First-Day Assignments

Overview

Find first-day assignments for the current semester on the accordion menu below.

Fall 2021

Assignments for fall 2021 are organized by class and faculty.

For the first day of class on August 30, 2021, please familiarize yourself with the course Blackboard site, review the Course Information Memorandum, and read Unit 1.1A-C in the casebook. Class discussion will focus on NBC v. United States.

Please access Canvas. I have posted the syllabus and a short additional reading for this week. Let me know if you have problems accessing the course or the documents. See you all Thursday.

Einer Elhauge, US Antitrust law and Economics 3d edition 2018 pages 1-11, 53-57

FOR THURSDAY, AUG. 26, LOG ONTO ZOOM AS WE WILL BE MEETING SYNCHRONOUSLY (This is an exception to our in-person class meetings, but I have to get my daughter to a college out of state this week). 

Required materials for the course include: the most recent (4th) edition of Smith & Williams’ Business Organizations & the 2021 Eisenberg statutory supplement. As noted earlier, you are also strongly encouraged to buy the print coursepack, which includes all supplemental readings (with the exception of handouts). It is also available in zip file on Blackboard, but many students find the coursepack more convenient. Access to the course Blackboard site, which includes our syllabus and the "Getting Started" assignments, will be open to you on or before Thursday, 8/18. 

S&W pp. 1-7, Yost v. Wabash (does not incl. Prob. 1-1)
Stat. Supp.: Rstmt (3d) of Agency §§ 1.01-1.03, 1.04(5)

Assignment: Complete the advance assignments included in the "Getting Started" folder; please also respond to the e-invite you should have received to register for TopHat. If you have added the course since Aug. 15, please email me so I can make sure to add you to the e-vite list. 

NOTE: For all assignments from the Restatement, you are encouraged to skim the comments and related examples; comments are not assigned unless specifically noted. Bring the pdf of the Restatement or your Statutory Supplement with you to class each day.

Today's Key Questions:

  • What is a principal? What is an agent?
  • How is an agency relationship formed? What intent is required? Of what relevance is contract?
  • Why does it matter whether an agency relationship exists between two parties or not?
     

For class Thursday, August 26th, please read pages 293-99 in Civil Procedure by Yeazell & Schwartz (10th ed.).

  • As soon as you have Westlaw access, please enroll in the course’s TWEN page. TWEN is Westlaw’s “Blackboard,” which I find to be WAY more user-friendly. Our syllabus, PowerPoint, etc. will be posted there.
  • Aug 26, in the Red Yeazell casebook, skim pages 293-300, read pages 300-310
  • Aug 27, in the Red Yeazell casebook, read pages 332-355

For the first day (Monday, August 30), please read the statute that governs most of this course, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the case Monroe v. Pape (posted on Canvas). 

You also may want to review the syllabus and materials outline posted on Canvas, but I also will hand out paper copies of the syllabus.

For the first day of class, read and prepare to discuss pages 1-8 in the casebook. In addition, find, read, and have with you in class a contract of your choice.

Read pages 1-12 of our casebook: DAVID G. EPSTEIN, BRUCE A. MARKELL & LAWRENCE PONOROFF, CASES AND MATERIALS ON CONTRACTS: MAKING AND DOING DEALS (5th ed.).

Pages xix-xxi, 1-8 of TRACEY GEORGE & RUSSELL KOROBKIN, K A COMMON LAW APPROACH TO CONTRACTS (3d ed. 2021).

Class 1 - August 26, 2021 

Reading Assignment 

  • Chapter 1 – A Few Words. 
  • Chapter 2 – The Building Blocks of Contracts. 
  • Chapter 3 – Translating the Business Deal – Part 1. 
  • Chapter 4 – Translating the Business Deal – Part 2. (Including the Appendices to Chapter 4.) 
  • Chapter 5 – A Contract’s Parts. 

 
Class Discussion – We will discuss Exercise 5-2 during class.  Please review it.

First day assignment: Read two “open source” news articles. The links are below.

Reading: Niall Ferguson, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe (2021). In lieu of reading the complete book, listen to the podcast: The politics of catastrophe with Niall Ferguson.

I’ve posted the syllabus to the course’s Blackboard site. If you have trouble finding it, let me know. Because laptops are not allowed in the classroom, you’ll need to print off the syllabus in advance. If you’d like a printed copy of the syllabus, email Anna Stafford in the Main Office and she’ll provide you with a copy. Her email is annastafford@ku.edu.
 
For the first day of class, purchase the required materials, read the Course Description portion of the syllabus, and prepare the assignments for Units 1 and 2. We may not get entirely through Unit 2 but we’ll get through most of it.

Check Blackboard for the PowerPoint presentation "Session 1: Introduction and Overview."

Assignment for 30-31 August 

First:

  • Review Syllabus

Second:

  1. POSNER, Preface, pages xi-xvi; and Critical Introduction; pages 1-17 
  2. 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Articles 31-32 (4 pages)
  3. Clark, Katharine & Matthew Connolly, A Guide to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying Statutes, The Writing Center, Georgetown University Law Center (April 2006-March 2008) (13-21 pages)
  4. GATT Article XX(a) (1 page)

Please Note: Items (2)-(4) are freely available online, per the Syllabus.

