TORTS 2: LAW & PROCESS

Catalog description

This course will cover the issues an advanced torts class typically covers, in combination with skills instruction in legal analysis and analytical writing. After briefly reviewing first year torts (emphasizing areas students find challenging, like duty, causation, and proximate cause), the course will move on to areas the first-year class touches on briefly, if at all, including: Property torts - trespass, conversion, nuisance; Defamation; Invasion of privacy and the right of publicity; Fraud and business torts; Product liability. Frequent exercises with individual feedback will allow students to build on skills learned during the first year, like synthesizing and applying rules derived from cases, outlining, and writing effectively for exams or in practice. Special attention will be given to features of tort analysis that are particularly challenging, like applying multi-factor tests, working with standards like "reasonableness" or "foreseeability", and using policy arguments effectively. The course will emphasize multi-dimensional problems that require students to identify several doctrinal and strategic options in order to advise a client effectively. It will integrate material from related courses, including civil procedure, contracts, remedies, insurance, and negotiations, preparing students for the realities of practice (and for cross-over questions on the California bar).