Lessons: 1L - First Year Lesson Topics

This lesson can be used in a Family Law or Constitutional Law course, as preparation for class or as review for an exam on the topic of Abortion.

This is one in a series of lessons on accomplice liability. In earlier lessons, we examined how accomplices were classified under the common law and the Model Penal Code. In addition, we examined the mens rea requirement for accomplice liability. In this lesson, we continue the discussion by examining the actus reus requirement of accomplice liability. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to further refine their knowledge and understanding of the topic.

This lesson continues our discussion of accomplice liability. In a prior lesson, we examined how the common law and the Model Penal Code classified various types of accomplices. In another prior lesson, we examined the actus reus requirement for accomplice liability. In this lesson, we continue the discussion by focusing on the mens rea requirement for accomplice liability. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine their understanding and knowledge of the topic.

This exercise provides an introduction to the act requirement. In particular, it addresses the definition of "act," voluntariness, liability for omissions (failures to act), and possession offenses.

This lesson focuses upon the concept of "color of title" and the role that it plays in the resolution of adverse possession disputes. The lesson should assist students in understanding: the distinction between claims of possession with color of title and without color of title; the significance of color of title as a basis (in some states) for shortening the statutory period for adverse possession; and the significance of color of title as a prerequisite for a claim of title by constructive adverse possession.

This lesson focuses upon the requirement that an adverse possession claim must be based upon possession that is sufficiently "hostile" and "under claim of right." This lesson addresses the following topics: the rationale behind the "hostile/under claim of right" requirement and how it relates to the other elements of the common law adverse possession rule; the significance of "permission to occupy land" under adverse possession doctrine, and how to distinguish between permissive and hostile claims; and the legal standards by which differing courts have evaluated the hostility of a possessor’s claim, either by reference to the possessor’s actions (objectively), or state of mind (subjectively).

This lesson focuses upon a number of doctrines that are closely related to adverse possession of land. It includes a discussion of the following doctrines: agreed boundaries; mutual recognition and acquiescence; estoppel; good faith improvement; and the extent to which one can establish title to chattels by adverse possession (or by the operation of finding statutes). The lesson is in "lecturette" format. Each doctrine is introduced with a brief, slide-accompanied lecture introduction, and the lesson concludes with a series of review questions designed to reinforce student understanding of the material introduced in the lecturette.

A Question and Answer session with Prof. McFarland, author of several of CALI's lessons in Tort Law and Civil Procedure. Prof. McFarland has been teaching for over 30 years. His comments in this podcast about the first semester of law school focus on the Socratic method, preparing for class, note-taking during class, class participation, "riding out" that "lost at sea" feel common during the first few weeks of law school, the appropriate use of study aids, advice about law school exams, and general advice on doing well in law school.

This lesson takes a look at one type of agreement that lacks consideration: gift promises. Consideration is often described as the bargained-for-exchange. The bargained-for-exchange is what induces the making of the promise by the offeror and the promise induces the furnishing of the consideration by the offeree. Consideration is the ordinary means for justifying the enforcement of the promises by the parties. Where a gift is made, bargained-for-exchange is lacking and the promises are not enforceable. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for identifying and evaluating a gift promise. The general attributes of consideration are covered in other lessons.

This lesson will help you master legal citation using the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation (Fourth Edition).

There are two versions of this lesson available from CALI. Please make sure that you are working through the version assigned to you by your professor. Each version has the same coverage. This is the single-lesson version. The other version takes the original lesson and divides it into four parts, with each part being a separate lesson.

Throughout this lesson, you will be asked to read specific portions of the ALWD Citation Manual. You then will be asked to complete interactive exercises that will test your understanding of and ability to apply the various citation rules. Topics covered include typeface, spacing abbreviations, capitalization, ordinal numbers, pinpoint pages and section numbers, full and short citation formats, cases, statutes, books, legal periodicals, introductory signals, and quotations. You may complete the entire lesson at one time or complete segments as you cover various parts of the Manual in class or on your own.

This lesson has been revised for Fall 2010 to reflect the 4th edition of the ALWD Citation Manual.

This lesson will help you master legal citation using the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation (Fourth Edition).

There are two versions of this lesson available from CALI. Please make sure that you are working through the version assigned to you by your professor. Each version has the same coverage. The "original" version is a single lesson. This version takes the original lessons and divides it into four parts, with each part being a separate lesson.

You should start your study with Part 1.

Throughout the ALWD lesson, you will be asked to read specific portions of the ALWD Citation Manual. You then will be asked to complete interactive exercises that will test your understanding of and ability to apply the various citation rules. Topics covered in this part include cover cases, statutes, books, and legal periodicals. Other lessons include typeface, spacing abbreviations, capitalization, ordinal numbers, pinpoint pages and section numbers, and full and short citation formats (Part 1), and introductory signals, and quotations (Part 3).

This lesson will help you master legal citation using the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation (Fourth Edition).

There are two versions of this lesson available from CALI. Please make sure that you are working through the version assigned to you by your professor. Each version has the same coverage. The "original" version is a single lesson. This version takes the original lessons and divides it into four parts, with each part being a separate lesson.

You should start your study with Part 1.

Throughout the ALWD lesson, you will be asked to read specific portions of the ALWD Citation Manual. You then will be asked to complete interactive exercises that will test your understanding of and ability to apply the various citation rules. This part is a Final Quiz reviewing material covered in the three other lessons. Other lessons cover the topics of typeface, spacing abbreviations, capitalization, ordinal numbers, pinpoint pages and section numbers, and full and short citation formats (Part 1) citation of cases, statutes, books, legal periodicals (Part 2), and introductory signals, and quotations (Part 3).

This lesson is an introduction to the American Law Reports (ALR) and is intended for use by students in introductory legal research classes. The goal is to give you an understanding of the features of the resource, the best methods for using it, and an understanding of when to use it.

Effective December 1, 2006, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to reflect changes in discovery resulting from the electronic storage of information. CALI's lessons do not yet reflect these amendments. As each lesson is revised to reflect the amended rules, the lesson's catalog description will be updated to enable students and faculty to easily tell which lessons include the amended rules.

As its name implies, this lesson is designed to give the student an introduction to the subject of interpleader. The lesson briefly describes the concept of interpleader and some of the historical limitations on the remedy, but its focus is on interpleader under the federal statute and Rule 22. The lesson introduces the various procedural issues involved—such as subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and venue—and highlights the differences between statutory and rule interpleader on these subjects. The lesson also contains a segment on the problem presented in State Farm v. Tashire—enjoining other pending actions. The lesson requires the student to use the relevant statutes and rules, which are included in the lesson.

This lesson has been revised to reflect the December 1, 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as they were re-written effective December 1, 2007.

This exercise is designed to help train beginning students in the analysis of judicial opinions. The student is asked to agree or disagree with assertions about a diversity jurisdiction case (Baker v. Keck). The computer responds to the student’s answers by evaluating them or asking further questions.

This lesson explores the contours of anticipatory repudiation, including the repudiating promisor's ability to retract his repudiation, the nonrepudiating promisee's right to demand adequate assurances of performance, and the effect of the promisor's repudiation on the promisee's obligation to perform.

This lesson introduces students to secondary resources for Arizona legal researchers.

This lesson covers assignment of contract rights and delegation of contract duties. You can run it either as an introduction to the topic or as a review after you have studied it.

This is an introduction to federal and state attorney general materials.

This lesson is part of a series of exercises covering Basic Future Interests. While the 10 lessons comprising this series can be worked in any sequence, the lessons do to some degree build on each other. Thus, it is suggested that students work them in order.

