2L-3L Upper Level Lesson Topics

When defendant has been unjustly enriched at plaintiff's expense, plaintiff is entitled to seek restitution. Among the rules and principles that qualify a plaintiff's right to seek restitution is the notion that a "volunteer" is not entitled to seek restitution. In this lesson, we explore the concept of "volunteer" in an effort to determine who should be regarded as a volunteer and who should not. The lesson is intended for those who have studied these issues in class and wish to further refine their knowledge.

The action for restitution allows recovery in a variety of contexts when the defendant would be "unjustly enriched" if he/she were not required to pay restitution. One of those contexts is the situation in which one person acts on behalf of another in the case of an emergency situation requiring immediate action. In this lesson, we explore the parameters of an individual's right to recover restitution for providing aid to another in an emergency situation. Of course, as an inevitable incident of this discussion, we will explore situations when recovery should be denied. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and wish to further refine their knowledge.

A right to restitution arises when one person is "unjustly enriched" at the expense of another. One context in which restitution is sometimes sought is when payments are made under a "mistake of fact." The situations and contexts in which mistake of fact arise are quite varied. In this lesson, we examine some of the situations and contexts, and extract general principles regarding the right to restitution for mistaken payments. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and who wish to further refine their knowledge.

This lesson is intended for students who have studied restitution in class, and who wish to expand and refine their knowledge of the topic. The lesson deals with the basics of restitution (what constitutes "unjust enrichment"), and how is it measured. Little attempt is made to deal with more sophisticated aspects of restitution such as tracing, equitable liens, constructive trusts, etc.

This lesson is intended to provide students with an introduction to the right to counsel at trial. It covers such issues as the right of indigents to state-provided representation, as well as the rights of non-indigents. Issues such as the right to proceed pro se and the right to the "effective" assistance of counsel will be covered in other lessons.

This lesson examines the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, and its provision for a right to trial by jury in civil cases. The lesson examines the right from a historical perspective, as well as in terms of its modern applications. It also examines related doctrines such as the "equitable cleanup" doctrine. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and wish to refine their knowledge of this right.

This lesson explores some of the basic issues surrounding one of our most basic constitutional rights, the right to a trial by jury. The lesson explores the issues of what constitutes a "criminal prosecution" requiring a jury trial, as well as the issues of size and unanimity requirements for a "jury" to pass constitutional muster. Issues relating to the selection and composition of the jury--the make up of the jury pool, the use of preemptory challenges, etc.--and what decisions must be made by the jury, are the subject of a separate lesson.

This lesson explores a copyright holder's right to control the performance and display of the related work of authorship.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of ripeness and mootness. This lesson is geared to students who have studied these concepts in class (perhaps some time ago in their constitutional law classes) and wish to delve into the subject more deeply.

This lesson provides an overview of the central role of "use" in United States trademark law. It examines how the policy justifications driving trademark law (1) justify generally requiring use to obtain and maintain trademark rights and related infringement considerations and (2) define sufficient use for those trademark law purposes. It also addresses and explains the few specific exceptions to the use requirement. The lesson assumes a basic knowledge of trademark policy, the distinctiveness classification system and infringement.