COURSE DAYS, TIME & LOCATION

The class will meet Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00pm – 5:25pm in Room C25.

OFFICE & PHONE

My office is Room 743. My telephone number is 312-906-5326 and my e-mail address is rstaudt@kentlaw.edu. My computer is always on while I am in the law school and I encourage you to send messages to me by electronic mail.

ASSIGNMENTS

The readings for this course come from three sources.

1. I will assign a combination of commentaries and scholarship about public interest law topics together with a series of appellate cases deciding a variety of public interest law issues. 
   
   
2. We will read “Waiting for Gautreaux” a remarkable first person account of a landmark housing case in Chicago by public interest lawyer Alexander Polikoff.  This text has been ordered for the class by the bookstore though I sent the order very late to the bookstore.  We hope it arrives by the end of this week.  It is also available on Amazon.
   
   
3. In addition, individual students in the course will study and report on a single case in advance of the class’s consideration of that case.  These Case Studies will explore the historical context of the case, describe the parties and their attorneys, follow the effects of the case on those parties, attorney and their respective institutions, and explain the changes, if any, in society and law flowing from that case decision.  These reports and any recommended readings suggested by the students will become part of the assigned readings for the course.  The reports will be posted on the course website. The student team assignments are posted on the Student Work page.

To provide extra time for fact research and interviews with public interest lawyers and others who may be able to offer personal insights for the Case Studies, class will not meet on September 14^th.  Case Studies will be due to me on September 19, 2006.

Assignments will be posted in the Assignments section of the course website. The assignments are tentative and will be adjusted as we proceed through the material. Review the website regularly.

SOME NEW TECHNIQUES FOR LEARNING THE LAW

I plan to take advantage of the technological support that the law school has available to help us investigate Public Interest Law. Everyone should have 24 hour access to LEXIS and to the Internet so that we can read the newest material available. If you need more training in the use of the computer databases, let me know. In addition, I consider e-mail to be an extension of class.

GRADING, CLASS ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION

The bulk of the grade in this course, 90%, will be based on your performance on the final examination. I have not yet decided on the form of the final, but I expect that it will be rather traditional. I may change my mind before December.

Ten percent of the grade for this course will be awarded for your performance on a Case Study project and report to the class on a single case.  The Case Study topics will be assigned during the first week of class.  The case studies will be due on September 19, 2006.

To encourage your active involvement during the semester, one-half of a grade differential may be based on class attendance, preparation and participation. In other words, I will grade the exams and case studies and assign a grade for the course. If you are a conscientious, insightful and effective member of the class, your grade may be raised from your course grade to one-half letter grade higher. If you are frequently unprepared and fail to participate, I will consider that performance in lowering marginal examination grades by one-half of a grade. If you are somewhere in between, I may exercise my discretion to raise your grade by one-half grade depending on the level of your class performance and the proximity of your exam grade to the nearest margin. 

Participation is impossible without attendance.  Absences will be a negative factor in my application of this grading factor. A class roster will be passed around each class; your own signature after your printed name will be evidence of your presence that day.
 
I consider electronic mail to be an opportunity to extend the class beyond its usual form and time limits. E-mail to me (which I will forward to all class members, unless you specifically ask me to keep a message private) is counted as part of your class participation in the course.