The 10 lessons are:

• Lesson 1: The Concept of "Future Interest"
• Lesson 2: The Defeasible Estates and Their Future Interests
• Lesson 3: Fee Simple Determinable (and Possibilities of Reverter)
• Lesson 4: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent (and Rights of Re-entry)
• Lesson 5: Fee Simple On Executory Limitation (and Executory Interests)
• Lesson 6: Reversions
• Lesson 7: Remainders
• Lesson 8: Kinds of Vested and Contingent Remainders
• Lesson 9: Executory Interests
• Lesson 10: Identifying Remainders and Executory Interests

Students should complete the Basic Estate System lesson prior to working through this lesson and series.

This lesson is part of a series of exercises covering Basic Future Interests. While the 10 lessons comprising this series can be worked in any sequence, the lessons do to some degree build on each other. Thus, it is suggested that students work them in order.

The 10 lessons are:

• Lesson 1: The Concept of "Future Interest"
• Lesson 2: The Defeasible Estates and Their Future Interests
• Lesson 3: Fee Simple Determinable (and Possibilities of Reverter)
• Lesson 4: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent (and Rights of Re-entry)
• Lesson 5: Fee Simple On Executory Limitation (and Executory Interests)
• Lesson 6: Reversions
• Lesson 7: Remainders
• Lesson 8: Kinds of Vested and Contingent Remainders
• Lesson 9: Executory Interests
• Lesson 10: Identifying Remainders and Executory Interests

Students should complete the Basic Estate System lesson prior to working through this lesson and series.

This lesson is part of a series of exercises covering Basic Future Interests. While the 10 lessons comprising this series can be worked in any sequence, the lessons do to some degree build on each other. Thus, it is suggested that students work them in order.

The 10 lessons are:

• Lesson 1: The Concept of "Future Interest"
• Lesson 2: The Defeasible Estates and Their Future Interests
• Lesson 3: Fee Simple Determinable (and Possibilities of Reverter)
• Lesson 4: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent (and Rights of Re-entry)
• Lesson 5: Fee Simple On Executory Limitation (and Executory Interests)
• Lesson 6: Reversions
• Lesson 7: Remainders
• Lesson 8: Kinds of Vested and Contingent Remainders
• Lesson 9: Executory Interests
• Lesson 10: Identifying Remainders and Executory Interests

Students should complete the Basic Estate System lesson prior to working through this lesson and series.

This lesson is part of a series of exercises covering Basic Future Interests. While the 10 lessons comprising this series can be worked in any sequence, the lessons do to some degree build on each other. Thus, it is suggested that students work them in order.

The 10 lessons are:

• Lesson 1: The Concept of "Future Interest"
• Lesson 2: The Defeasible Estates and Their Future Interests
• Lesson 3: Fee Simple Determinable (and Possibilities of Reverter)
• Lesson 4: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent (and Rights of Re-entry)
• Lesson 5: Fee Simple On Executory Limitation (and Executory Interests)
• Lesson 6: Reversions
• Lesson 7: Remainders
• Lesson 8: Kinds of Vested and Contingent Remainders
• Lesson 9: Executory Interests
• Lesson 10: Identifying Remainders and Executory Interests

Students should complete the Basic Estate System lesson prior to working through this lesson and series.

This lesson is part of a series of exercises covering Basic Future Interests. While the 10 lessons comprising this series can be worked in any sequence, the lessons do to some degree build on each other. Thus, it is suggested that students work them in order.

The 10 lessons are:

• Lesson 1: The Concept of "Future Interest"
• Lesson 2: The Defeasible Estates and Their Future Interests
• Lesson 3: Fee Simple Determinable (and Possibilities of Reverter)
• Lesson 4: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent (and Rights of Re-entry)
• Lesson 5: Fee Simple On Executory Limitation (and Executory Interests)
• Lesson 6: Reversions
• Lesson 7: Remainders
• Lesson 8: Kinds of Vested and Contingent Remainders
• Lesson 9: Executory Interests
• Lesson 10: Identifying Remainders and Executory Interests

Students should complete the Basic Estate System lesson prior to working through this lesson and series.

This lesson will cover the basic, common law elements of defamation. The discussion will review the defamatory statement, truth, and publication concerning the plaintiff. The lesson will also cover the basic issues in privileges. Although substantial Constitutional issues now exist with defamation, those problems will be covered in a separate lesson.

This is a Lessonette® exercise on battered woman syndrome with respect to the defense of self-defense. Over the last few decades, there has developed in the legal literature a recognition of this, and other similar syndromes, in the context of homicide cases. The situation of an abused person who kills the abuser raises questions about the basis for a defense of self-defense in circumstances that might not easily fit into the traditional self-defense mold. Though courts allow the defense in many cases, the invocation of the defense still presents problems in certain situations. The purpose of this lesson is to explore those varying circumstances and the issues raised with respect to the possibility of a defendant invoking the defense of self-defense.

The focus of this lesson is on battered women, but there are others who might be identified as qualifying for a defense on the same theory. Included could be battered husbands, elderly parents, children, and so forth. Thus, this lesson will explore a number of the issues involved in the invocation of self-defense by such persons and to allow the student to test his or her understanding of how the defense works in such circumstances. The lesson explores when and how the defense can be invoked in various scenarios involving abused persons, and also considers the use of experts and jury instructions.

The lesson assumes a beginner's understanding of self-defense principles. However, working the lesson will also serve to enhance that understanding.

Battery Puzzlers is one of two lessons available from CALI on the intentional tort of battery. The other lesson Battery Basics, is designed for students who will spend little time on battery in their classes or are uncomfortable with their understanding of the tort. It is designed to provide a solid understanding of battery. This lesson, Battery Puzzlers, is for students who are already familiar with the tort and who want to deepen their understanding and analysis of battery. It asks questions at the borders of the tort and is designed to stimulate thinking about battery in new ways. It also requires students to apply the principles of the old tort of battery to today's new fact situations. Battery Puzzlers asks the puzzling questions that have stumped students about battery over the years.

In this podcast, Prof. Martin provides advice to students studying acceptance, the mirror image rule and the problem of the Battle of the
Forms. Prof. Martin's podcast expands on her coverage of this topic in her CALI lesson Battle of the Forms (UCC 2-207).

These lessons have been temporaily removed for revisions. Thank you for your patience. CALI

Effective December 1, 2006, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to reflect changes in discovery resulting from the electronic storage of information. CALI's lessons do not yet reflect these amendments. As each lesson is revised to reflect the amended rules, the lesson's catalog description will be updated to enable students and faculty to easily tell which lessons include the amended rules.

This game introduces students to pre-trial discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The discovery issues arise from the mass tort litigation begun in the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek flooding disaster of 1972. This game assumes the jurisdiction has not opted-out of the Rule 26 initial and pre-trial disclosure requirements.

In addition to problems about legal entitlement to discovery, the game asks players about their obligations to disclose information without awaiting a discovery request from their opponents. In many questions, after a description of potential items for disclosure or discovery, the player in possession of the information is asked if he or she wants to disclose it. Next, the receiving player is asked if he or she wants to seek discovery of the information in questions or additional information. Attorneys must decide whether the rules require disclosure of the items in question; whether to resist discovery; and must provide reasons for failing to disclose or resisting a discovery request. The computer plays the roles of the clerk of the court (to file motions) and Judge K. K. Hall (to rule on the motions and offer observations about the player’s performance). Players must also consider time, the cost of discovery litigation, the cost of compliance with requests, and their reputations.

