TORTS II (5061/9012) SYLLABUS
(last modified: January 9, 2000)

Prof. Edmundson
Spring, 2000
Wednesdays and Fridays, 9-10:15 am; room 170
My office: #458; tel. 651-2136; e-mail wedmundson@gsu.edu
Text: Epstein, Cases and Materials on Torts (6th ed.)
On Reserve: Prosser and Keeton on Torts (5th ed.)

The Goals of this Course

The course has two overriding goals. The first is to familiarize you with the central concepts and doctrines in the law of torts. The second, which is also a goal of the entire first-year curriculum, is to introduce you to the techniques of legal reasoning or, more bluntly, to teach you how to “think like a lawyer.”

How the Course Is Designed to Achieve Its Goals

Our focus will be the common law as it has evolved in England and the United States. We will frequently refer to the American Law Institute’s Restatements of the Law of Torts, a modern effort to synthesize and in some respects to reform the common law of torts. From time to time we will focus on the law as it exists in particular jurisdictions, but only to illustrate core concepts and issues that underlie legal developments in practically all Anglo-American jurisdictions.

This will not be a lecture course. Rather, it will be taught by the “Socratic” method that is traditional in the first-year law school curriculum. The aim is not to “hide the ball” from you, but to help you develop the following lawyerly skills: recognizing pertinent legal and factual issues, analyzing judicial language, articulating the holdings of cases, defending your formulation of legal rules, reconciling adverse precedent, and recognizing and making use of the underlying, often conflicting, social values which shape the rules of law.

The Grading System Explained

This course is the second in a two-semester sequence. The two semesters are graded independently and given equal weight. Your final grade will be based almost exclusively on your performance on a final examination. The only other factor that may influence your final grade is class participation. Due to the size of enrollment, class participation is difficult for me to record and will therefore count for less than it should.

The final will be a closed-book, closed-notebook, blind-graded, essay-style examination. It will cover only the material included in this syllabus. It will test your ability to identify and analyze legal issues in one or more detailed hypothetical situations. It is not intended to test your ability merely to memorize by rote or to philosophize. Sample examination questions will be placed on reserve in the library.

In a recent year, the average grade in the several sections of Torts was 78. The average grade in this course is likely to be in the same general vicinity.

Assignments
 

Week Dates Topic Reading 1 1/12  Private Nuisance 682-717 1/14 Public Nuisance  717-25 2 1/19 Early Products Liability 727-33 1/21 The Citadel of Privity Falls 733-41 3 1/26 The “Faulty” Product 741-47 1/28 Recovery in Warranty  747-55 4 2/2 Restatement §402A 755-71 2/4 Sellers and Others  771-81 5 2/9 Manufacture v. Design 781-801 2/11 Design Defects 801-820 6 2/16 The Duty to Warn 820-36 2/18 The “Faulty” Warning 836-51 7 2/23 Plaintiff’s Misuse 851-62 2/25 Assault, Offensive Battery 66-72 8 3/1 False Imprisonment 72-82 3/3 Outrage  82-91 9 Spring Break — No Class Meeting 10 3/15  Defamatory Publication 1083-92 3/17 Defamatory Content  1093-1121 11 3/22  Libel v. Slander; Fault 1121-43 3/24  Traditional Defenses  1144-69 12 3/29  Constitutional Defenses  1169-85 3/31 Public Figures; Proving Falsity 1186-1214 13 4/5 Privacy; Appropriation 1215-41 4/7 no class 14 4/12  Disclosure, False Light, Intrusion 1241-84 4/14 Misrepresentation 1285-1328 15 4/19  tba 4/21  tba 16 4/25  make-up, if needed; tba

Deviations from this schedule can be expected to occur.

Attendance policy

Roll will be taken at each class meeting. Two or more unexcused absences will be grounds for the assignment of a failing grade. Please also note that class nonparticipation and unpreparedness may influence your final grade.

Office Hours

I have an “open door” policy on meeting outside class. I encourage you to thrust yourselves past the bodyguards at the fourth floor security checkpoint at any time or, if you like, call me to make an appointment. My number is 651-2136, and I can be found in office 458, all day, Monday through Friday. I can be reached by e-mail any time, and I check my e-mail continuously throughout the day.

E-mail Discussion List

There is an e-mail discussion list for this course. You are strongly advised to open a “panther” or other e-mail account and to subscribe to the list by sending a message to:

majordomo@gsulaw.gsu.edu

with no subject or signature and the following body:

subscribe law5061wae youremailaddress

If you are late in subscribing, and want to see what has transpired, the list archive can be found at:

http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/lists/

Except for personal matters, please direct all e-mail to me in care of the list.