Introduction to Law
Introduction to American law and the legal system including an overview of the legal industry and various roles and responsibilities. Students learn fundamental legal concepts, professional pathways, and practical skills such as research and writing, and case analysis. Ideal for students interested in the law or the legal industry.
How this course works
- Work through the activity
- Post by Friday, 11:59 PM
- Reply by Sunday, 11:59 PM
- 1Activity 1
Rule of Law
Before you argue that a rule is unwise, check whether it works at all. Lon Fuller turned that check into eight requirements, and a rule that fails one of them badly…
- 2Activity 2
Jurisprudence
Call a law "unfair," and whether you meant to or not, you have carried moral philosophy into a legal argument. Jurisprudence names the positions in that argument, and…
- 3Activity 3
Legal Education
A paralegal and an attorney can work the same file, yet only the attorney may tell the client what to do next. Whether you choose paralegal work or law school sets what…
- 4Activity 4
US Constitution
Every serious argument about government power lands in the same place: the Constitution. It builds the government and then fences it in, splitting power among the…
- 5Activity 5
Sources of Law
A legal question has an address, and your first job is knowing which of four doors to knock on. American law comes from a constitution, from statutes the legislature…
- 6Activity 6
American Court System
A judgment can be flawless on the law and still count for nothing. If the court that entered it lacked the power to hear the case, the ruling is void, however strong the…
- 7Activity 7
Litigation
A headline tells you a case exists; the docket tells you where it stands. Every case, civil or criminal, travels the same recognizable stages, and learning them lets you…
- 8Activity 8
Criminal Law
Nothing else the government does to a citizen carries the weight of a criminal conviction: it can take liberty, property, and in some cases life. That weight is why the…
- 9Activity 9
Tort Law
Tort law decides who answers for an injury. A car crash, a punch in a bar, a fall in a store, a product that catches fire. Each is a civil wrong, and the law sorts it…
- 10Activity 10
Contract Law
Contract law decides which promises the state will enforce and which are just talk. That line runs through an ordinary day: a lease, a job offer, a checkout screen, a…
- 11Activity 11
Property Law
Who owns the house at the end of your street is public record, and anyone can look it up. Property law writes the rules behind that record: who holds the rights in a…
- 12Activity 12
Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility
Every lawyer and paralegal works inside a system that enforces its duties and publishes the results. Keep a client's secrets, do competent work, stay out of practice you…
- PProject
Voices in Law
Ask ten people who work in law what a normal day looks like, and you will hear about ten different jobs. A public defender in a rural county, in-house counsel at a…