically-stored information, and sometimes even tangible things. This particular lesson focuses on the processes lawyers use to create, respond to, and have disputes about discovery.

This 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.

This lesson presents the elements of issue preclusion, sometimes referred to as "collateral estoppel", and exceptions to the doctrine. This lesson will explore the elements of collateral estoppel and the questions of who may be bound by, or take advantage of, the prior adjudication. Another lesson will address the question of whether an adjudication in one jurisdiction can preclude relitigation in a second jurisdiction.

This lesson covers the basic principles of ethical pleading as required by Federal Rule 11 (it does not cover analogous state rules).

This lesson takes you through the basic elements of the doctrine of forum non conveniens and through the statutes governing transfer of venue in federal court.

This lesson introduces strategies and resources for researching state and federal judges. After completing this lesson, you will feel comfortable researching a judge's educational and professional history, scholarship, prior opinions, and other courts and judges they most frequently cite. It will be useful for prospective and current judicial clerks, law firm summer associates, paralegals, and practicing attorneys.

This lesson is designed to help students understand the basics of three statutes that govern the removal of civil actions from state to federal court: 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (removal of civil actions), § 1446 (removal procedure) and § 1447 (procedure after removal). It consists of both explanatory text and problems and is divided into three sections. Students can complete all three sections at the same time or do each section separately.

This lesson teaches and reviews the concept of venue, both generally and under federal law. There is also a brief discussion of venue under state law and common law.

This lesson is part of a series of lessons about Discovery. If something is privileged, then, it is not discoverable even though it is relevant and proportional. This lesson will explore the doctrine of attorney-client privilege in the context of civil discovery in federal court litigation. Communications protected by the privilege are not discoverable, even if they are extremely relevant.

This lesson is part of a series of lessons about Discovery. Rule 26(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure describes the scope of discovery: This lesson will explore the doctrine of attorney work product. Material that falls under the work product doctrine ordinarily need not be produced in discovery, even if it is extremely relevant.

Motion practice under Fed. R. Civ. P 12. This lesson explores the range of motions available under Rule 12 and the consequences of omitting a Rule 12 defense from pleadings or motions.

This lesson is part of a series of lessons about Discovery, under Rule 26(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This lesson will explore the two main components of discovery relevance: logical relevance and proportionality.

This lesson shows how to research Alaskan state law. Topics include statutes and codes, administrative law, ethics rules, the court system, secondary sources, and cases. Using a hypothetical research problem, the lesson walks through efficient ways to find answers.

This lesson provides an introduction into Oregon legal research sources and methods. Using a hypothetical about recreational marijuana, the lesson shows you how to research Oregon law.

This lesson will teach students about practice centers, and describe their origins as print legal looseleaf services. Students will use a hypothetical to explore the Practice Centers available on Bloomberg Law BNA, and Thomson Reuters' RIA Checkpoint.

This lesson will familiarize you with secondary sources covering Alabama law. This lesson supplements the lesson on Alabama primary sources. You will learn about finding aids for researching secondary sources and explore both online and print tools available to access those materials.

This lesson reviews the secondary legal research resources available for Delaware.

This lesson is meant to provide you with an introduction to Connecticut primary legal materials. After you have completed this lesson, you will have a better understanding of where to find and how to use Connecticut primary law materials, including case law, statutes, and regulations.

This lesson will prepare you to research primary law in Oklahoma.

This lesson will familiarize you with primary and secondary sources available in Idaho. It covers the Idaho primary law including the Idaho Constitution, statutes, legislative history, municipal codes, administrative law, and court decisions. The secondary sources portion of the lesson provides a general overview of secondary sources and how you can use them in your research as well as coverage of Idaho specific secondary sources.

This is the second component of a lesson on probability theory. The lesson discusses distributions, the Bayes theorem, and the central limit theorem. It also roughly corresponds to the second probability theory chapter of Prof. Georgakopoulos' book Principles and Methods of Law and Economics.

This is the first part of a two part lesson on probability theory. The lesson covers the basics of averages, deviations, conditional probability, and probability models. It roughly corresponds to the first probability theory chapter of Prof.

This lesson examines the ethical issues associated with, and tools available for, researching parties, witnesses, and jurors on social media sites.

This lesson introduces students to subject specific treatises, a type of secondary resource particularly helpful when conducting legal research in an unfamiliar area of law.