This lesson will serve as an introduction to some of the secondary resources available in the field of California law. The topics covered include the online and print formats of treatises, practice guides and the state legal encyclopedia. No prior knowledge of California law or legal materials is required, however students should have a basic understanding of building search queries with Westlaw and Lexis.

This lesson may be worked in two parts. Part one deals with California treatises and the legal encyclopedia. Part two covers California practice guides.

This exercise begins by illustrating the distinction between cause in fact and legal or proximate cause and then utilizes questions intended to familiarize the student with the but for or sine qua non test and the substantial factor test. The exercise also covers issues relating to concurrent cause dilemmas and problems in identifying which harm was caused to the plaintiff by multiple negligent defendants.

This lesson is intended to be used as both an introduction to Child Custody Jurisdiction and as a review for students who have already studied the material.

Prof. Burnham, author of many CALI lessons and podcasts, discusses choice of law in contract cases. Choice of law occurs when there is an issue of which jurisdiction’s law the courts will apply to a substantive issue. Choice of law is not a question of where a case will be heard, but instead what law applies when hearing the case. Prof. Burnham discusses how parties can influence what law will apply as well as what restrictions apply when doing so. Also discussed are the older and revised versions of UCC Art. 1, specifically the requirement of a reasonable connection with the jurisdiction and determining whether the contract has a significant relationship with the jurisdiction.

This lesson is first in a series that takes a look at the basics of agreements governed by the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG provides a uniform set of rules for international sales contracts where the parties are located in different signatory countries. While some of the rules parallel those under the common law and Article 2 of the U.C.C., many are different. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for determining when the CISG applies and evaluating contracts governed by the CISG. The general attributes of domestic contracts and other CISG contracts are covered in other lessons.

This lesson covers the area traditionally known as "negligence per se." The problem of when can a civil or criminal statute be used as the standard of care in negligence cases is the primary matter discussed. The lesson gives some special attention to the "Dram Shop" example.

This lesson will introduce you to how codes are created, how they're organized, how they're published, and what it all means for your legal research. It is intended for first-year law students, or anyone who needs a refresher on the basics of this topic. This lesson assumes that you are familiar with how statutes are passed and how they're first published, either from your own knowledge or from the CALI lesson Introduction to State and Federal Statutes. For one of the questions in this lesson, you should have your Bluebook or ALWD Citation Manual handy.

This lesson is intended to familiarize the user with Colorado secondary legal research materials. The lesson focuses on secondary source material including: Colorado Practice, treatises, periodicals, CLEs and form books. No prior knowledge of Colorado legal research is necessary to follow this lesson. While this lesson is aimed primarily at first year law students who will be learning about these materials for the first time, each section may be used independently to brush up on Colorado-specific legal research skills.

The goal of this lesson is to introduce you to the basics of conducting company and industry research. Company research is the process of gathering information about a specific company. Once you have information about a company, you may need to know how that company is faring within its industry. Industry is a group of companies that produce similar products or provide similar services. Companies within an industry can be compared to one another or an analysis of the industry itself can be done to see how it is faring.

This is a basic lesson covering the common law doctrine of concurrence. At common law, crimes required not only an actus reus and a mens rea but concurrence of the two. Through use of scenarios involving the common law crimes of murder, robbery, burglary and larceny (which are briefly introduced), the requirements for concurrence are explored. In addition, also through the use of scenarios, the doctrine is distinguished from the related doctrines of causation and mistake. Finally, concurrence as to attendant circumstances is also addressed. After completing this lesson, the student should have a working knowledge of the common law doctrine of concurrence and some understanding of how modern common law jurisdictions deal with the issues raised by this doctrine. The lesson contains practice questions in a separate section that can be done independently of the lesson itself.

This lesson explores the various ways in which the criminal law considers victim consent. Topics include consent as negating an offense element, consent as justification, effective consent, and limitations on consent as a defense.

This lesson addresses a number of issues involving consideration, including whether there was a bargain, whether there is consideration for the settlement of a claim, and whether one of the promises was illusory. You should run it after you have run the lesson on Consideration: The Basics of Consideration and the Bargain Theory.

This lesson discusses the role of federal preemption in the implementation of environmental law. Specifically, when do federal environmental and natural resources statutes preempt, or displace, state laws on similar subjects? When are states free to enact their own environmental protections? What is the relationship between federal environmental law and state torts?

This lesson consists of 15 questions and is intended to work both as a review for students who have already studied these issues and as introduction for students new to the concept of federal preemption in environmental law.

This lesson assumes the basic issues in defamation have already been covered. Before working with this lesson, the lessons on Basic Issues in Defamation and Privileges and Libel and Slander should have already been reviewed. The material here will use that basic information to study the Constitutional issues that now control defamation. Among those issues are public and private figures, actual malice, burdens of proof, and damages.

This exercise provides a general overview of the Eighth Amendment as it applies to substantive criminal law. It outlines the Amendment's potential scope as well as its actual reach, as defined by the U.S. Supreme Court. Procedural criminal law (and the Court's capital punishment jurisprudence in particular) is ignored, except insofar as it bears on substantive criminal law or helps to define the Amendment's scope.

This lesson provides a graphic exploration of the complex and ambiguous placement of the administrative process in our constitutional scheme and the relationship of that process to the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

This lesson is intended as an overview of Constitutional Rights that are important in Family Law. It can be used at the beginning of the Family Law course as a refresher, or during the course to clarify general doctrine, or at the end of the course as review.

This lesson has two related lessons. Constitutional Powers and Structures Review for Family Law is an overview of the "structures" rather than the "rights" portions of Constitutional Law. The Constitutional Aspects of Family Law is a more extensive lesson which examines the constitutional dimensions of specific areas such as marriage, divorce, parenting, procreation, contraception, sexuality, and other issues.

This lesson covers Congress's authority to enact legislation pursuant to the Commerce Clause under the Supreme Court's rulings since 1995.

This is the second lesson of two designed to introduce the first year law student to the basic concepts involved in a contract for the purchase and sale of real estate.

This lesson is merely a basic introduction to prepare students for a traditional Property class. Therefore, one should not assume that this lesson would enable one to represent oneself or assist another in preparing or examining real estate contracts. Additional law school courses such as Real Estate Finance, Real Property Closing Workshop and the like, along with passing the bar exam, are needed before engaging in such responsibilities.

Furthermore, this lesson presumes the user has completed the first lesson, Contract for Purchase and Sale: Formation and Terms, before using this one.

[see CON02]

This lesson is designed for first-year contracts students to use prior to class discussion of the specific topics. It presents basic rules and definitions, a case or a statute, and then asks questions designed to test their understanding of the text. Each section concludes with a series of review questions.

This lesson covers 17 topics. Due to the lesson's length, it is highly recommended that students work through this lesson over several days. For students who wish to further their understanding of this material, CALI has additional lessons that address each of the topics covered in this lesson.

Topics include:

• The Expectation Measure
• Mitigation of Damages
• Expectation Damages in Sale of Goods
• Expectation Damages in Sale of Goods: When the Buyer Does Not Cover
• UCC Damages Rules for Breaching Buyers
• More UCC Damages Rules for Breaching Buyers
• Overhead and Profit
• Proving Damages
• Reliance Damages
• Liquidated Damages
• Specific Performance
• Cost of Completion
• Substantial Performance/Substantial Breach
• Excuse of Performance
• Foreseeability

This lesson gives the student familiarity with contributory negligence, a defense to a negligence claim, and also with last clear chance, a "defense" to the defense. While these doctrines today are on the wane, students should be generally familiar with them for a full understanding of negligence and comparative negligence.

