Contracts is your introduction to the law of voluntary transactions. How do we make enforceable promises? How do we interpret them? When and how can they be undone or excused? If they are broken without lawful excuse, what till the law do about it? Most of the law about ordinary contracts is Common Law ? the accumulated and evolving mass of decisions by courts in England and the U.S. There are also important types of contracts controlled by the Uniform Commercial Code, adopted in nearly identical form by the legislatures of each of the states. We will study both the common law and Article 2 of the Commercial Code which governs contracts for the sale of goods. Other things go on in a Contracts class. With trivial exceptions, contracts are made of words. Care in using and interpreting words is vital for lawyers. Contract-making also requires anticipating and providing for contingencies. The course is as much about developing professional habits of thought as it is about rules and vocabulary. This course cannot be taken for an S/U grade.

Evidence is a Prerequisite for Trial Advocacy, Expert Witnesses & Scientific Evidence and Patent Litigation. This course involves the study of law governing the flow of information into trials, focusing on the Federal Rules of Evidence. The course emphasizes the development of the skill of factual analysis and of the methods for analyzing evidentiary problems. It is not a course on the memorization of a body of rules. Rather, the principles underlying the rules and, in particular, their application are the focus. This course is recommended for taking the bar exam. This course cannot be taken for an S/U grade.

This course provides an overview of the law as it relates to modern families, including defining a family, the parties' relationships with each other and their children as well as the consequences of dissolution of the family. The main topics covered will be marriage, divorce, spousal and child support, encroachments on family privacy, and rights and obligations of individuals in families. The subject matter also covers abortion, alternative methods of bringing a child into a family as well as government involvement in the family. Family law is in a period of rapid change in the 21st. century. Participants in various family situations search for legal change to accommodate the rapid change in society. Court decisions, lawyers' arguments and the legal issues themselves all show the impact of societal, political, and economic change in the field of family law practice. The course will also explore how the law has evolved, and is continuing to evolve, in recent years. Class time will be used for lecture and discussion regarding text materials. The course is designed to cover the law on a national scope.

This is a survey course providing students with an overview of an array of issues involving gender. Topics will include definitions of gender and sexuality; a review of some Supreme Court decisions affecting gender issues; reproductive rights; surnames; and immigration. Additional topics are Title IX and sports; domestic violence; sexual harassment; the treatment of women in news reporting; and, women lawyers. Class time will be used for lecture and discussion regarding text materials. The course is designed to cover the law on a national scope utilizing federal and state cases and federal statutes that impact gender.