This is one of a series of lessons on homicide. In earlier lessons, we focused on the crime of murder, examining the common law, modern statutes and the Model Penal Code formulation. In this lesson, we continue our examination of homicide by focusing on the crime of involuntary manslaughter. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine and enhance their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
1L - First Year Lesson Topics
This set of Topics covers subjects typically taught during the first year of law school.
Read More
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.
At common law, as well as under modern statutory codes, the crime of homicide was (and is) divided into various component crimes. In addition to the crime of murder, the most serious crime, there are other crimes (e.g., voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, etc.). This lesson provides an overview of the crime of murder by examining how that crime was handled under the common law, as well as how it is handled under the Model Penal Code, and other modern statutory approaches. Subsequent lessons will provide more detailed examination of these topics. This lesson is intended for students who have studied the crime of murder 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 is an exercise designed to introduce first-semester law and graduate students to the basic elements of a typical case "brief" and to teach them general methodology for writing their own briefs. The exercise consists of three parts: (1) an introduction to the purposes and uses of a case brief; (2) a detailed examination of each of the ten components of a typical case brief (with examples); and (3) two actual cases that students are asked to read and then to brief, using the methodology described in this exercise. A sample brief for each of the two cases is also provided, thereby allowing students to correct and modify their briefs by way of comparison.
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.
Lesson of the Week
How to Learn from Exams
This lesson explores one of the fundamental lawyering skills, which is self assessment. This lesson looks at how to learn from success and failures. Primarily, it focuses on what to do after a quiz, midterm, or final exam, and how to continue learning from those assessments.
Professor Ron Eades has taught Torts Law for over 25 years. In this podcast Prof. Eades offers advice on preparing for class, classroom dynamics, note taking, post-class studying, outlining, ways to measure your progress, "pitfalls" to studying Torts, what students should try and get from class.
Lesson of the Week
How to Research American Constitutional Law
This lesson will cover how to conduct legal research about the U.S. Constitution.
Through this introductory lesson, students will learn how federal laws are made and about the federal legislative process. Students will also learn about the various types of documents that are created as a proposed bill works its way through Congress. These documents comprise the legislative history of an enacted law.
Lesson of the Week
How to Research Foreign Constitutions
This lesson will cover how to research the constitutions of countries besides the United States.
This lesson covers the basics of how to research U.S. patent law. It covers both print and online resources, and gives you a thorough introduction to the primary sources of patent law. It also demonstrates the various types of secondary resources that can be useful when researching patent law.
Lesson of the Week
Hybrid Transactions
This lesson reviews the 2022 Amendments to UCC Article 2 that explain what law to apply to a "hybrid transaction" -- a transaction that involves both the sale of goods and something else. After completing the lesson, students will be able to determine whether a transaction is a hybrid transaction, which aspects predominate, and what law to apply to each aspect.
Lesson of the Week
Hyped About Hypos
Law students often hear about the importance of "doing hypos" but don't know why they are important, where to find them, how to do them, and so on. This lesson will cover the what, why, when, where, and how of hypos so law students can conquer the material they are learning and be prepared for exams.
This lesson will familiarize you with primary and secondary sources available in Idaho. It covers the Idaho primary law including the Idaho Constitution, statutes, legislative history, municipal codes, administrative law, and court decisions. The secondary sources portion of the lesson provides a general overview of secondary sources and how you can use them in your research as well as coverage of Idaho specific secondary sources.
This lesson provides an introduction to primary sources of law in Illinois.
This lesson provides an introduction to Illinois focused secondary sources. The reader will learn how to use these sources in both print and digital formats.
This exercise examines the requirements for implication of an easement of necessity. Implied easements of necessity arise when, as a result of an owner of land transferring part of his land, either the transferred part or the retained part is landlocked such that the owner of that parcel cannot gain access to it.
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 takes a look at the doctrine of excuse. In particular, we will look at the doctrines of impossibility, frustration of purpose and impracticability. Each of these doctrines excuses performance of the parties to the agreement. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for when courts excuse contract performance and evaluating those situations that merit excuse. The general attributes of contract formation and breach are covered in other lessons.
Lesson of the Week
Improving Exam Writing with Deductive Reasoning
Most law students do not know what professors expect on law school exams. Students wonder what will score more points. In general, law school exam answers that score the highest tend to use a specific deductive argument structure. This lesson explains deductive argument structure and how to employ it on an exam.
The Lesson concerns the constitutional doctrine and theories of incorporation regarding whether the federal government, the state government, or both are bound by the specific individual constitutional rights in the Bill of Rights.
At common law, in order for a contract to be binding on the parties, the terms must be sufficiently definite or the contract will fail. This lesson explores the boundaries of the doctrine of indefiniteness.