Family Law

Office Hours:  Monday and Wednesday, 2:30-3:20 pm

TWEN:

The primary website for this class is on TWEN.  The syllabus and supplements are posted there.  If you are registered for the course, you will automatically be given access to our course page at least one week before classes begin.  If you are registered for the course and cannot access the page, please contact the Westlaw representative, Mark Cygnet mark.cygnet@thomsonreuters.com. If you are hoping to add the course and therefore do not yet have access to the page, please email the professor for a copy of the syllabus and Supplement 1. 

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REQUIRED TEXT:

The required book is Ellman, Kurtz, Weithorn et al.: FAMILY LAW: CASES, TEXT,  PROBLEMS (5th  ed. 2010) (listed below as "Text").  At my request, the Bookstore has ordered these books in two formats (regular hard-covered and loose-leaf) because I have found in past years, some students prefer one format over the other.  Thus, you can choose the format you prefer.

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First- and second-day assignments:

For our first class session on Mon. 8/20 please read the following.  The syllabus will be posted on this course’s TWEN site one week before classes begin.  Please read the QUESTIONS listed on the syllabus and give thought to those questions while you are reading, since we will discuss the questions in class.

• Text:  pp. 25-44
• Text: pp. 726-732
• Text: pp. 1-8

For the second day of class, Weds 8/22, please read:

• Text: pp: 19-24
• Supplement # 1 (to be posted on TWEN one week before classes begin)
• Text: pp. 44-76 (includes Lawrence v. Texas)

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On Call System

The class is divided into two on-call groups. 

Students whose last names begin with A through M will be on call on the following days: 8/22, 8/29, 9/10, 9/17, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/14, 11/20

Students whose last names begin with N through Z will be on call on the following days: 8/27, 9/5, 912, 9/19, 9/26, 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/19, 11/20

Students are encouraged to volunteer, however, whether or not it is their on-call day. Students are entitled to one "pass" during the semester, excusing him or her from being on call on a particular day. In order to use a pass, a student must hand the professor a sheet of paper at the beginning of class with her or her name and the word: Pass. Please do not email a pass request, as the professor may not receive it prior to class. If a student is not prepared when called on, the student will be given the opportunity to use his or her pass. If the pass has already been used, he or she will be placed on call for the next class session. Students can also receive extra credit for class participation. The system of awarding such credit will be explained by the professor on the first day of class.