Common Law

Catalog description

This class introduces students to basic concepts in the common-law fields of contract, tort (personal injury), and property. Students will learn what is required to make an agreement legally enforceable; when a person may be held responsible for accidentally injuring another; and about the rights of exclusion and other legal relationships governing control of valued resources. In addition, the class will introduce students to judicial decision-making in common law systems. Students will learn to read cases, identify holdings, and basic practices for communicating about cases. They will learn about precedent, the doctrine of stare decisis, the power of judges to make new rules of the common law, and the social functions of judicial governance of legal relationships created by private individuals.