CONTRACTS I - University of Wisconsin Law School



CONTRACTS I -- Law 711-001

Prof. Lisa T. Alexander

Fall 2015

E-mail: ltalexander@wisc.edu

Phone: (608) 890-1234

Office: Law 6110 on the 6th Floor of Faculty Tower

Office Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays, 12:30pm-1:30pm & by appointment

Class Time: MTWTh (F) 10:55pm – 11:50pm

Class Location: Law 5229

Course Page: Moodle

Class Schedule & Exams:

• Basics: The class will meet for 55 minutes, 4-5 days per week. Normally, we will meet every day, Monday to Thursday. We will only meet on the first Friday, September 4th. We will not meet any other Friday unless we need to schedule a make-up class. However, I already know that we will have to meet on approximately 3-4 Fridays during the Semester as makeup classes. (See schedule below, and as announced in class or by e-mail). Attendance is essential. I will record absences.

• Exams dates: The final exam is currently scheduled to be an in-class 4 hour exam to be held on December 14, 2015. Changes, if any, to the final exam schedule will be announced. Other schedule updates will be announced in class and/or e-mailed to you.

Course Materials:

• Books: You will need the following two titles:

1) Macaulay, Braucher, Kidwell & Whitford’s Contracts: Law in Action (3rd ed., 2010) (CLA)

2) Scott and Kraus’s Contract Law and Theory: Selected Provisions: Restatement of Contracts, Uniform Commercial Code and CISG (5th ed., 2013) (Scott and Kraus)

• Availability: Please note that students are required to purchase *TWO* books: (1) Macaulay et al's "Contracts: Law in Action" (vol.1) EITHER in the loose-leaf paper version or the Hardcopy version; AND (2) Scott and Kraus' "Contract Law and Theory: Selected Provisions" in the paperback version. *STUDENTS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BUY ALL THREE BOOKS LISTED* PLEASE CHOOSE THE FORMAT OF EACH BOOK THAT WORKS FOR YOU. The versions of each book are identical in content only their formats differ. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS E-BOOKS DURING THE EXAM, SO IT MAKES SENSE FOR YOU TO HAVE THE LOOSELEAF AND PAPERBACK OR HARDCOPY VERSIONS IF YOU WANT TO BRING YOUR BOOKS INTO THE EXAM.

• Handouts/Supplements: Occasionally, I will create Xeroxes and/or PDF’s of documents that I would like you to read in addition to the pages assigned in CLA. For example, for the first day of class on Wednesday, Sept 2rd, the first assignments are to read a few pages in CLA as well as the case In the Matter of Baby M in the handout supplement, including a close reading of the contract attached to the case as Appendix A. These materials are not in the casebook, but in the Supplement for Chapters 1 & 2. This Supplement is available as a PDF file on the Moodle Courseweb. You may also request hardcopies of this from the UW Law School Digital Print Shop in the 2nd floor lobby.

Moodle Courseweb:

• Contracts I 711-001 Fall 2015– Alexander



• Coordination & Coverage: Whenever a section of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) or Restatement of Contracts is mentioned in our casebook (CLA), you should read that provision (including official comments) of the UCC, or the relevant section of the Restatement of Contracts. Both are in Scott and Kraus. You will be responsible for all the assigned material whether or not we discuss it in class. I will post on the Moodle Courseweb supplemental reading packets at the start of each of CLAs three chapters.

Participation and “On Call” System:

Groups: This course is designed to foster open discussion, so I encourage your voluntary participation throughout the course. However, you will be required to participate during specific days where you will be “on call” with a panel of approximately 10-15 other students. During the days you are “on call” you will be primarily responsible, along with your other colleagues on the panel, for having read and digested the assigned material and you will be evaluated on your ability to participate meaningfully in the discussion and to respond to my questions. The panels will be assigned after the first few days of class. I reserve the right to bump up individuals’ grades by approximately one grade over their examination grade for sustained high quality participation when on call and when volunteering. Similarly, I reserve the right to downgrade individuals for consistent absences or poor participation when on call.

• Rotations: I will assign on-call groups after the first week of class. I have indicated which group will be on call for each class. Know when you are on call, and be sure to be well prepared for those classes especially. If you need to miss a class when you are on call, I expect you to swap days with a classmate, and to notify me of the new arrangements in advance.

Grades:

Your final grade will be based upon:

• Final exam (85%)

• Participation (15%)

Technology:

• Laptop use in class: Because this is a mandatory 1L course, you may use a laptop in class. However, internet surfing in class is discouraged other than to look up material we are discussing in the class. Being on the internet during class is distracting to your classmates and to me, not to mention disrespectful. If it appears to me that you are surfing, I will make a note of it and factor it into the calculation of your participation grade.

• Laptop use for exams: you will need a laptop in order to take the final exam. During exams, your access to anything except a word processing document will be blocked by software installed before the exam. You are allowed to write your exams on blue books instead of a laptop. However, for the sake of legibility and fair grading, if possible, I would prefer that you take the exams on a laptop.

• Recording devices: Students may record the class for their own study purposes if they obtain prior permission from me. Such recordings are not to be made available to anyone outside of our class.

Academic Misconduct:

• The stakes: As aspiring lawyers, you have a lot to lose if found to have committed academic misconduct. Records disclosing misconduct during law school must be submitted to the Board of Bar Examiners when you apply for admission to the bar. An academic misconduct entry on your law school record could prevent you from practicing law. It is therefore critical that you familiarize yourself with UW’s policies and procedures governing academic misconduct. For the Law School’s rules, see . For the University of Wisconsin’s rules, see

• Forms of misconduct: The Law School imposes a software-enforced curve on my grading. What this means is that other people’s cheating will affect your grades directly. If you believe that a classmate is cheating or committing any other kind of academic misconduct, report it to me.

Feedback:

• Throughout the semester, I encourage you to let me know if you are not satisfied with any aspect of the class. This is a cooperative venture with the goal of you learning as must as possible, if something is hindering your ability to learn, I’d like to know about it. I am looking forward to meeting all of you.

Initial Assignments: Below are the initial assignments for the first week of class.

Reading & “On Call” Schedule

Week 1

W, Sept.2nd CLA 2-19 & Contracts Law in Action 2015 Alexander Supplement Handout (first case, In the Matter of Baby M, including a close review of the contract attached to the case as Appendix A. Please also read the Baby M Hypo [All on Call]

Th, Sept 3: CLA 31-48 (Skip the Wittgenstein Reading on p. 48) [All on Call]

F, Sept.4: CLA 49-51 (Apples problems) & Supplement Chirelstein: Background

Elements: The Contract Curve and Expectation Damages) [All on Call]

Tu, Sept. 8: CLA 51-64 (Parker) [All on Call]

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