Assignment for the 30-31 August and Tuesday, 7 September:

First:

  • Review Syllabus (distributed via email)

Second:

  • International Trade Law Textbook, Volume 1:
    Preface, Introduction, and, Chapters 1-3, and Chapters 4-12

Week 1 Assignment - Introduction and Overview

The entire syllabus is available on the course Canvas site.

In preparation for our first class, please do the following:

  • Read the assigned text in Introduction and Overview 
  • Take the Aging Quiz
 
Learning Objectives

At the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • Identify the broad issues that most often confront older Americans,
  • Define and identify ageism when you see it,
  • Describe what the practice of elder law involves and how it started, and
  • Locate the basic federal laws that apply to Americans who are older.
Readings
  • Elder Law - An Introduction - Dayton Chapter 1
    • Overview, and Demographics (Stop before "B. Aging and Social Policy) - Dayton 731 - 889
      • Acknowledging and Confronting Ageism
      • Excerpts from Butler and Canadian Network - Dayton 1119 – 1323
  • What is Elder Law?
    • Justia Article -  Dayton 1324 – 1387
    • National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Article - (Stop before "Excerpt from U.S. Admin. on Aging)   
  • Organization of Federal Laws - Week 1 - Organization of Federal Laws.pdf
  • Guidelines: How to Write about People with Disabilities (9th Edition) - For your information only; review this brochure to educate yourself about this topic: Guidelines - How to Write About People with Disabilities 9th Ed 2020 (1).pdf
Actions

Aging Quiz: Take the Aging Quiz - See Aging Quiz on Canvas
 

  • Register for the course on TWEN. All readings are there as is the syllabus. All writing assignments will be posted there.
  • Aug 27, read Pennoyer v. Neff; International Shoe v. Washington (both found on the TWEN page)

Please review the course syllabus; read Pennoyer v. Neff; and as you read the case, complete the Case Reading Assignment. You will find all three on the course Canvas page. Access Canvas.

Welcome to Juvenile Law! I look forward to seeing you on Thursday. The syllabus for this course and supplemental readings will be posted to Canvas. For our first week of classes, please complete the following reading:

August 26
PART 1 – The Juvenile Justice System 

  • History & Philosophy of Juvenile Court 
    • Robin Walker Sterling, Fundamental Unfairness: In Re Gault and the Road Not Taken, 72 MD. L. Rev. 607 (2013) – pp. 607-33 “Juvenile Court – Origin”  
    • Casebook (CB) pp. 1-10 

 
August 27
History & Philosophy of Juvenile Court 

  • CB pp. 10-14 (stop at Illinois Juv Court Act) 

Civil Label & Common Law Defense of Infancy 

  • CB pp. 44-55 
  • K.S.A. 38-2301 
  • K.S.A. 38-2302(n)  

Prior to our first class meeting, please register for access to the online Legal Research & Writing textbook at teachinglaw.com. Please also review the 2021 “State of the Judiciary” report (.pdf).

See your lawyering class Canvas course.

For the first day of class on August 30, 2021, please familiarize yourself with the course Blackboard site, review the Course Information Memorandum, and read Bostock v. Clayton County. 

Casebook, pages 383-409
for Monday, August 30

Read the following articles and brief excerpt: 

Allen, Anita L., An Ethical Duty to Protect One's Own Information Privacy?
(2013). Alabama Law Review, Vol. 64, P. 845

Solove, Daniel J., Understanding Privacy. Daniel J. Solove, UNDERSTANDING PRIVACY, Harvard University Press, May 2008, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 420, GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 420. Read Only pp 1-8

Cohen, Julie E., What Privacy Is For, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 126, 2013. Read Only pp 1904-1919

We will discuss the Solove excerpt and part of the Cohen article on Monday-Tuesday. We will discuss the remainder of the Cohen article and the Allen article on Wednesday.

For Thursday, August 26th, please read pages 1-15 in the Modern American Remedies by Laycock and Hasen (Concise 5th edition).

Pages xxxi-xxxvii, 3-4 of Lynn M. LoPucki, et al., Secured Transactions: A Systems Approach (9th ed., 2020).

The following are the readings for Law 994 Special Topics: Cyber Law
 
Grimmelman Text: 27-39, 55-62
Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach
 
Please read the syllabus on Blackboard before the first session for information on the textbook and other important class information.

For our first class on Thursday, August 26 (10:20 – 11:15 a.m., Burge Union, Forum D Room), please read pages 1 - 16 of the casebook. I look forward to seeing you.

Chapter I:  Introduction to Tort Liability
Read pp. 1-top of pg. 3; 
Read pp. 9-20 (beginning with C. The Litigation Process; 
Read pp. 6-9 Notes and Questions 1-3; 7 & 8; 
Read pp. 3-6 Hammontree v. Jenner 
Revisit and answer:  pp. 6-9 Notes & Questions 1-3; 7 & 8 

CLASS WILL NOT MEET ON SEPTEMBER 1, OUR FIRST MEETING WILL BE ON SEPTEMBER 8

Read – Introduction to Water Law, pages 1-17; 355-360.

Read from Blackboard in PDF:

  • 25% of World’s Population Under “Extremely High Water Stress”
  • Water Scarcity – Why Some of the World’s Biggest Companies Are Worried
  • Water Dispute Draws Crowd
  • Mexico Leader Decries Beer, Milk Production in Arid Areas

Activity – Bring a hard copy of an article discussing a water law issue in your home state and write a short paragraph or two summarizing the issue to discuss and hand in during class.

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