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Course Details

Foundations of US Legal Systems (Ewald)

Summer 2024   LAW 590-001  

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Faculty
William Ewald

Professor of Law and Philosophy

wewald@law.upenn.edu
Additional Information

Grading
5% Participation,
95% Exam

Exam
Multiple Choice,
In Class,
Closed-Book

Satisfies Senior Writing Requirement

No

Location

Class meets in person.

Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.

I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:

- Class sessions are regularly recorded. I will make these recordings routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.

Meeting Times/Location
MTWRF 9:00AM - 11:00AM
Golkin Hall 100

Category
LLM

Credits
3.0

This course aims to provide for the entering LL.M. class an intensive introduction to the American legal system. Topics covered include American legal history, the Constitution, basic civil procedure, the law of torts, and an introduction to legal theory.

Course Concentrations

International and Comparative Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of international and comparative law, both substantively and procedurally; Perform legal analysis in the context of international and comparative law; Communicate effectively on topics related to international and comparative law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role of international and comparative law, and their interconnection with domestic law.

Constitutional Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of constitutional law; Perform legal analysis in the context of constitutional law; Communicate effectively on topics related to constitutional law; Demonstrate an understanding of constitutional law affects other areas of law.

Courts and the Judicial System Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of both substantive and procedural issues in the operation of our legal system; Perform legal analysis in the context of procedural issues and the judicial process; Communicate effectively on topics related to procedure and the judicial process; Demonstrate an understanding of how procedural issues and the judicial process affect all other area of our legal system.

Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.


Textbooks

"American Civil Procedure" by Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr. and Michele Taruffo
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: Yale
ISBN: 9780300065046
Required

"American Law in Global Context" by George Fletcher and Steven Shepard
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: Oxford
ISBN: 9780195167238
Required

"American Political History: A very Short Introduction" by Critchlow
Edition: 1st ed. February 11, 2015
Publisher: Oxford
ISBN: 9780199340057
Required

"The Constitution of the United States of America: A Contextual Analysis" by Mark Tushnet
Edition: 2nd edition
Publisher: Hart
ISBN: 9781849466042
Required

"The Dynamic Constitution" by Richard Fallon
Edition: 2 edition
Publisher: Cambridge
ISBN: 9781107642577
Required