This lesson gives the basics of copyright and trademark research, including historical background, statutes, regulations, cases, secondary sources, international materials, and current awareness tools.

We are all aware of the perils of poor electronic legal research skills. Whether it is the story of the summer associate who was not asked to return to the plumb job for dipping too deep into the Lexis® service budget or the firm librarian's challenge in negotiating a favorable contract with Westlaw® based upon prolonged use of the program by associates reading the daily New York Times, we have all heard of ways the misuse of electronic legal resources has challenged those engaged in legal practice.

Though Westlaw® and Lexis® service provide us with sophisticated functionality that can ease the pain of legal research, these systems do not necessarily provide the most cost efficient means of conducting research. You may think that using them makes better use of your time, which necessarily results in savings to your clients, but remember, you will bill for the time you invest in electronic researching, in addition to the cost of the research, and if you have not developed a strategy to search effectively, you may incur increased research costs and additional man hours.

This lesson will help you avoid the pitfalls of poor research strategy when using Lexis® service and Westlaw® and briefly introduce you to some cost-saving alternatives.

As with many areas of the law, especially the more complicated ones, there is more than one way to analyze a problem. Law students and attorneys regularly find the study of real covenants and equitable servitudes to be extremely difficult. Casebooks and hornbooks often address more than one topic at a time when dealing with legal materials.

In contrast, to facilitate students' learning and understanding, the series of lessons on real covenants and equitable servitudes provides an approach which breaks the study into more discreet, digestible components. This will not replace the traditional analysis regarding real covenants and servitudes. Rather, by mastering the lessons, students will be better able to understand traditional covenants analyses.

This tutorial is the first in a series of interactive tutorials written to assist the first year law student with a basic introduction to analyzing real covenants, equitable servitudes and similar use restrictions applied to real property. Once the student successfully completes the current lesson, he or she may later use the series of questions throughout this lesson as a preliminary review for a final examination. Also, the student will benefit more from these materials after having successfully completed the exercises addressing easements.

This lesson is designed to assist the first year Property student in analyzing the various questions arising from one's attempting to enforce real covenants and equitable servitudes. It follows in the order of the analytical process developed in the lesson on creating covenants and addresses the question "What is required for one to be able to enforce a real covenant, equitable servitude or restriction?"

This tutorial is the third in a series of lessons. To get the maximum benefit of CALI's alternative approach, before using this exercise, students should complete the following lessons in order: Covenants, Equitable Servitudes and Restrictions: Creation and Covenants, Equitable Servitudes and Restrictions: Determining Their Validity and Scope.

As with many areas of the law, especially the more complicated ones, there is more than one way to analyze a problem. Law students and attorneys regularly find the study of real covenants and equitable servitudes to be extremely difficult.

Casebooks and hornbooks often address more than one topic at a time when dealing with topics. In contrast, to facilitate students' learning and understanding, this series of lessons on real covenants and equitable servitudes provides an approach which breaks the study into more discreet, digestible components. This will not replace the traditional analysis regarding real covenants and servitudes. Rather, by mastering these lessons, students will be better able to understand traditional covenants analyses.

This lesson is designed to assist the first year Property student in analyzing the various questions arising from one's attempting to enforce real covenants and equitable servitudes. It follows in the order of the analytical process developed in the lesson on creating covenants and addresses the question "What defenses might be available to one against whom another is attempting to enforce a real covenant, equitable servitude or restriction?"

This tutorial is the fifth and final tutorial in a series of lessons. To get the maximum benefit of CALI's alternative approach, before using this exercise, students should complete the following lessons in order: Covenants, Equitable Servitudes and Restrictions: Creation, Covenants, Equitable Servitudes and Restrictions: Determining Their Validity and Scope, and Covenants and Equitable Servitudes: Who Has the Right to Enforce Covenants and Equitable Servitudes?

As with many areas of the law, especially the more complicated ones, there is more than one way to analyze a problem. Law students and attorneys regularly find the study of real covenants and equitable servitudes to be extremely difficult. Casebooks and hornbooks often address more than one topic at a time when dealing with legal issues. In contrast, to facilitate students' learning and understanding, CALI's series of lessons on real covenants and equitable servitudes provides an approach which breaks the study into more discreet, digestible components. This will not replace the traditional analysis regarding real covenants and servitudes. Rather, by mastering the CALI lessons, students will be better able to understand traditional covenants analyses.

The definition and location of customary international law is a difficult research task. This lesson begins by defining customary international law and placing customary international law into context through historical examples. Two research strategies for locating custom will be introduced. The first strategy is to locate pre-defined custom using a source that discusses state practice that has risen to the level of custom. The second and more complex strategy involves searching directly for evidence of customary international law.

This lesson deals with basic and specific measures of damages recoverable in torts for harms to the interest in maintaining the physical integrity of personal property. Invasions of this interest are distinct from invasions of the interest in exclusive possession and the interest in use and enjoyment, and the law of damages reflects the differences. In order to deal effectively with the differences, separate lessons treat the interests in possession and use and enjoyment. The substance of causes of action available in torts for recovering damages is not treated here.

Before working in this lesson the student should complete the lessons on General Concepts of Damages in Torts and Fundamentals of Damages for Harms to Personal Property.

This lesson deals with basic principles and measures of damages recoverable for harms to real property. The analysis to which students will be acquainted examines the harms in the context of three categories of interests to be protected by the law of damages. Those categories, which are separately treated in the lesson, are exclusive possession, physical integrity and use and enjoyment. The student will be given an opportunity to apply the principles and measures to concrete situations, some of which will raise issues about whether the principles and measures work well to protect the interests under examination. The lesson assumes the student is familiar with basic concepts of damages and has completed the lesson of that title.

This lesson covers the general principles and basic measures governing the remedy of damages for personal injuries. It explores issues and problems that confront a person seeking the damages remedy to address tortiously-inflicted physical harm.

The lesson considers the damages remedy by examining the general and special rules that govern legal protection of the interests in preserving bodily integrity, mental integrity, and ability to pursue a livelihood. In a series of situations presenting harms to those interests, the student will be asked to analyze the situations, then select, apply and assess those rules.

Working on the problems in the lesson will expose the student to concepts such as ascertainability; the collateral source rule; loss of earnings capacity; mental anguish; pain and suffering; prejudgment interest; reduction to present value; and work life expectancy among others.

A separate lesson, Damages for Injuries that Cause Death, deals with the issues and problems of remedying the ultimate physical injury. Before working in this lesson the student should first complete the lesson on General Concepts of Damages in Torts.

This Lessonette® exercise covers the subject of defense of others. In many respects an actor's right to defend another parallels his or her right to defend himself or herself. However, there are some specific exceptions and nuances that must be understood. It is the purpose of this lesson to cover those specifics and nuances in the context of some classic scenarios.

The justification defense of defense of others derives from two or three analogous old common law defenses: defense of self, prevention of crime, and perhaps protection of property. This lesson seeks to inform the student on the relationship of the defense of others to those other defenses. Although familiarity with those other defenses might assist a student working the lesson, one could learn about these other defenses from the lesson in the first instance.

The lesson contrasts the common law rules relating to the defense of others with the Model Penal Code provisions, as applied in recurring scenarios. The lesson also looks at jury instructions on defense of others. And, finally, the lesson focuses on the special rules relating to the duty to retreat in the context of the defense of others.

