Spring 2023 First Day Assignments

You will need the Code and Regulations (the one-volume version used in Income Taxation is fine). 

You will also need  (1) the study problems, (2) the handout materials (cases and rulings) and (3) chapter 94 from the Bittker & Lokken treatise -- these three items will be available outside of my office -- Room 266 of Storey Hall -- beginning at noon on Wednesday, January 4^th.

The first class will meet on Monday, January 9th.  Read pages 59-60 in the study problems (Lesson 9), read the first five cases in the handout materials, then read 94.1 and 94.2.1 in chapter 94.  Then go to Lesson 11A (Type A Reorganizations beginning on page 67) in the study problems and work problem 1 on page 68 (skip the alternatives in problem 1).  I will hand out a syllabus in class.  Bring your Code and Regulations to the first class.

Week 1          

01/09/23         The Eighth Amendment and Evolving Standards of Decency

• U.S. Const. amend. VIII
• Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958) (edited version available on TWEN)
• Philip Bobbitt, Constitutional Fate ch. 1 (1982) (available on TWEN)

• Be prepared to make an argument about the merits of a particular method of constitutional interpretation. Is one superior to others? Depending on your background, this may require you to hop on Westlaw/Lexis or Google to explore arguments for and against a particular method.
• Think about some modern interesting issues related to the Eighth Amendment that could potentially be worthy of a paper topic. Are there any particular conditions of punishment that are concerning? Who is responsible for these conditions? Does the modern state of bail and pretrial detention trouble you? What about states’ imposition of fines and uses of revenue from fines? What is the proper way to interpret the limitations posed by the Amendment? Does the Court’s methodology make sense? Starting to think about potential Eighth Amendment paper topics may also require you to do a little digging around on the Internet.

Instead, of using physical books, our class will be using an online classroom called Matrix. In a few days, you should be receiving an email from Matrix with login information. For the first class, you must:  

1. Access the Matrix Online Classroom
2. Read the Course Syllabus posted on Matrix under “Resources”
3. Answer the Online Diagnostic Test (MBE Pre-test): upload to the Matrix system before our first class. To access the MBE Pre-test, go to the MBE Pre-Test module on Matrix (the first module in the Matrix classroom).

The professor has not yet submitted an assignment. 

For the first day of course, please be familiar with the syllabus and bring any initial questions you may have. Please also read the draft chapter “Artificial Intelligence – An Introduction,” which is available as a pdf on Canvas.

Thursday January 5, 2023 -- No Class -- Class Will be Rescheduled

Tuesday January 10, 2023 -- Business Enterprises Textbook pages 3-10 (skim), 11, 20-49

Please note that I am estimating what we will cover; actual coverage will be based on the pace of the class as we move through the materials.

The required texts are Field, Kaplan & Clermont, Materials for a Basic Course in Civil Procedure (13th ed. 2020) ("FKC") and West Publishing Co., Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Educational Edition (2022-2023).

For the first class, please read the following materials under the undersection B. 1. a. Stating the claim of the syllabus :  FKC: at 39-52;1262-1266; Rule 8(a),(c),(d) and (e); form 11.

For the second class, please read FKC at 53-60; 1294-1295; 1287-1290;1274-1277; Rules 9(b), 11

The professor has not yet submitted an assignment. 

First assignment: Please read pp. 1-30 in your textbook (Chemerinsky & Levenson, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication (3d ed.)), and please also review the provisions of the Constitution and Bill of Rights at the beginning of your textbook, paying particular attention to Amendments V, VI, VIII, and XIV § 1. Please also note that masking is strongly recommended in the classroom.

Welcome back! For our first class, (1) log in to the course website on Canvas; (2) using the course website, access and review the Syllabus and Reading Assignments documents using the links on the course home page; and (3) read pages 339–359 from E. Allan Farnsworth et al., Contracts – Cases and Materials (Found. Press, 9th ed. 2019). See you on Monday.

• Please read Sidis v. F-R Pub. Corp. (attached).
• We also will discuss "Right to Privacy," by Warren and Brandeis (attached).
• For your background and only if interested, Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Report (attached).       

The professor has not yet submitted an assignment. 

The professor has not yet submitted an assignment. 

1) Fisher pages 1-8 [top], and 2) the syllabus

Assigned reading for the first day of class (January 5^th/Class 1):

The casebook is Contemporary Family Law (“CB” below and on Canvas), which can be purchased at the SMU Bookstore or on Amazon. The Texas Family Code Plus 2022-2023 (O’Connor’s) can be purchased at the SMU Bookstore or at the Thomas Reuters online store.  

