Rules

LW&R class attendance is mandatory and crucial to passing the course.  Papers are submitted and returned in class, and all assignments are discussed thoroughly.

All papers are due in hard copy at the beginning of class during the week indicated in the LW&R syllabus.  If necessary, hard copies of late papers may be accepted in the LW&R office, where they will be date-stamped and forwarded to the teacher.  The instructor has discretion to refuse to grade late papers.

All papers should be typed and double-spaced and must comply with the stated page requirements.  The papers must have one-inch margins; note that the default margins in Word may need manual resetting to comply.  Although the preferred font is 12 point Courier or Courier New with 10 characters per inch, please refer to your instructor's teaching policies for any specific rules for document font requirements.

Students are required to keep a copy of all assignments submitted to their teachers in case the submitted copy is lost or destroyed or in case they need to discuss it with their teacher or TA by telephone.

Teachers may grant extensions to students at their discretion.  Illness or family emergencies are grounds for extensions, but outside work or computer-related problems are not.  The fact that a student knew of circumstances that prevented timely submission of a paper and failed to communicate these circumstances to the teacher may weigh against granting an extension to a student.  In other words, extensions are granted only for extenuating circumstances and emergencies and must be requested before the due date for the assignment.

Use of computer-assisted legal research tools, such as Lexis, Westlaw, or the internet is allowed, but on a limited basis.  All first year students will learn the process of manual legal research during their first memo and receive training on Lexis and Westlaw for their second memo.

LW&R Honor Code

Dishonesty, cheating, and plagiarism are prohibited by Hastings Academic Regulations and will not be tolerated in LW&R.  Violators will be subject to discipline up to and including denial of course credit, grade reduction to an administrative F, and disciplinary steps including suspension or dismissal from Hastings.  Any instances of cheating or plagiarism will be reported to and handled by the LW&R Director and the Academic Dean’s office.  

Plagiarism includes:

• Failure to properly attribute directly quoted material,

• Failure to properly attribute paraphrased material,

• Fabrication of attributions, or

• Representation of another’s ideas or a portion of another’s work as one’s own.

Students are allowed to research together.  However, once the writing process has begun, students may not write together or share their written work with each other.  If you collaborate during the writing process with anyone except your teacher or TA, it will be considered cheating.  Students may proofread and edit the work of another student only during the assigned group edit or as directed by the teacher.  Students may not edit, proofread, or assist any other student’s writing in any form at any other time.  This prohibition applies to students in other sections as well.

Students are not allowed to have anyone except their TA or teacher edit, proofread or assist them in any way with their writing unless they have special accomodations or permission.

You may not post your LW&R work on the internet.  This includes drafts and completed memorandums, as well as any other course assignments.  You may email your teacher and your TA, but you may not distribute your LW&R work to other students via email or internet transmission.  This restriction applies even after you have completed the course.  Such conduct is a violation of the LW&R Honor Code and will result in disciplinary measures.

Students must reshelve all Law Library materials. Concealing, destroying, or defacing any library materials or academic publications violates the LW&R Honor Code.

All Honor Code violations will be handled in accordance with the Hastings Discipline Policy set forth in the Student Conduct Code and in the Academic Regulations.  If you believe a violation of the Honor Code has occurred, you must contact LW&R Director Toni Young, who will determine whether an investigation is appropriate and refer the matter to the Associate Academic Dean or Academic Dean if necessary.