So with the impending exam, I've gone absolutely crazy and have resorted to random acts of writing out things that are not related to the bar, but are nevertheless related to the law. I have absolutely no rational reason for this, and in fact, I'd like to know myself why I feel compelled to write things down in such a frenzy. It's some sort of anti-stress mechanism my body uses and I can't help it (I guess it's kind of like blogging).
The other day what resulted were what I though an American law school curriculum should look like. I imagined that the first year would start off one-month ahead of the 2L and 3Ls. The one-month would be used for an mandatory introductory course to law, which would explain how everything fit together - the big picture. I guess I thought that we were thrown to the wolves our first year without any real context. Here are some thing's I would cover in that one-month. Oh, and after reviewing this, it helped me realize how I should be explaining the law to my non-lawyer friends.
Law Curriculum
I. Venues of Law –
A. Judicial – Courts
B. Legislative – Congress, Legislatures
C. Executive – President, Public Agencies, Departments
II. Common Law System
A. Precedent
B. Stare Decisis
III. Sources of Law & Enforcement Methods
A. Case Law
B. Statutory Law
C. Regulations
D. Treatise
IV. Foundational Law – Categorized by (1) substantive/procedural, (2) private/public, (3) civil/criminal, (4) case/statutory
| Primarily Substantive | Primarily Procedural | Both Substantive and Procedural |
| Contracts Torts Property Criminal Family Law | Civil Procedure Criminal Procedure Evidence Administrative Law
| Constitutional Law Public International Law Professional Responsibility |
| Primarily Private | Primarily Public | Narrow Class |
| Contracts Family Law
| Torts Property Criminal Civil Procedure Constitutional Law Criminal Procedure Evidence Administrative Law Public International Law
| Professional Responsibility |
| Civil | Criminal | Both Civil and Criminal |
| Contracts Torts Property
| Criminal Law Criminal Procedure | Evidence Constitutional Law Administrative Law Family Law Public International Law Professional Responsibility |
| Primarily Enforced via Case Law | Primarily Enforced via Statute | Enforced via Case and Statute |
| Torts | Property Criminal Civil Procedure Criminal Procedure Evidence Family Law Administrative Public International Law Professional Responsibility | Contracts Constitutional Law
|
V. Specialty – categorized by foundation
| Contracts | Bankruptcy Anti-trust* Commercial Paper / Negotiable Instruments Secured Transactions Consumer Protection Corporate Finance Insurance Employment**** Futures/Options/Derivatives***** Private International Law Business Transactions Agency^ |
| Torts | Mass Torts Agency^ |
| Property | Bankruptcy Anti-Trust Taxation Trusts and Estates Intellectual Property (Media, Bioethics, Patents, Trademarks) Admiralty Employment Law**** Corporations Partnerships Franchise |
| Criminal Law and Procedure | Trial Advocacy/Procedure** Appellate Advocacy/Procedure***
|
| Civil Procedure | Jurisdictions Federal Courts Trial Advocacy/Procedure** Appellate Advocacy/Procedure*** Arbitration/Negotiation |
| Evidence | Trial Advocacy/Procedure** |
| Family Law | Marriage (annulment, divorce, child custody) Domestic Violence |
| Constitutional Law | Gender Rights Race First Amendment Public Policy^^
|
| Administrative Law | Environmental + Anti-trust* Health++ Futures/Options/Derivatives***** Education Public Policy^^ Food and Drug |
| Public International Law | Human Rights Environmental + Health ++ |
