Law A 502, Fall-Winter 2003
Civil Procedure I

Basic Case Reading Questions

From the Prof

These web-based questions & answers are designed to ensure that you are learning how to read cases accurately. By answering these questions on-line and reviewing the answers posted on this web-site, you can be sure that you go into class having understood the basics, and I can see where the class is having difficulty. In addition, this should allow us to proceed more quickly to other issues posed by the assignment. This is the first time I have used the web for this purpose, so I have included at the end of the initial assignments optional questions concerning how long the assignment took, overall, and how long the web-based questions took. You are not required to answer these questions, but doing so will help me evaluate how I can best help you learn.

A word on grading. Grading for this course awards 1/2 point each for up to ten of the basic case reading question sets. I have set up basic case reading questions for about twenty cases, including both the cases that you read at the beginning of the quarter, and some of the more complex cases later on. This should give you flexibility to earn the maximum number of points, without undue stress, if you have a life crisis and miss the deadline. I don't know whether you will all find the questions useful for the later cases, so I haven't required those questions. I will expect you to be up to speed on the material covered in the questions.

Topics

Since there are a number of question and answer sets, I have divided them into the following topics, each on a separate web-page.

Basis Case Reading: Overview of Procedure
Basic Case Reading: Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Basic Case Reading: Personal Jurisdiction, Pleading