Introduction to the class

Why is it important to enforce promises? Are there any relationships, goods, or services that shouldn't be subject to the law of contracts? What criteria should we use to determine which promises should be enforced and which should not?

Case study: Surrogacy

Should gestation and delivery be the subject of a contractt? At what point should the court care/not care about the terms of a K? How should we weigh the importance of the freedom to contract and public policy concerns?

You are charged with studying the magic of contracts. You'll need the Elements of Contracts to create legally-enforceable agreements.  The magic of contracts, if handled properly with care and effort, can bring harmony, stability, and predictability to agreements made by people in K relationships for the exchange of goods and/or services.

While you're studying the magic of contracts, be intrepid and work together because dangerous territory lies ahead. Some promises are illusory or tricky "gift promises", offers can be rescinded, consideration is a shapeshifter and still a conundrum that confounds leading K scholars, deals are voided, and contract breaches are planned-upon perils.

You might think you need to be wily to learn the magic of contracts, but preparation, attention to detail, honing critical reading and analytical thinking skills, and using "trial and error" to learn (20% better & faster!) will help you more than being duplicitous ever will. You're playing the long game, where long-lasting, trustworhty friendships are critical to your success. 

When you encounter events that threaten to destroy a bargain or agreement, maybe the parties' friendship itself, you might feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Things You Need To Know to effectively resolve disputes and help the parties litigate or settle without being kicked out of the bar. You don't know yet what you don't know, so be patient with yourself and remember that we can only learn as fast as we learn.

It's possible this journey will be additive, with each bit of knowlege builds out your understanding a little more each day. So, being awake and aware during our time together is critical. How else will we know if one of us is running too fast ahead and trips or trailing behind and lost? We must all watch out for each other because we all make it or none of us do. How can we be part of a law cohort on a magical learning journey if we can't stick it out together like any self-respecting fellowship gone a-questing?

One should not throw another person under the figurative bus or behave as though nothing matters except one's own success. The magic of contracts works best when accompanied by your top-notch friendship skills. The social science is in, showing that highly effective and highly-esteemed lawyers are experts in the use of their friendship skills because they are kind, respectful of others, knowledgeable and skilled in their craft. Not surprisingly, being trustworthy was a key quality tied to success in the profession. That does not mean they are poor, lax advocates for their clients. Instead, they are more effective in finding durable solutions faster and less expensively because of their magical friendship skills in addition to doctrinal mastery of their specialities.

Our focus is to make it safely through our 14-week adventure with everyone better for the journey. Don't worry, despite the perilous nature of your learning journey, you'll have fellow travelers and your plucky can-do attitude to help you. You'll have time to learn how tools like equity, anticipatory repudiation, counteroffers, and remedies, in general, can heal and restore others. With a mind open to the exciting opportunities, our time spent wrestling with ideas, thinking on the spot, role playing, and writing updates about what you're learning will be time well invested in your future, You'll be ready to level up your K game by summer...and maybe...enjoy the magic of contracts along the way. 🥳

Key 
1. LMS = learning management system; the class Canvas page is where everything for the class is centrally located.

2. Add-ons = we will use additional software and resources available to you for free or at a minimal cost to you (see, Dean of Student Affairs if you have financial exigency concerns - you can confidentially seek financial mitigation schemes I set up prior to class).

3.  ELA = Experiential Learning Assignment; graded, practical work that introduces and/or reinforces principles covered in readings and class discussions.

4.  ICA= In-class activity - at times, we run simulations, drafting exercises, charting cases, and so forth during class to benefit from the associative value of working with your section and small group.

5. Discussion assignments = prior to covering material in class, discussion board entries are to be completed and submitted for credit towards your preparation and participation scores for the semester. The discussions are not meant to unfairly test or force you to read so far ahead as to be a hindrance to our present classroom work. Rather, they are to be forward-looking, speculative, curious musings about the upcoming topics and how they might tie to the concepts we're presently covering.