Creating a Course
Outline
Jeffrey Minneti
Associate Professor of Legal Skills and
Director of Academic Success
Stetson University College of Law
minneti@law.stetson.edu
Presentation Objectives
Explain the purpose of a course
outline
 Discuss the content of a course
outline
 Suggest a process for creating a
course outline
 Suggest forms for course outlines

Course Outline Purposes

Learning theory perspective



Building schema
Creating a tool to facilitate problem solving
Pragmatic perspective



Structure major premise of syllogism
Consolidate information in one place
Capture the structure of the law
• Macro level
• Micro level

Template for memorization of law
Course Outline Content
Vocabulary
 Concepts
 Rules
 Policy
 Examples and non examples of law in
factual contexts

Course Outline Content

Vocabulary

Latin phrases
• Stare decisis
• In rem
• Mens Rea

Language of the law
•
•
•
•
Remand
Appellee
Cause of action
Service of process
Course Outline Content

Concepts

Ideas
• Contract formation

Terms of art
•
•
•
•
•
Meeting of the minds
Offer
Acceptance
Consideration
Promissory Estoppel
Course Outline Content

Rules

Sources
• Primary
•
•
•
•
Constitution
Statutes
Court decisions
Administrative Regulation
• Secondary
• Restatements
• Treatis/hornbook
Course Outline Content

Synthesized Rules

Types
•
•
•
•
•
•
If, then
Elements
Disjunctive
Factors
General Rule + Exceptions
Hybrid
Course Outline Content

If, then rule
If you capture or mortally wound a wild
animal on public lands, you have a
property right in the wild animal.
 If you engage in an act, knowing with
substantial certainty the
consequences of the act, for the
purpose of tort liability, you have acted
with intent.

Content of Course Outline

Elements
 Law broken into discrete units
• each has its own test or definition
• each must be proven for the rule to apply

Example
• An actor batters another when he intends to cause
harmful or offensive contact with the person of another
and such contact actually occurs
• Elements
• Intent
• Causation
• Harm or offense
• Another person
• Actual contact
Course Outline Content

Elements

Example
• Contract formation
• Offer
• Acceptance
• Consideration
Course Outline Content

Disjunctive rules
Battery includes harmful OR offensive
contact
 Damages for breach of contract may
include money damages OR specific
performance
 Delivery of a gift can be actual OR
constructive

Course Outline Content

Factors
 Personal jurisdiction analysis
• Several layers to the test
• Minimum contacts
• Purposefully direct actions to forum?
• Product placed in stream of commerce?
• Business relationship with forum state business?
• If internet contact, how interactive is the web
business with the forum state?
• Reasonableness
• Burden on the defendant
• Burden on the plaintiff
• Interest of the forum state
Course Outline Content

General Rule + Exceptions

Murder is the unlawful killing of
another human being with malice
aforethought, unless, the actor acted
in self defense
Course Outline Content

Hybrid rules
Contract formation
 Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Course Outline Content

Review rule structures:
•
•
•
•
•
•
If, then
Elements
Disjunctive
Factors
General Rule + Exceptions
Hybrid
Course Outline Content

Policy

The ideas that animate the law, give it
purpose, guide its evolution
• Judicial process
• Firm v. flexible rules
• Slippery slope
• Flood of litigation
• Normative
• Freedom of contract
• Individual v. Altruism
• Economic
• Cost-benefit analysis
Example of Policy

Adverse possession forces real
property owners to pay attention to
uses of their property and benefits
those who put real property to
productive use.
Course Outline Content

Examples and non-examples of rules
in factual context

Cases (including note cases)
• Holding
• Rule + dispositive facts

Hypotheticals that professors present
in class
Course Outline Process

Starting point


Next Step


Utilize your case book’s table of contents and/or
course syllabus as templates for the major topics
covered during the class
For each topic, pool together pre-class notes, during
class notes, post class notes, and readings from
supplemental sources
Final Step

For each topic, synthesize rule structures
Starting Point: Table of
Contents and/or Syllabus
If your professor proceeds
sequentially through the case book,
utilize the case book’s table of
contents to structure your outline
 If your professor “jumps around”
sections of the case book, utilize the
professor’s syllabus to structure your
outline

Next step: Pool information



For each topic, pre-class, gather information
from assigned and supplemental reading
relevant to the topic you are studying
For each topic, during class, edit and add to the
information you gathered pre-class
For each topic, post class, review the
information gathered pre and during class:



Identify patterns and structures in the information
Identify gaps in the information
List questions about the information and create a plan
for addressing them
Final Step: Synthesize Rule
Structures

Generally legal synthesis requires
inductive thought

Discern rule structures from a number
of sources, each of which individually
reveals only a portion of the rule’s
structure
• Inductive thinking derives general
principles from specific cases and
materials covered in case book and in
class
Course Outline Process

Suggestions to improve your inductive
thinking about cases




Know the purpose for reading the case
Reduce the case to 1-2 sentences that
explain the law of the case in light of the
facts and the purpose
Gather the 1-2 sentences from the cases
together and make a cumulative list of the
legal principles and policies related to the
purpose for which you read the case
Discern form, structure, hierarchy among the
principles and policies
Final Step: Synthesize Rule
Structures

On occasion, information is delivered
in a structured form

Need only record the structure of the
rules, noting their development from
general idea to more specific
Course Outline Forms
Traditional outline
 Concept map
 Timeline
 Comparison chart
 Comparison diagram
 Flow chart

Review Presentation
Objectives
Explain the purpose of a course
outline
 Discuss the content of a course
outline
 Suggest a process for creating a
course outline
 Suggest forms for course outlines
