Admissions

Contracts Preview Course

Faculty:
Professor Graves has been teaching Contracts for 14 years. He has authored numerous articles and books on contract law, including his recent Learning Contracts—a primary text for first year Contracts published by West Academic Publishing as part of its new and innovative Learning series (excerpts will be used in this course). Professor Graves has earned a reputation at multiple law schools as a challenging first year teacher. Would you like to find out if you are up to the challenge?
 
Course Overview:
This course will introduce students to the law of Contracts, as studied in a typical 1L curriculum.
Students will learn the basic nature of a contract and the essential requirements for its formation and enforcement. They will also be exposed to the big picture of contract law, as context for the myriad of details typically presented in a first year course (which all too often begins with a series of frequently arcane rules without any context whatsoever). Students will have multiple opportunities to apply what they learn, including a summative assessment in the final class.
 
Course Objectives:
  • To introduce you to the study of Contracts—a core subject in the first year of law school
  • To give you an edge in understanding Contracts, which many 1L students find challenging
  • To give you the opportunity to develop your analytical skills in the context of Contract law
  • To help you to understand the big picture of Contract law

Week

Topics

Class Preparation

Week 1

Introduction to the Nature of a Contract as a “Consensual Bargain”

What does it mean to be “bound” to an “enforceable” contract?

Readings, videos, and basic exercises to be distributed at the beginning of the week and completed in advance of the online course meeting for that week

Week 2

Offer & Acceptance: The Genesis of a Contract

Week 3

Applying the Basic Rules of Offer and Acceptance to Analyze a Contract Dispute (explanation and application of basic “IRAC” Analysis in the Context of Contract Law)

Week 4

A Global View of Contract Law through the Lens of Contract Remedies

What do contracting parties expect?

Final Assessment

 
 

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