Torts 2020

Key materials

1. Torts syllabus
2. Case briefs
3. Practice exams
4. Torts notes (when assigned)

Introduction

Welcome

Before class

1. Welcome to Torts! This is your first assignment. You may start it at any time, and you must complete it prior to our first class session. There is a lot to do! For example, reading the practice exam (part eight of the assignment) may take a couple hours.
2. Read the syllabus. Carefully. And then either print it or save it locally so that you can still access it offline.
3. Consider registering to vote. For information on voter registration in South Carolina, visit SC Votes. Our state requires voters to "be registered at least 30 days prior to any election in order to vote in that election."
4. Do something healthy.
   1. Yes, this is part of your assignment.
   2. Choose and complete an activity -- such as getting physical exercise, eating nutritious food, practicing breathing techniques, meditating, or maintaining a meaningful social connection -- that is healthy, attainable, and sustainable.
   3. Remember: Law school is not a sprint. Or a marathon. In fact, very little movement is involved. That's too bad. Moving around is healthy.
   4. Law school is much more like a job. A full-time, long-term, professional job. You want to start strong, and you need to stay strong one, two, four months later.
   5. Your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing matters. You matter.
5. Tell me about yourself. (Link TBA)
6. Read this practice exam (including the supplement).
7. Take this reading comprehension quiz.
8. Complete David Leonhardt and You, A quick puzzle to test your problem solving, N.Y. Times (2015).

After class

1. After each class you should take a few minutes to reflect on class, identify key takeaways, correct and update the notes you took before class, and incorporate any (brief) notes you took during class.
2. In addition, you will frequently have a post-class reading assignment summarizing and detailing the "black-letter law" that we began to explore in class.
3. What were the major themes from today's class?

Goals of tort law

Before class

1. Fatalities
   1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 leading causes of death by age group, United States - 2018
   2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 leading causes of death by age group highlighting unintentional injury deaths, United States - 2018
   3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Top ten leading causes of death in the U.S. for ages 1-44 from 1981-2019
   4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Provisional COVID-19 death counts by sex, age, and state
2. Roadway casualties
   1. Roadway crash deaths in the USA
   2. Billions of vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) in the USA
   3. Deaths per 100 million VMT in the USA
   4. US population
   5. Roadway deaths per 100,000 persons in the USA
   6. Roadway deaths in four countries
   7. Deaths compared to injuries and persons involved
   8. Eric Jaffe, Car emissions vs. car crashes: Which one's deadlier?, Bloomberg (2014)
   9. US NHTSA, Economic and societal impact of motor vehicle crashes (2010): Read through page 21 (PDF page 26)
3. CCC: A blank slate
4. Reading and math skills
5. Checking in (Link TBA)

After class

1. Post-class check-in

Procedural basics

Before class

1. ALDF, The legal process in the United States: A civil case
2. Lesson on procedure
3. Instructions for briefing your cases
4. Baltimore & O.R. Co. v. Goodman, 275 U.S. 66 (1927)
   1. Find, read, and brief Baltimore & O.R. Co. v. Goodman, 275 U.S. 66 (1927).
   2. As part of your brief, you should (1) draw a detailed map of the crash location and (2) ensure that you will be able to share this map in class.
5. Testing your briefing

After class

1. Mini-outline. Imagine that our entire course consists solely of this class (which includes both the readings and the class session itself). Create an outline for it. You might consider collaborating with your teammates.
2. Reread the instructions for case briefs.
3. Retesting your briefing

Culpability

Before class

1. Definitions: Use Black's Law Dictionary to look up "Tort."
2. Find, read, and brief Pleasant v. Johnson, 312 N.C. 710 (1985)
   1. Note: Unless I state otherwise, the instructions to "find, read, and brief" apply to every case assigned this semester.
3. Jones v. Willamette Indus., Inc., 120 N.C. App. 591 (1995)
4. Levels of culpability (in tort law)

After class

1. Table of Contents in "Understanding Torts"
2. Theories of liability