Policies - Remedies Spring 2024

 

Prof. George W. Conk 

Senior Fellow, Stein Center for Law & Ethics

gconk@law.fordham.edu

Office:  8-108

Eligibility: Upper division JD and LLM students

JD STUDENTS LIMITED TO 20 - to avoid the 1L curve

I will accept LLM students above the 20 student cap.  

Required casebook

All page references are to:
 

Course Blogs: Torts Today  and Otherwise


 Office hours by appointment on the hour and half hour.  Please make appointments by email.

This is a TERM PAPER or WRITING REQUIREMENT COURSE

There is NO Exam Option

Attendance is required.  ABA regulations provide I must certify good and regular attendance to submit a passing grade.  If you are unable to attend class please drop me a note with brief explanation before class.

If illness or other just cause compels your absence you must view the recorded class at Echo 360 AND confirm to me via email that you have done so.

There is NO HYBRID CLASS OPTION.

Please be sure to read all emails from me - and be prepared. Particularly in a small class everyone being prepared is essential to good discussion.  I will try to give everyone a chance to express their opinion.

THE OUTLINE POSTED ON THE SYLLABUS PAGE IS A GENERAL GUIDE.

READING AND VIEWING ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE POSTED ON the Syllabus page of  TORTS TODAY

Learning objectives (Dropbox)

Accountability:  

TWO  OPTIONS:

Term paper (15 + pp) 
OR 
 Writing Requirement paper (25 pp.)

See Format memo below for word counts and format requirements.

  Friday January 26 is  the last day to submit to the Registrar   Upper‐Class Writing Requirement Forms.

See also Academic Regulations section V 

https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law/academics/registrars-office/academic-regulations/

If you are doing a Writing Requirement paper please be sure to arrange a talk with me (via Zoom or in person) to discuss your topic, etc.

There is no grading penalty or bonus for any option you choose.

There is no anonymous grading in this seminar class  

SCHEDULE 

Applications for extensions on papers will be routinely granted  but must include a proposed new date, and be made three days before the due date.   

  

* Writing requirement and term paper outlines or abstracts due  Friday, March 1

[Outlines may be a conventional `Roman Numeral' ` outline structure; `legal brief type' point heads; or a  500 word abstract summarizing the argument. It is a waypoint to help you organize your thinking and guide future research and writing.]

*  UCWR and TERM PAPERS Firt or Rough drafts due   Monday, April 1. BUT EARLIER SUBMISSIONS ARE WELCOME TO GIVE ME TIME TO READ AND COMMENT 

* Final papers are due on the last day of the spring term ------- Friday April 26

Requests for extensions should be made via email.

*Friday, May 10 - the end of the exam period - is the LAST permissible extension date for all papers

PAPERS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED TO ME BY EMAIL TO GCONK@FORDHAM.EDU

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EXAM ID NUMBER, AND YOUR NAME!

MICROSOFT WORD, RTF, WORDPERFECT,  GOOGLEDOCS, AND PDF ARE ALL ACCEPTABLE FORMATS FOR FINAL PAPERS.  

DRAFTS SHOULD BE IN AN EDITABLE FORMAT.

FORMAT OF WRITING REQUIREMENT AND TERM PAPERS - MEMO BY GWC

Citation format:

 New York State Law Reports Style Manual 

or

Citation format: Indigo Book 2.0

or

Bluebook (A Uniform System of Citation)

Writing Requirement - Academic Regulations

 The student must present a topic proposal for faculty approval, submit an outline and rough draft for faculty comment, and submit a final paper that (1) demonstrates significant research and original analysis; and (2) is well organized, carefully presented, and clearly written.

General style advice - GWC

Your objective   is to produce a  piece of legal writing at a level demonstrating professional competence.

The basic structure is to pose a question, survey the literature identifying and stating accurately any contending views on the question, evaluating their strengths, and explaining and justifying your proposed resolution.

As in all professional writing the strong preference is for reliance on primary sources to establish any fact.  Facts asserted that are undisputed common knowledge need not be footnoted.  [The Constitution and first twelve amendments were ratified in 1788. The first Congress met in 1789.]    The fact of what a court has or may do is primarily established by citation to judicial decisions; Laws by citation of Rules, statutes or Constitutional provisions; Regulations by citation of the Rule, etc.  Writing requirement and term papers are not a survey of secondary sources, but rather use such sources to identify the reasoning by which the question posed may be answered.

What is plagiarism: the knowing or unrecognized recitation of facts established by another without attribution to the source.

Light editing Philosophy.  Similarly to the Virginia Law Review's Slatebook on style:

I aim to maintain the author’s voice in every piece a student submits.  I may suggest both discretionary and non-discretionary changes. Non-discretionary changes are those that must be made, and include things like spelling, grammar, substantiation, and formatting which may be Bluebook OR in compliance with any recognized legal style manual - such as the New Jersey  Courts' manual of style for judicial opinions formats or the ALWD Citation Manual. Discretionary suggestions include the style, clarity, and structure of the piece. I will respect the author’s judgment regarding whether those changes should be made.

Remember that the purpose of citation is to show 1) the source of facts asserted and 2) the source of the argument presented so that your own contribution can be recognized by identifying ideas which came from others.

SUGGESTIONS RE WRITING STYLE

Proofreaders' marks  Chicago Manual of StyleThe Elements of Style - by William Strunk & E.B. WhiteN.B. -  Ch. II Elementary Principles of Composition

Elena Kagan Master Stylist

DOJ Journal of Federal Law & Practice No. 2 (2019) - APPEALS

Rhetoric: Aristotle, RBG  and the Art of Persuasion - GWC blogpost Otherwise

Remarks of Judge Aldisert on accepting the Golden Pen award.

 * Prof. Nancy Leong: how to write a law school paper or law review article VIDEO