This lesson is designed to help students understand the term "search" as it is used under the Fourth Amendment. As we shall see, the term is a term of art which does not always correspond to popular conceptions or definitions of the term search. In this lesson, we explore the various facets and definitions of the term. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and who would like to refine their knowledge.

This lesson provides an introductory overview of the distinction between real property and personal property, including the historic origins of the distinction, the consequences of attaching things to land and severing things from land, the significance of fixtures, and examples of intangible property classified as real or personal property.

Prof. Andersen has written a CALI lesson that provides students with extensive flowcharts designed to aid in learning the analytical framework necessary for understanding the Dormant Commerce Clause. In this podcast, Prof. Andersen gives an overview of the Dormant Commerce Clause, including a brief discussion of the June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court Gonzales decision, concerning states regulation of medical marijuana. He also offers tips for tackling this topic and explains the best way to use his related lesson.

This exercise reviews the substance of contract law and demonstrates the application of the substantive law in the process of drafting. The exercise begins with a form contract. The student must rewrite the contract to suit the needs of the client. On completion, the student will have reviewed applicable principles from both the common law and the U.C.C. In addition, the student will have learned principles of drafting that can be applied either to revision of a form or to drafting from scratch.

Drafters of contracts, wills and statutes are plagued with the ambiguities inherent in the use of these two connectors. This lesson is designed to identify these ambiguities and then help students to draft with conjunctions which eliminate those ambiguities.

After completing this lesson students should be able not only to identify ambiguous uses of 'and' and 'or' so that they may better analyze contracts, wills or statutes which they read, but they should also be able to draft documents so that ambiguities are avoided. A variety of real life applications are presented for each drafting problem and students are called upon to draft solutions. Students will interview a client to determine which meaning is appropriate, thus reenforcing the notion that drafting is an iterative process calling upon the lawyer to identify and clarify ambiguities in the client's instructions.

This ambiguity inherent in 'and' and 'or' is discussed at length in Scott Burnham's Drafting and Analyzing Contracts (LexisNexis 3d edition). This lesson uses Burnham's taxonomy as its basis.

Duress is one of those concepts that is easy to define and hard to apply. The lesson explores which kinds of "threats" are likely to provide a defense to contract formation and which are not.

This lesson examines the distinction between easements appurtenant (easements that exist to benefit another parcel of land) and easements in gross (easements that benefit an individual or business entity without regard to his or its ownership of land).

This lesson examines the circumstances under which the law will imply an easement from prior existing use of the dominant and servient parcels. Each of the required elements for such implication: common ownership, prior use, severance and reasonable necessity are addressed specifically. The lesson also describes the different burden imposed when the common owner claims the benefit of the easement from that imposed when the grantee claims that benefit.

This lesson will introduce students to the estate in fee tail, one of the traditional estate in land recognized by Anglo-American Law. While the fee tail has been abolished in most American jurisdictions, it continues to be recognized in modified form in a few states. Understanding the fee tail will give you a better understanding of the system of estates in land as a whole. This lesson will describe: the characteristics of the traditional fee tail; the characteristics of the fee tail in those states which continue to recognize it today; and the treatment under modern statutes of attempts to create a fee tail in states which no longer recognize that estate.

This lesson has been revised to reflect the December 1, 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as they were re-written effective December 1, 2007.

This exercise has two purposes. The first is to engage students actively in legal analysis. Hence, the exercise contains some difficult questions that require careful thought. The second is to provide a survey of the rules of evidence in order to give students a deeper understanding of other subjects studied in Civil Procedure courses.

CALI's Director of Curriculum Development, Deb Quentel, spoke with six law professors about outlines, studying for class, preparing for exams, time management, and how professors grade exams. The conversations were recorded as podcasts. While these podcasts are not intended to take the place of a conversation with your professor, the professors hope that these podcasts give law students additional insight into the exam process.

Panel 2: Professors Ron Brown and Joe Grohman

Excuses I provides a general introduction to excuse defenses by placing them within the larger context of the analysis of criminal liability. More specifically, Excuses I covers duress, entrapment, and mistake (or "ignorance"). Insanity and infancy are covered in Excuses II.

This lesson focuses on the presidential version of executive privilege. The lesson examines the justifications for the privilege, the requirements for its invocation, and judicial handling of that privilege. The lesson is intended for students who have studied this privilege in class, and who wish to further refine their understanding of the topic.

The goal of this lesson is to take the user systematically through UCC Article 2. The lesson accomplishes this goal by having the user study a contract for the sale of goods. The concepts of Article 2 are thereby seen in the practical setting in which they are applied. Conversely, study of the contract reveals the source of each of the included provisions in the law. The user becomes familiar with the default rules and how those rules might be changed on behalf of a client. The user finishes with knowledge of the Code and how the Code may be applied in practice when drafting a contract.

This lesson introduces the student to the most common type of easement, the express easement. When we speak of an express easement we mean an easement that is voluntarily created by the parties to it. Express easements are to be contrasted with easements that are implied by law. Implied easements are the subject of another lesson.

Many important state concerns are within the power of states to regulate (e.g., highway safety, waste disposal, environmental degradation) but state regulation of such concerns can have, in today's world, substantial impacts outside the state. This program diagrams the three constitutional clauses which govern the validity of state impacts of this kind: the so-called Dormant Commerce Clause, the Supremacy Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

A basic diagram or flow-chart is developed, after which, the program provides summaries of the principal doctrines and digests of several of the landmark cases. The program is not an extended textual treatment of the issues; instead, it is an effort to show in graphic form the components of the various doctrines and how they relate. From there, the student should be able to read other cases and texts with more understanding.

This lesson on federal tax research covers the legislative, administrative, and judicial materials used in the specialized area of tax law. A basic knowledge of primary sources such as statutes, regulations, and cases; secondary sources such as treatises, law reviews, newsletters, citators, digests, and periodical indexes is assumed. Federal taxation is a specialized field with many publications devoted solely to federal taxes. For general background there are many excellent CALI lessons, including, but not limited to Researching Federal Legislative History, Forms of Statutory Publication, Introduction to Secondary Resources, and Updating/Validating Case Law Using Citators.

This exercise is designed as a basic introduction for the first year law student to the fundamental principles involved in real estate financing, including mortgages, deeds of trust and installment land sales contracts. However, real estate financing is a complicated topic and best dealt with in an upper division Real Estate Finance class. So, this interactive tutorial will not complete the topic, except as typically addressed in a first year Property class.

This exercise is intended to do 2 things: 1) teach you the basic approaches to finding statutes, and 2) provide you with review exercises to reinforce your understanding. It is assumed you are already familiar with the forms of statutory publication when you run this lesson. See the lessons "Introduction to State and Federal Statutes" or "Forms of Federal Statutory Publication" if you need to review these matters first.

While this lesson is intended for first year students, the review sections may be used independently to ‘refresh your recollection,’ so if you haven’t had to deal with statute research for awhile and now have to do it, you can brush up your skills.

This lesson introduces the various types of secondary sources available to research Florida law.

This lesson deals with the formation of contracts under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (excluding 2-207 issues). At common law, a contract is formed often by the showing of mutual assent plus a consideration. The rule is reversed under the Uniform Commercial Code, however. Under UCC 2-204, a contract can be formed in any manner sufficient to show agreement, even if the parties leave open terms. This lesson will explore the effect of the difference in formation between common law and Article 2. You can work this lesson as an introduction to the formation of contracts under the UCC or as a review. The material in this lesson may be a more in-depth study of Article 2 than some first year contracts courses require. However, prior to working this lesson, you should have an understanding of the common law on offer, acceptance and mutual assent.

