Writing your own outline can be valuable way to help you organize, learn, and retain the information. It also requires a lot of time and effort. And your end result is likely going to be quite similar to the outline that another student spent lots of time and effort creating the year before. So in an effort to help current students at the University of Missouri School of Law, I’ve gathered all of the outlines that friends, classmates, and graduates have shared with me.I hope this collection will be a helpful resource for any and all students who wish to use it.
Category - Law School
My target audience with this post is law school students and young attorneys tackling a summary judgment for the first time. Experience has shown that seasoned attorneys often forget exactly what it was like to not know how to do something. This is my primer on summary judgment for novices like me. For a more in-depth review of the subject, see Judge H.J. Bush’s article titled “How to Write a Motion for Summary Judgment.”
“The record is viewed in the light most favorable to the non-movant.” ITT Commercial at 382. Thus summary judgment is not a place for credibility determinations as the non-moving party will always be given the benefit of the doubt. Id. For this reason, the majority of motions for summary judgment will fail. However, summary judgment is a very powerful tool for ending frivolous law suits.
Any party in a lawsuit. According to Rule 74.04 the movant is called the “claimant” and the responding party is the “defending party.”
Clearly the benefit of filing a motion for summary judgment early on in a case is to save money and to get the case resolved as quickly as possible.
The response in opposition to summary judgment is due within 30 days after service of a summary judgment motion. 74.04(c)(2). Reply briefs are due within 15 days after service of the response. 74.04(c)(3). Sur-reply in opposition is due within 15 days after service of the reply. 74.04(c)(4).
Missouri Supreme Court rule 70 outlines Missouri’s law on jury instructions. Jury instructions are all important as they provide the framework through which the jury will decide the case.
If you or someone you know is considering law school, here are two pieces of advice. They each share the common theme – with law school, things are not often what they seem.
First, one would think that the cost of tuition would be highly correlated with the quality of the law school. Yet, this is not the case. Consider that the New York Law School is “ranked in the bottom third of all law schools in the country, but with tuition and fees now set at $47,800 a year, it charges more than Harvard.” (NY Times article) And the New York Law School is not alone. Some of the worst offenders include: New England Law (cost: $42,490 per year; starting salary: ~$60,000) Charlotte Law (cost: $38,606 per year; starting salary: $45,000), and Phoenix School of Law (cost: $37,741 per year; starting salary: unknown).
Second, for most courses in law school, your entire grade is based on one final exam. The final is in large part a writing exercise. If you can memorize the law, recognize it on the exam, and express yourself clearly – you’ll do well. Yet, most law school students will be busy most of the semester reading cases and preparing to be called on in class… both activities that can consume massive amounts of time and yet usually have no impact on your final grade. I stumbled upon the Law Essay Exam Writing System (LEEWS). It looks a little old school, yet as a law school student, it really helped me understand how to write a quality law school exam essay answer.