2L-3L Upper Level Lesson Topics

A large percentage of litigation arising out of contracts results from poor drafting. In order to eliminate this litigation, it is imperative that students and legal professionals master good drafting skills. One of the most important aspects of drafting a contract is the operative language--language that affects legal relationships. This lesson is designed to introduce law students to operative language commonly used in drafting contracts, in particular, language of obligation (shall), language of authorization (may) and language of condition precedent (must).

This lesson explores the legal aspects of drones in both military and civilian settings.

This lesson covers the historical evolution of Congress's authority to enact legislation pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Congress's contemporary Commerce Clause authority is covered in a separate lesson.

This lesson explores the many uses of the doctrine of election of remedies. Students will discover that attorneys will invoke the doctrine of election of remedies to enforce statutory or contractual exclusivity of remedy; to require plaintiffs to be bound by their intentional choice; to protect defendants from prejudice due to their detrimental reliance on plaintiff's actions; to eliminate double recovery for the same wrong; or to eliminate splitting and relitigation of claims. By working through the problems in this lesson, students will become familiar with the many different purposes of the doctrine and recognize the overlap with other remedial doctrines, such as waiver, estoppel, laches, and res judicata.

This exercise is designed for use in conjunction with any Federal Courts, Federal Jurisdiction, or Civil Rights course that covers the Eleventh Amendment. The exercise takes the student through attempts to bring a federal lawsuit to rectify substandard conditions at a home for the mentally ill.

When an employer breaches an employment contract, the employee might seek any of several different types of remedies. In general, it will be difficult (if not impossible) for the employee to obtain injunctive relief against the employer. As a result, most of the litigation focuses on damages and the level of recovery that an employee might obtain against a breaching employer. This lesson focuses on the employee damage remedy, and is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and wish to refine their knowledge.

This lesson examines the creation of the employer/employee relationship (formerly master/servant relationship) in agency law and contrasts that relationship with the status of independent contractor. The lesson provides an opportunity to think about why the distinction is important and how to tell whether a given relationship rises to the level of being an employer/employee relationship or is merely an independent contractor relationship.

This lesson deals with issues related to an employer's damage remedies for breach of an employment contract. As we shall see, employers might be able to claim various types of remedies depending on the circumstances and context. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class and wish to expand and refine their knowledge.

This lesson is a review of child support enforcement at both the state and federal levels.

This is the first in a series of three lessons on limited liability companies. It provides a comparative overview of unincorporated entities such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and limited liability companies (LLCs), and incorporated entities including S and C corporations.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 8 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews EPA's role in the section 404 permitting process and EPA's veto authority.

This lesson covers the defense of laches to an equitable action. Students will learn when the defense applies, the elements necessary to establish the defense, and how courts consider the defense. Students will also learn to distinguish laches from the related defenses of Estoppel and the Statute of Limitations.

In this lesson, we examine the concept of equitable discretion and gain insight into equitable precedent on the subject. This lesson was designed for use by students who have completed study of this topic in their basic remedies class, and want to further refine and expand their understanding of the concept.

This lesson looks at the courts' intervention with the abuse of separateness that mostly we associate with piercing the corporate veil. Courts intervene to circumvent separateness using three doctrines: lender liability, veil piercing, and equitable consolidation in bankruptcy.

This lesson will cover the remedy known as the Accounting for Profits. Frequently, this remedy is not covered extensively in the classroom setting, probably because the accounting for profits often accompanies other remedies which receive greater attention. Consequently, this lesson is designed to provide basic coverage of this remedial option. Another lesson, "Equitable Protection of Restitution: The Constructive Trust and Equitable Lien" is recommended. Taken together, students will learn when each form of relief is available, the advantages and disadvantages that each form offers and, when the choice is available, the strategic implications of choosing one form over another.

This lesson will cover two of the most powerful equitable remedies, the Constructive Trust and the Equitable Lien. This lesson is intended to supplement your classroom study of these remedial tools, and to explore their utility more deeply. Another lesson, "Equitable Protection of Restitution: The Accounting for Profits," is recommended. Taken together, students will learn when each form of relief is available, the advantages and disadvantages that each form offers and, when the choice is available, the strategic implications of choosing one form over another.

This exercise gives a basic overview of the types of equitable remedies. You need not have read any particular materials or taken any particular law school courses in order to complete the tutorial. It can be used to provide background in your courses where equity is especially relevant or to review the types of equitable remedies for use in a remedies course.

This lesson will introduce you to, or allow you to review, the major provisions of the Federal Endangered Species Act: section 4, 16 U.S.C. section 1533, which governs listings of endangered and threatened species; section 7, 16 U.S.C. section 1536, which imposes obligations on Federal agencies to protect endangered and threatened species; and section 9, 16 U.S.C. section 1538, which prohibits all persons from "taking" or trading in endangered and threatened species.

This lesson reviews an attorney's responsibilities when setting, sharing and collecting fees. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to identify how much, by what method, and under what circumstances they can charge fees from clients, share fees with others, and take actions to collect fees.

This lesson provides an overview of the history and structure of the European Union, followed by an introduction to researching European Union documents, specifically EU treaties, regulations, directives, and opinions of the European Court of Justice. The European Union is a truly unique structure which represents over half a century of cooperation between select nations.

This lesson gives an overview of the basics of the European Union's trademark system. The emphasis is on issues of registration and infringement. It often uses a comparative approach, with the U.S. system as a foil.

This lesson explores the exceptions to an attorney's ethical duty of confidentiality that are designed to protect third persons from death, injury or financial loss.