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the Fourth Amendment prohibition against "unreasonable searches and seizures." The goal is to provide students with an overview of the history of the Fourth Amendment, as well as an introduction to the warrant requirement and the concept of warrantless searches. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and wish to refine their knowledge.

This lesson focuses on the justifications for giving Freedom of Speech, as protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, a privileged and preferred position vis-à-vis other rights. It begins with an analysis of historical antecedents, and concludes with an analysis of the justifications themselves. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and wish to refine and enhance their knowledge.

This lesson reviews the key aspects of the Merger Rule, the Rule in Shelley's Case and the Doctrine of Worthier Title. These three rules transform future interests in certain types of conveyances and should be learned after one has mastered the classification of estates and future interests and before one studies the Rule Against Perpetuities.

This lesson discusses the standard of care of professionals. The initial sections illustrate the general duty of professionals and highlight special problems associated with the professional standard. Special attention is then directed toward the malpractice action against attorneys.

This lesson is intended to familiarize the reader with Georgia legal research materials. The lesson focuses on Georgia's primary source material including cases and digests, citators, statutes, administrative materials, court rules and ethics.

This lesson follows up and builds upon the material in the lesson on Inter Vivos Gifts, but focuses instead upon transfers at death or in anticipation of death. The lesson should help students to understand the following: the requirements necessary for an effective testamentary or causa mortis gift; the functions these requirements serve; the policies implicated by the law of gifts made at death or in anticipation of death; the extent to which the donor may make an inter vivos gift of a future interest in property; and how courts have distinguished inter vivos gifts of future interests from testamentary gifts.

This lesson is intended to familiarize the user with the range of documents produced by the Federal government, where they can be found, and how they can be used in a law practice. The lesson focuses on issues surrounding government documents including: authenticity, how to find and use government documents, and statistics. While this lesson is aimed primarily at second and third year law students who will be learning about these materials for the first time, each section may be used independently to gain knowledge about the particular topic involved.

Knowing when to stop is important for efficient and cost effective legal research. This exercise will cover several factors which you may wish to consider.

This is one of a series of lessons on homicide, and one of two lessons on the issue of causation in homicide cases. While some crimes require only a prohibited act, with the necessary mental state, other crimes are referred to as "result" crimes. In other words, in order to be convicted, the defendant must "cause" a prohibited result (with the required mens rea and with proof of required attendant circumstances). Homicide is the quintessential result crime in that defendant must have "caused" the death of another in order to be convicted. In this lesson, we explore the concept of causation (both actual and legal) in an effort to determine when, and under what circumstances, a defendant should be criminally accountable for the death of another. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine their knowledge and understanding of the topic.

This is one of a series of lessons on homicide, and it deals with the topic of felony murder. At common law, one way to commit murder was to show that defendant caused the death of another during commission of a felony (the so-called "felony murder doctrine"). This lesson examines that doctrine. It is intended for students who have studied the doctrine in class and who seek to refine their knowledge and understanding of the doctrine.

At common law, as well as under modern statutory codes, the crime of murder was defined as a homicide committed with "malice aforethought." Some modern statutes divide the crime of murder into degrees. In this lesson, we examine these statutes in an effort to see when and how they apply. The lesson is intended for students who have studied the murder by degree statutes in class, and who wish to refine and enhance their knowledge and understanding of the topic.

This is one of a series of lessons on homicide. Earlier lessons provide an overview of the crime of homicide, and individual lessons focus on such topics as murder, manslaughter and other crimes. This lesson focuses on the so-called unlawful act manslaughter doctrine. The lesson is intended for students who have studied this doctrine in class and who wish to refine their knowledge of the topic.

This exercise will provide the student with a detailed introduction to using the digests to find case law. Example pages from the West reporters and digests are provided and hypothetical research issues are demonstrated to show how these books are used.

Note: A brief excerpt from this lesson is available as the separate CALI Lesson "Anatomy of a Case".

This lesson explores the defense that a contract is illegal. In some cases, the legislature has ruled that certain kinds of contracts are illegal, while in other cases it is up to the court to make the determination. This lesson examines the criteria used to make that determination and the consequences to the parties if the determination is made. It also examines the ethics of a contract drafter including illegal provisions in a contract.

The terms of a contract include express and implied promises, conditions, provisos and presuppositions that bind the parties. Contracts often have "gaps" in them, either intentionally or unintentionally left that way by the parties. This exercise considers how courts supply terms to fill those gaps both at common law and under the UCC.

This lesson will introduce you to the basic sources for finding primary law in Indiana, and how to use them.

This is an exercise requiring the student to apply the concept of intent, as defined in Restatement (Second) of Torts. The student is asked (1) to approve or disapprove asserted propositions applying the concept to a fact situation; (2) to identify the errors in erroneous propositions; (3) to indicate how erroneous propositions can be corrected; and (4) to identify, in the role of associate counsel at trial, appropriate grounds of objection to a proposed charge to the jury.

This lesson is designed to lead the student through exploration of the intentional torts. It is divided into intent, torts against person, torts against property, and defenses. Each of these sections is subdivided: for example, the torts against person section contains questions on battery, assault, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of mental distress. This organization allows use of the lesson in various ways. A student can divide the lesson into segments of differing size, such as consideration of a single tort in a single sitting, or consideration of all of the torts against property in a single sitting. Also, students will find value in the questions before, during, or after classroom work on the torts. Some professors may choose to assign the lesson in lieu of class time on the subject. The questions lead the student far beyond the elements of the torts into factual applications, policy considerations, and argument evaluation.

Numerous hypertext links and citations to authorities invite the student to consideration of differing views and to further research into the area. The lesson often engages the student in a "dialogue" on the merit of a response.

This lesson demonstrates the way in which internet searching can provide access to internal administrative agency materials.

Interpretation involves an ascertainment of the meaning of a contract. Whereas "construction" of a contract relates to the legal effect of the words used by the parties, "interpretation" addresses the meaning of the parties. Whose meaning is to be given effect with respect to certain contract terms? What evidence may be taken into account when courts engage in interpretation? In another lesson, the discussion of the parol evidence rule relates to the admissibility of agreements made prior to or contemporaneous with the writing. Here, the parol evidence rule will be considered with respect to the admissibility of extrinsic evidence to determine the meaning of the contract as formed.

This Lessonette® deals with the question of when and why an event that intervenes between the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's injury may have the result that the defendant is relieved of liability for the injury.

This lesson gives a brief introduction to some of the basic concepts in foreign legal research, such as foreign legal systems, availability of materials, and research strategies.

This is an introductory lesson for international human rights law and research. The lesson contains four parts. Part I is designed to provide the user with a basic understanding of the development of human rights. Part II introduces the user to the United Nations and regional human rights structures. A researcher must be aware of the structure of the complaint and enforcement systems in order to locate and understand the significance of human rights materials. As a result, a significant amount of time is devoted to this section. Part III contains a discussion of resources available to assist users developing a contextual understanding of human rights issues. The lesson concludes with an overview of resources available for substantive human rights research.

Although humanitarian law or the law of armed conflict is occasionally discussed as a branch of human rights law, this topic is beyond the scope of this introductory lesson. Additionally, this lesson is not intended to cover international criminal law research regarding violations of human rights norms, such as the prohibition on genocide.

