Gain your competitive advantage. Increase your first year performance.

The first year of law school sets the stage for the rest of your law school career – it will impact your ability to join prestigious academic programs like law review and moot court. Start law school off on the right foot by preparing to excel as a 1L.

Course Details
Course#	LAW X400
Dates	Jun 25, 2012 to Aug 5, 2012
Units	3.00
Location	Online
Fee	$790
Reg#	00010

Course Description

This course teaches students how to effectively read appellate court opinions, write case briefs, and synthesize law. Students will also learn how to apply the concepts of issue spotting and IRAC, which are critical to success on law school exams. Further, this course will introduce students to the major concepts studied in the courses traditionally taught during the first year of law school: constitutional law, civil procedure, contracts, torts, property, and criminal law and procedure.

About the instructor

Robert Wright, earned his J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law and has been licensed to practice in the Commonwealth since 2003. Upon graduating from the School of Law, Robert worked as a staff attorney for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Ultimately, though, his interest in intellectual property law lured him away from the Court of Appeals and to the Franklin Pierce Law Center where Robert earned his LL.M. in Intellectual Property, Commerce, and Technology in 2005. Since then, Robert has published scholarly articles on a wide variety of topics including trademark registration, movie piracy, and cyber-bullying.

"Before this course, I had never read a case, been familiar with law school lingo, or known what to expect from my first semester at law school. Now I feel very comfortable and confident that I can do the work and be a successful law student. I recommend this course to all incoming students as a primer to hit the ground running with their very first 1L reading assignment."
     - Anne D.

Course Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to...

• Explain the institutional sources of American Law,
• Describe how the judicial system is organized,
• Analyze court opinions,
• Brief court opinions,
• Write answers to essay questions using the “IRAC” method, and
• Create a framework for studying constitutional law, civil procedure, contracts, torts, property, and criminal law and procedure in law school.

"This is a well-designed course that gives law students the needed boost to start their first year. The legal knowledge and writing skills I gained will prepare me for cases that will be analyzed as a 1L. I am also appreciative for our instructor who is such a well-respected lawyer in his field and was so willing to support us outside of class and on the weekends."
     - Mohammad K.