• CB 1-8 (skip Problem 1-1, stop before Notes and Questions)
• CB 11-18 – Moore v. City of East Cleveland (start at Defining the Family, stop before Notes and Questions)
• CB 21-25 - Griswold v. Connecticut (stop at end of majority opinion)
• OPTIONAL – (on Canvas and will email to class) Excerpt from the Seton Hall Law Review article by Professor Jessica Dixon Weaver, Grandma in the White House:  Legal Support for Intergenerational Caregiving, 43 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1 (2013).  (read I. Introduction only, end at top of page 10, skip all notes)

Assignment for Class One:

1. Please study the material contained in the short article entitled, "Entity Formation: Who Exactly Is the Client?" which can be found on Canvas under Files, in the Course Materials folder.
2. Apply your understanding of the concepts discussed in the "Entity Formation: Who Exactly is the Client?"" to representing the clients described in Problem One (Drake, Problem 4 B, page 92). Be prepared to discuss the various issues raised in this problem in class.
3. You also may wish to review the following article also found on Canvas by Wm. D. Elliott “Need A Rush: Why Not Represent Multiple Persons At The Same Time,” which contains a more in-depth discussion of the Texas Rules discussed in the prior Who Exactly is the Client article.
4. Consider scanning the article, “Almost Clients: A Closer Look At Attorney Responsibility in the Context of Entity Representation,” Texas Journal of Business Law, Winter 2006 (on Canvas).

See Course Syllabus on Canvas for Introduction to Class One.

Read chapters 1, 2 and 6 of the textbook before the first class.

Fri., Jan 13:

1. Bring your calendars so that we can finalize our Assignments for the semester.

2. Read and be prepared to discuss:

a. Rita Charon, “Narrative and Medicine”

b. James Boyd White, “Legal Knowledge”

c. Benjamin DeMott, “English and the Promise of Happiness”

d. Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry”

e. John Stone, “The Truck”

Optional: Click here for a very brief (7-minute) introduction to poetry, Scott Simon's conversation with Ed Hirsch (U.S, Poet Laureate, MacArthur "genius" grant recipient) is terrific (especially their reading of the four subjects of poetry as told by William Matthews) [Weekend Edition/Saturday, April 6, 2006].  

Optional: For a slightly more leisurely (51 mins.) intro-duction to poetry, try Linda Pastan (whom we read later in the semester), Ed Hirsch (again), and E. Ethelbert Miller discussing poetry on Diane Rehm's show (April 19, 2006).  For our purposes, I was particularly struck by Linda Pastan's observation at the end of the show that she is most often asked for recommendations for a poem for weddings and funerals -- times of celebration and consolation.  It's an hour well spent. 

Please sign up on TWEN for the LRWA Course Bulletin Board 2022-2023 and for your own professor’s individual TWEN course.

The first day assignment is posted there.

The assigned reading has been e-mailed to enrolled students.  If you did not receive the e-mail, please contact Kim Grace at kgrace@smu.edu. 

The casebook is Fundamentals of Partnership Taxation (11th ed.) by Schwarz, Lathrope and Hellwig.  You will also need the Code and Regulations (the one volume version is fine).

The first class will meet on Thursday, January 5th.  Please read Chapter 1 and pages 33-40 of Chapter 2.  Work the problem on pages 40-41.  We will go through the problem in class the first day.  I will hand out a syllabus during the first class.  Bring the casebook and Code and Regulations to the first class.

Casebook:  Ethical Problems in the Practice of Law, 6^th ed. by Lisa G. Lerman, Philip G. Schrag, and Robert Rubinson

• Reading:  Preface - pp. xxxi-xxxv; Introduction – pp 1 -15 and Chapter 1 – pp. 17-37 (be prepared to answer Problem 1-1 question and questions on p. 37).

Model Rules Book:  Ethical Problems in the Practice of Law:  Model Rules, State Variations and Practice Questions (2022 and 2023 ed.) by Lisa G. Lerman, et al.

• Reading:  Preamble and Scope; Model Rules 8.1 and 8.3 (including comments)

For our first class on Friday, Jan. 6, please read pp. 1-17 and 25-32 in Thomas W. Merrill, Henry E. Smith & Maureen E. Brady, Property: Principles and Policies (Fourth Edition). The syllabus and course policies are posted on Canvas.

Please note that I am estimating what we will cover; actual coverage will be based on the pace of the class as we move through the materials.

For the first class, please read pp. 1-40 of the required casebook:   Perea, et al, Race and Races:  Cases and Resources for a Diverse America (4th ed 2023).

For the first day of class, please read the syllabus in detail and be prepared to ask any questions you may have. Please also read the Introduction (pp. xxxi-xxxvii), and Part A of Assignment 40 (pp. 658-665). Do not prepare any problems for this first day.

Please read from Cox, Bok & Gorman's Labor Law Cases and Materials 17th Edition:  pages 56-84.

January 5:    
Chs. 1 & 2: Introduction to Internet and Telecommunications Regulation and  Regulatory Structures (pp. 3-44).

As you know, for this course we will be using Texas Civil Procedure: Trial and Appellate Practice 2022-2023 by Dorsaneo, et al and the newest version of the Texas Rules of Court. We will be starting with Chapter 1 of the textbook, so for the first day of class please read pages 1-32, together with any Texas Rules of Procedure that are referenced in the reading.

I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

For our first class on Friday, Jan. 6, please read pp. 1-16 in Sitkoff & Dukeminier, Wills, Trusts & Estates (Eleventh Edition). The syllabus and course policies are posted on Canvas.