This lesson will provide an overview of secondary resources used in legal research. Secondary resources are books and other material ABOUT legal subjects and issues: they discuss and explain primary resources such as cases and statutes and can be useful in assisting our understanding about specific areas of law. The student will learn about the different types of secondary resources and what secondary resources are most useful for specific types of legal research tasks.

This lesson will help you master legal citations using the California Style Manual, Fourth Edition (hereinafter "Manual"). This exercise is to assist you to master the specific rules of citation for your briefs and legal memoranda. It does not deal with proper citation formats for law review footnotes. Throughout this lesson, you will be asked to read specific portions of the Manual and apply that knowledge to answer interactive exercises.

You may complete the entire lesson at one time or complete segments as you cover various parts of the Manual.

This lesson introduces a modern approach to writing issue statements for traditional memos and briefs. The lesson steers users away from single-sentence issue statements. It bases much of its approach on the syllogism.

Effective December 1, 2006, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to reflect changes in discovery resulting from the electronic storage of information. CALI's lessons do not yet reflect these amendments. As each lesson is revised to reflect the amended rules, the lesson's catalog description will be updated to enable students and faculty to easily tell which lessons include the amended rules.

This exercise is designed to help students learn the principles of joinder under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It is designed to be used in different ways. Students may use it as a tutorial to accompany assigned readings, as a supplement to reinforce concepts discussed in class, or as a review before exams. The tutorial is interactive, requiring the student to respond to various questions and hypotheticals to learn the principles embodied in the rules. It does not assume any specific knowledge of the joinder rules - it is designed to teach the rules from scratch.

The exercise uses hypertext links between various parts of the tutorial. These links offer students options in navigating through the lesson so they are not forced to follow a particular order. The user is the master of the organization. All of the rules and statutes that are needed are available as part of the lesson and may be viewed at any time by selecting an on-screen button.

The lesson includes units on a variety of joinder topics: Claim Joinder (Rule 18); Party Joinder (Rule 20); Counterclaims; Cross-claims; Third-Party Claims (Rule 14); Compulsory Joinder (Rule 19); and Intervention (Rule 24). It also contains an extensive unit devoted to the Subject Matter Jurisdiction problems raised by these rules. Finally, there is a review unit to allow the user to apply the principles learned in the lesson. The exercise is not tied to the organization of any particular civil procedure text.

This lesson has been revised to reflect the December 1, 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as they were re-written effective December 1, 2007.

Students are asked to analyze and synthesize three federal cases on directed verdicts, answering questions about the standards set forth in the cases.

This exercise is designed for a student who has already read most of the material on personal jurisdiction in a typical first year civil procedure course. The topics covered include: the "minimum contacts" test as a measure of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, the interpretation and application of typical longarm statutes, the interplay of statutory interpretation with the constitutional requirements, the difference between "specific" and "general" jurisdiction, the extent to which a defendant may contractually waive jurisdiction protections, an exploration of the different ways in which the jurisdictional rules apply depending on whether the defendant is an individual or a corporation, and the continued viability of the concept of "transient" jurisdiction.

The above topics are explored through a series of hypotheticals, beginning with an extended variation on the facts of International Shoe. The two predominant jurisdictional statutes used in the exercise are the Uniform Interstate and International Procedure Act and the Rhode Island (California) statute which extends jurisdiction to the limits of the Due Process Clause. At appropriate points in the exercise students are able to refer back to the introductory fact situations, the Uniform Act, a list of important citations and previous related questions. The exercise is divided into three parts, so that one part can be conveniently done at a sitting.

This lesson provides an introductory overview of landlord-tenant law, including: the historical origins of non-freehold estates; basic vocabulary of landlord-tenant law, including the concept of rent; the significance of leases as a mechanism for gaining the right to use and possess land; and the conveyance and contract theories of landlord-tenant law as alternative approaches for fashioning legal rules.

This lesson examines the duty of the landlord to deliver possession of the leased premises to the tenant. Courts have split as to whether the landlord has an implied duty to deliver actual physical possession of the property. Express lease provisions that bear on the delivery of possession are also considered. There is also a short discussion of a related topic: covenants of title in leases.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the covenant of quiet enjoyment. Topics include use of an express covenant of quiet enjoyment, including variations in wording; implication of the covenant; the scope of the covenant (protection against the landlord; persons claiming through the landlord; and paramount titleholders), actual eviction; and remedies for breach of quiet enjoyment.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the tenancy at sufferance, also known as the estate at sufferance. A tenant at sufferance is also known as a holdover tenant. Topics include: creation of the tenancy at sufferance by express and implied agreement; the liability of the tenant at sufferance for rent and other obligations; and the landlord's choices in treating the tenant at sufferance as a trespasser or as a tenant for a new term.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law covers the tenancy for years, also known as the estate for years, term for years, or term of years. The following topics are addressed: limits on the parties' choice as to duration of the term; the requirement that the term have a definite ending date; treatment of a lease to commence in the future; termination of the tenancy for years; and the use of renewal options and terms.

This CALI lesson is about Legal Encyclopedias. As one of the main types of secondary resources for legal research, Legal Encyclopedias can be useful for a variety of basic legal research tasks. This lesson will give you an overview of legal encyclopedias, explain how they are used in legal research, and run through a couple of hypotheticals using legal encyclopedias. The lesson focuses on the two legal encyclopedias covering American Law in general, Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) and American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur 2d) and gives some examples of state legal encyclopedias.

This exercise is designed to help law students develop their abilities to handle legal research assignments. Students who have some experience doing legal research or who have completed their first year legal research course will benefit the most. However, these lessons may be used to supplement the learning process for students studying legal research for the first time.

A series of tutorials lead students through situations and problems commonly given to new attorneys and student interns. Each section contains questions that test the students' responses to different situations and their understanding of the reasons behind legal research. Throughout the exercise additional information about such topics as legal ethics, malpractice, and legal bibliography is weaved into the questions through pop-up windows. Responses to particular questions may draw students into a mini-lesson, further testing their comprehension and expanding their viewpoints. The exercise begins with Brain Storming where students learn to interpret and analyze research assignments. Developing a Query Statement underscores the need to lucidly define research issues and create a list of search terms. In Documentation, students discover the benefits and necessity of keeping a research log. The techniques of strategic analysis, cost-effective research, and updating are covered in Research Process. Finally, there are a series of questions in Finishing Research that focus on learning when-to-stop. The exercises use realistic research problems and demand that students begin to think logically and practically about legal research.

This lesson deals with liability for defectively designed products and products that are defective because of an inadequate warning. It does not consider liability for defectively manufactured products, which are dealt with in the lesson Liability for Defectively Manufactured Products. It begins by comparing the two predominant tests for determining whether a product is defectively designed (the consumer expectations test and the risk/utility test), then considers the impact of warnings, including a consideration of the learned intermediary doctrine.

One of the difficult common law issues in defamation was the distinction between libel and slander. This lesson explains the differences between the two types of defamatory statements. Material is provided on the damage requirements of both. This lesson is part of a series about defamation. One should review the lesson on Basic Issues in Defamation and Privileges before working with this exercise. After finishing this one, the exercise on Constitutional Issues in Defamation should be covered.

This lesson will examine the life estate, the shortest freehold estate in land recognized by Anglo-American law. This lesson covers: the definition of the life estate; how the life estate is created along with associated problems; and legal characteristics of the life estate, including the complex legal relationship of the owner of a life estate to the holders of future interests in the land following the life estate.

This lesson provides a thorough overview of Louisiana Primary Legal Resources. It covers resources that will be familiar to legal researchers from other jurisdictions and examines resources that are unique to Louisiana.

