Torts (Hoffman, A) - Sec 1
Faculty
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| Allison K. Hoffman Professor of Law ahoffman@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Grading
100% Exam
Exam
Essay,
In Class,
Open-Book
No
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:
- If you are absent, due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can ask for volunteers among your classmates to share their notes with you.
- I will make PowerPoint slides or other class materials routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
Meeting Times/Location
M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Gittis Hall 214
TW 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Gittis Hall 214
Category
First-Year
Credits
4.0
Our primary aims in this course are to:
• Learn “the rules” of torts and how they have developed over time. Mastering these rules requires more than simply memorizing what might be thought of as the doctrine or “black-letter” rules. Rather, we will examine how and why certain rules have developed and changed over time, including what principles, policies, and purposes underlie the rules.
• Uncover and develop the skills of legal reasoning that lawyers and judges use to apply these rules to a particular situation. This is the art of lawyering and one of the most important things you’ll learn in law school. Torts is a particularly good class for examining the lawyering behind the cases and for developing critical thinking and reasoning skills for your own career.
• Examine the development of torts law critically. Are the rules what they should be? Do they make sense? To answer these questions, we will step back and critique the rules and their application and consider whether there might be better ways to organize liability (from an economic, administrative, or moral perspective).
NB: Laptops and other electronic devices may not be used in class. Be sure to purchase a hard copy of the casebook.
Business and Corporate Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of business and corporate law; Perform legal analysis in the context of business and corporate law; Communicate effectively on topics related to business and corporate law; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between the world of business and finance and that of business and corporate law, and how they affect other areas of law and society.
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.
Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.
Textbooks
"The Forms and Functions of Tort Law" by Kenneth S. Abraham |