Law School for Everyone

Overview

Learn the fundamentals of U.S. law in 48 lectures delivered by four exceptional lawyers and professors. The skills lawyers wield in courtrooms across the country are the result of years of study. As much as we’d like to cultivate these same skills, the truth is that you cannot know how a lawyer thinks and works without studying the law itself.

Now there’s an easier way to get the same foundational knowledge as lawyers – without the enormous time and financial commitment. Over the span of 48 lectures, four experienced lawyers and teachers recreate key parts of the first-year law student experience, introducing you to main areas of law most every beginning student studies.

You’ll start with 12 lectures on litigation and legal practice that offer eye-opening answers to many questions about the art and craft of legislation. In the second 12 lectures, you’ll learn how criminal law and procedure – an area of law dramatized by countless TV shows – really works. Additional lectures investigate the civic procedures courts follow to resolve disputes about substantive rights and examine broader questions any system of litigation must address. And 12 lectures are devoted entirely to the stranger-than-fiction topic of tort law.

Enriched with famous cases from the annals of American law and powerful arguments by some of history’s most successful lawyers, these lectures offer access to an often intimidating, surprisingly accessible, and civically important field.

Course Structure

Litigation and Legal Practice

1. Litigation and the American Legal System
   Duration: 32 min
   Explore the relationship between litigation and the American legal system through the 1963 Supreme Court case, Gideon v. Wainwright.
2. Thinking like a Lawyer
   Duration: 30 min
   Learn how to read cases critically and understand key concepts every good lawyer must keep in mind.
3. Representing Your Client
   Duration: 31 min
   Discuss the responsibilities of lawyers in representing clients, using the case of State of Florida v. George Zimmerman.
4. Trial Strategy behind the Scenes
   Duration: 30 min
   Delve into the intricacies of trial strategy that occur away from the jury’s eyes.
5. Opening Statements: The Moment of Primacy
   Duration: 31 min
   Understand the art of crafting compelling opening statements using case studies from George Zimmerman and O.J. Simpson trials.
6. Direct Examination: Questioning Your Witnesses
   Duration: 29 min
   Discover how lawyers prepare witnesses and formulate questions for direct examination.
7. The Art of the Objection
   Duration: 29 min
   Learn about the common types of evidentiary issues that call for objections during a trial.
8. Problematic Evidence
   Duration: 30 min
   Investigate the reasons innocent people are sometimes convicted due to flawed evidence.
9. Controlling Cross-Examination
   Duration: 30 min
   Explore effective cross-examination techniques and the skills of renowned attorneys.
10. Closing Arguments: Driving Your Theory Home
    Duration: 29 min
    Analyze successful closing arguments and what to avoid during this critical phase.
11. Understanding the Appellate Process
    Duration: 30 min
    Gain insights into how appellate courts operate and the process of filing appeals.
12. Arguing before the Supreme Court
    Duration: 34 min
    Examine the history of the Supreme Court and its influence on significant cases.

Criminal Law and Procedure

13. Who Defines Crimes, and How?
    Duration: 36 min
    Understand the purposes of criminal law and the key players involved in defining a crime.
14. Crime and the Guilty Mind
    Duration: 31 min
    Explore the concept of mens rea and its implications in criminal law.
15. Homicide and Moral Culpability
    Duration: 32 min
    Analyze the pyramid of homicidal crimes and the moral implications involved.
16. The Law of Self-Defense
    Duration: 31 min
    Discuss the balance between the rights of the threatened and those who pose threats.
17. Federal Crimes and Federal Power
    Duration: 34 min
    Learn about the distinctions between state and federal criminal law.
18. Cruel and Unusual Punishments
    Duration: 34 min
    Investigate the Eighth Amendment and its application in real-world cases.
19. Due Process and the Right to Counsel
    Duration: 33 min
    Explore the significance of Powell v. Alabama in the context of criminal procedure.
20. Government Searches and Privacy Rights
    Duration: 33 min
    Delve into the history of the Fourth Amendment and its implications for privacy rights.
21. The Shrinking Warrant Requirement
    Duration: 33 min
    Understand the nuances of search warrants and probable cause.
22. The Fifth Amendment Privilege
    Duration: 34 min
    Examine the history and application of the Fifth Amendment in court.
23. Miranda and Police Interrogations
    Duration: 33 min
    Investigate the legal background of the Miranda decision and its ongoing relevance.
24. Plea Bargains, Jury Trials, and Justice
    Duration: 36 min
    Discuss the prevalence of plea bargains in the criminal justice system.

Civil Procedure

25. Procedural Rights and Why They Matter
    Duration: 32 min
    Explore the unique aspects of civil procedure and its importance in litigation.
26. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
    Duration: 32 min
    Understand the power of courts to hear cases based on subject matter jurisdiction.
27. Jurisdiction over the Defendant
    Duration: 32 min
    Learn about personal jurisdiction and its historical evolution.
28. A Modern Approach to Personal Jurisdiction
    Duration: 33 min
    Examine the modern standards for personal jurisdiction in civil cases.
29. The Role of Pleadings
    Duration: 32 min
    Delve into the rules governing pleadings and their significance in the pre-trial process.
30. Understanding Complex Litigation
    Duration: 31 min
    Discuss the complexities of multi-party lawsuits and class actions.
31. The Use and Abuse of Discovery
    Duration: 31 min
    Learn about the discovery process and its implications for litigation.
32. Deciding a Case before the Trial Ends
    Duration: 31 min
    Explore the mechanisms of a motion for summary judgment.
33. The Right to a Civil Jury Trial
    Duration: 32 min
    Analyze the role of juries in civil procedure and the Seventh Amendment.
34. Determining What Law Applies
    Duration: 33 min
    Investigate the challenges of determining applicable law in litigation.
35. Relitigation and Preclusion
    Duration: 32 min
    Understand the rules that prevent parties from relitigating decided matters.
36. Appeals and How They Are Judged
    Duration: 33 min
    Learn about the different roles of trial courts and appellate courts.

Torts

37. The Calamitous World of Tort Law
    Duration: 32 min
    Introduce yourself to the complexities and expectations of tort law.
38. Legal Duty to Others
    Duration: 29 min
    Explore the concept of affirmative duty and its legal implications.
39. Reasonable Care and the Reasonable Person
    Duration: 29 min
    Investigate the legal standards for determining reasonable care.
40. Rules versus Standards of Care
    Duration: 29 min
    Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of rules compared to flexible standards.
41. The Complexities of Factual Causation
    Duration: 32 min
    Learn about the challenges of establishing causation in tort cases.
42. Legal Causation and Foreseeability
    Duration: 31 min
    Examine the relationship between legal causation and moral responsibility.
43. Liability for the Acts of Others
    Duration: 31 min
    Discuss vicarious liability and joint and several liability in tort law.
44. When Tort Plaintiffs Share the Blame
    Duration: 30 min
    Analyze the implications of plaintiff fault in tort cases.
45. Animals, Blasting, and Strict Liability
    Duration: 33 min
    Explore strict liability through the lens of animal damage and ultra-hazardous activities.
46. The Rise of Products Liability
    Duration: 32 min
    Understand the evolution of products liability law in response to societal changes.
47. Products Liability Today
    Duration: 33 min
    Dive into modern products liability doctrine and its implications for manufacturers.
48. Punitive Damages and Their Limits
    Duration: 34 min
    Discuss the rationale behind punitive damages and their limitations in the legal system.