1L - First Year Lesson Topics

The requirement of "probable cause" is an integral part of the Fourth Amendment. The Amendment specifically provides that a warrant may not issue except on probable cause. In addition, some exceptions to the warrant requirement necessitate a finding of probable cause. This lesson examines the concept of probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. This lesson is intended for students who have studied the concept of probable cause in class and wish to refine their knowledge and understanding.

This lesson consists of 60 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. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This lesson consists of 60 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. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This lesson consists of 60 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. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

These terms are the building blocks of contracts. This lesson provides an overview of them. After running the lesson, you should be able to distinguish the different terms, recognize them when you find them in a contract, understand the legal effects that follow from their use, and decide which one is appropriate to use when drafting a term in a contract.

This lesson covers punctuation and some key points of grammar every law student should know. Getting these key rules down will keep you from losing credibility with your legal-writing teacher, employers, clients, and judges.

Most students do all right with commas, periods, sentence fragments, and verb agreement. But what about colons, dashes, passive voice, and parallelism? This lesson covers several advanced topics in grammar and punctuation for the legal writer who is ready to move beyond the basics.

This exercise introduces students to the four standard theories of punishment, retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. It familiarizes students with the basic features of each theory in the context of particular statutory provisions and hypotheticals drawn from the law of crimes (substantive criminal law) and the law of punishments (sentencing law).

In this lesson, we will provide some steps you can follow to improve your reading comprehension.