This lesson concerns Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), a difficult and important case in Constitutional Law. It is contained in every Constitutional Law casebook and usually appears as one of the first cases. This lesson is designed to assist students to understand Marbury v. Madison and its relevance.

This lesson provides an introduction to research using primary sources of Maryland law, including case reporters and digests, statutes, legislative history, agency regulations and decisions, and attorney general opinions.

This lesson covers medical research, as opposed to health law research. This lesson will emphasize resources that are free of charge, although it should be noted that there are also many fee-based services that provide the full text of medical resources; among these is Westlaw's "Medical Litigator," unveiled in early 2007, which provides some access to medical information.

This lesson addresses the oft-stated maxim that ignorance or mistake of law is no defense and examines its relevance under the Model Penal Code. Using sample statutes and scenarios, it demonstrates that, as a general principle, no state of mind is required as to whether a defendant's conduct constitutes an offense. The Lesson explores the policies behind the rule and its "reasonable reliance" exceptions. Students have an opportunity to practice applying the various exceptions and to gain an understanding of the burden of proof regarding the reasonable reliance defense.

This Lessonette® exercise, which assumes basic understanding of the default rules of construction, introduces the concept of mistake under the Model Penal Code. It is fairly basic in its coverage. The lesson introduces the MPC approach to mistake and relates it to common law doctrines. Using sample statutes and scenarios, it shows the relationship between the required state of mind and mistake and demonstrates how reasonableness is not generally required in MPC analysis. It then covers the difficult concepts addressed in § 2.04(2) (guilt of lesser offenses where defendant makes a "culpable" mistake) and explores the policy underpinnings of this rule. At the conclusion of the lesson, students should have an understanding of how the MPC deals with claims of ignorance and mistake. The lesson provides a separate section of review/practice questions.

One of the limitations on the damages a plaintiff can recover for breach of contract is that the plaintiff has a duty to keep the damages as low as reasonably possible. This lesson explores this principle, which is called mitigation. The lesson can be run either as an introduction to mitigation or as a review after you have completed your study.

This lesson lays the foundation for the advanced study of mortgages and financing that is based on the security of mortgage, mortgage variants, and mortgage substitutes.

This lesson explores one of the fundamental requirements for contract formation, mutual assent. Mutual Assent is a mutual manifestation of assent to the terms of an agreement. This lesson looks at how parties establish mutual assent, including manifestations of mutual assent by words and conduct and the effect of misunderstanding. However, the attributes of offer and acceptance are covered in other lessons. This lesson concludes with a sample analysis exercise involving mutual assent.

This exercise introduces Nebraska primary legal materials, focusing on the Legislative and Judicial branches. Upon the completion of this exercise, users should have a working knowledge of the Legislative and Judicial processes in Nebraska. Users will be able to identify the resources available from each branch, what is found in each resource, and how to properly update the resources.

The traditional division of negligence into duty, breach of duty, causation (cause in fact and proximate cause), and damages provides the structure of this lesson. The student will find navigation to an individual section or even to an individual area (such as res ipsa loquitur within breach of duty) easy. The most likely use of the lesson is as a review and test of understanding following classroom discussion, but the questions can also be used to preview that discussion. Because the lesson is lengthy, the student is invited to divide it into at least two sessions. The lesson is designed to reinforce the student's understanding of the basic law of negligence, and then to lead far beyond the elements of the tort into factual applications, policy considerations, and argument evaluation.

Numerous hypertext links and citations to authorities invite the student to consideration of differing views and to further research into the area. The lesson often engages the student in a "dialogue" on the merit of a response.

This lesson is intended to acquaint students with basic information regarding sources of primary law in New York state: case law, statutes and regulations. It can be used to supplement instruction in introductory Research and Writing courses or as a freestanding introduction to doing New York legal research.

This lesson focuses on the distinction between invitees and licensees, and the duty owed by an occupier to each category of entrant. It includes problems designed to test student understanding of the distinction between licensees and invitees, and to highlight the differences between the duties owed to each.

This exercise deals with offer, an essential element of the bargaining process. There are basically three requirements to establish an offer: (1) intent; (2) definiteness; and (3) communication to the offeree.

In the criminal law, culpability can be premised upon either an "act" or (in appropriate cases) an "omission" to act. In this lesson, we examine the concept of culpability for omissions, and we explore the limits of criminal culpability. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to further refine their knowledge.

This lesson provides an overview of Contract Law, including the sources of Contract Law. The lesson can be run either as an introduction to Contract Law or as a review any time during or after your study of Contract Law.

This lesson will provide an interactive overview of Pennsylvania Primary Resources. Follow Will Penn as he learns to research Pennsylvania's Constitution, Statutes, Legislative History, Administrative Regulations, Case Law, Citators, Court Rules & Briefs.

In legal research, it is often easier to begin with secondary sources rather than plunge directly into the search for primary legal authority on your topic. You may want to use secondary sources to find a summary of an area of law, to scope out a legal field to identify more precise topics for your research, and/or as a way to find (through citations) specific references to primary authority that is relevant to your research.

This lesson covers two of the most important external finding tools--periodicals indexes and library catalogs--that you can use to help find secondary sources relevant to your research. In the course of this lesson, you will learn how these tools are organized, and how to use them to identify periodical articles and books on a topic.

This lesson has been revised to reflect the December 1, 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as they were re-written effective December 1, 2007.

This exercise is in three parts. First, the student surveys the basic law of preclusion (both claim preclusion and issue preclusion) to test and to solidify understanding of the area. The questions explore the elements of the doctrines, such as the requirements of a final judgment and necessary decision of an issue, as applied to various fact situations. Hypertext is available at all times for quick review or checking of the elements. The second part of the exercise becomes more complex as it turns to heavy emphasis on the policies behind issue preclusion. The student analyzes each fact situation from two perspectives: Blackletter Bart, who takes a rule-bound approach to issue preclusion, and Functional Felicia, who takes a policy-oriented approach to issue preclusion. Third, the student answers questions developing the abandonment by the courts of the requirement of mutuality for issue preclusion. Both defensive collateral estoppel and offensive collateral estoppel, from the perspectives of both the plaintiff and the defendant, are analyzed.

This exercise introduces one of the most significant vehicles for acquisition of an easement without the agreement of the servient landowner. Prescriptive Easements (also known as Easements by Prescription) arise out of open, notorious, adverse and continuous use of another person's land for the statutorily determined period of time. Through this use, a person essentially "adversely possesses" an easement over another's land. This tutorial introduces the user to the significant hurdles that face a claimant of an easement by prescription.

The purpose of this CALI lesson is to guide students who are not experienced in researching private international law questions.

This series of three lessons consists chiefly of hypothetical factual situations designed to reinforce the student’s skills in applying the major principles and precepts of basic property law. The student is expected to determine the correct answers by reasoning from hypothetical facts through the applicable precepts and principles, rather than merely being able to identify the rules that apply. The program responds to student answers by suggesting, in windows on the screen, reasons which make the correct answers correct and the wrong answers incorrect. Use of these programs is even more effective in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This series consists chiefly of hypothetical factual situations designed to reinforce the student's skills in applying the major principles and precepts of basic property law. The student is expected to determine the correct answers by reasoning from hypothetical facts through the applicable precepts and principles, rather than merely being able to identify the rules that apply. The program responds to student answers by suggesting, in windows on the screen, reasons which make the correct answers correct and the wrong answers incorrect. Use of these programs is even more effective in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.