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American Civil Procedure (Dual JD)Winter Semester, 2011Professor Dennis Olson

Syllabus

Course Objectives: American Civil Procedure is the study of the American courts and their systems for resolving

cases. Other courses concentrate on the courts' decisions in legal disputes and the substantive law created thereby. Thiscourse concentrates on how courts approach the function of making those decisions. At the conclusion of the course,students will (a) comprehend the role of the judge and jury in making decisions, (b) be able to analyze the process bywhich judges determine what law to apply to disputes, (c) be able to apply the rules and processes parties must use topresent disputes for resolution, (d) know how the court attempts to find the truth and understand the rules governing thisattempt, and (e) be able to evaluate ways of making the system more efficient. These skills will arise in the context ofquestions of notice, pleadings, jurisdiction, suits with multiple parties and claims, and pre-trial and trial dispositions.

Class Sessions: We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. until 3:25 p.m., starting on January 11 andcontinuing through April 21. Spring Break will eliminate our class sessions for February 22 and 24. The final examwill be on Tuesday, May 3.

Textbook and Readings: You are required to obtain two books for this course. They are: (1) Babcock, Massaro &Spaulding, Civil Procedure: Cases and Problems (4th ed. 2009) (hereinafter Casebook) and (2) Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure (2009-2010 Edition) (hereinafter Rules Supplement). In addition, I will provide through TWEN aseries of supplemental course materials packets (hereinafter Packet). Along with this syllabus, I will provide aprojected reading assignment list for the semester.

The reading assignments are arranged by topic; the lengths vary widely but average about twenty-three pagesper class. They will require much time and concentration. In preparing for class, I concentrate exclusively on theassigned material from the Casebook, Rules Supplement, and Packet. I expect you to do the same. Because CivilProcedure is required at every law school in the nation, publishers have produced a proliferation of study aids for thiscourse. They are usually a waste of time and money. No study aid can replace the careful reading, analysis, andsynthesis you must do to meet the objectives for this course.

Workload: I expect every student to devote a minimum of three hours out of class in studying for each hour in class.

This means you will need to study for this course no fewer than nine hours per week in addition to the three hours perweek we will be in session. Put even more bluntly, American Civil Procedure will occupy your mind no fewer thantwelve hours per week for the fifteen weeks of the course and two additional weeks of the examination period. By theend of the semester, you will have devoted at least 204 hours to this course. This study should include careful reading ofeach reading assignment before class, preparing reading summaries or case briefs, attending class, re-reading eachreading assignment after class, and distilling reading notes and class notes into your course summary (oftenmisleadingly called an outline).

Warning: Be careful not to lull yourself into a false sense of security in this class. Other law school courses emphasizereasoning method over coverage. This course, however, is only one semester long and contains a great deal of materialto which you should be exposed. As a result, we will go rather quickly, and I will often lecture. Because you will nothave the constant prod to stay up in your reading which the Socratic method provides, you may be tempted to let yourpreparation for this class slide. That would be a grave mistake. Do not shortchange your education by failing to do thework required to learn.

Class Participation: I expect everyone to prepare for class and participate. I form my opinion of the class as a wholebased on the classroom discussion. If as a group you are ill-prepared, slow to participate, or willing to rely on a fewbrave souls to carry the discussion, I will consider that in grading and will adjust the entire class's grade scale

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accordingly downward. On the other hand, if as a group you have broad-based participation with insightful comments, Iwill develop a high opinion of your abilities and adjust the entire class's grade scale accordingly upward (within therange of the school-wide grading standard).

Attendance Policy: I expect you to attend every class session. If you understand the material so well that you do notneed to attend, then you have a responsibility to come and share that knowledge with the class. I understand that

illness and other unavoidable events can arise, and the law schools attendance policy allows you to have fourabsences before a sanction is imposed. The built-in absences are not free absences; they are designed toaccommodate unforeseen emergencies. For that reason, no request for an excused absence is ripe for myconsideration until you have reached the cap. Once you reach the cap, you must have acceptable reasons for allabsences to receive an excused absence. The one exception to this is an absence for the observance of a religiousholiday, which is always excused. The consequences for not adhering to the attendance policy are as follows: If youmiss more than four classes, I will reduce your grade by one-tenth of a point for every excess absence.

Tardiness, Early Departure, and Class Disturbance: I reserve the right to count a late arrival to or an earlydeparture from class as a full or partial absence. Furthermore, disturbing class (particularly with a cell phone orpager) may also be sanctioned as a full or partial absence.

Laptop Policy: Recent studies have shown that laptop usage does not increase a students efficiency. This is notbecause the laptop is an ineffective tool; it is because, too often, the student irrationally expects the tool to bemagical to overcome obvious inefficiencies such as wasting time, not paying attention, etc. You are welcome tobring your laptop to class. If you choose to do so, please be sure to use it for effective note-taking (i.e., typingsummaries of the class discussion and the important points raised therein) and for referring to your reading notesand course summary. I encourage you not to waste your laptop by trying to transcribe class without engaging yourmind in the discussion or by using the laptop during class for surfing the web, checking e-mail, or participating ininstant messaging.

Consultations: My office is room 233. My office phone number is 313-596-0250. My official office hours areTuesday from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. and Thursday from 8:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Actually, you are free to come see meat any time, with one exception that one exception is that I ask you not to come by during the ninety minute blockbefore I teach classes. I am usually quick to respond to e-mails; my e-mail address is olsonda@udmercy.edu.

Final Examination: Your grade will be based on a 100-question, three-hour, multiple choice examination. The examwill be open-book (Casebook, Rules Supplement, and Packet); you may bring any notes or summaries that youpersonally (or in conjunction with a study group of fellow students in this class) have prepared. Recognize that theopen-book option is simply designed to avoid requiring memorization of rules. You must be very careful to prepare sothat you will not need to refer to your materials with any level of frequency; you will not have time for that. Theexamination will be of a level befitting no fewer than 204 hours of intensive study of a particular topic.