Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
241 sec. 001 - Evidence (Spring 2024)
Instructor: David B Oppenheimer (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
TuTh 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM
Location: Law 132
From January 09, 2024
To April 18, 2024
Course End: April 18, 2024
Class Number: 32227
This course is open to 1Ls.
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 81
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 81
As of: 04/27 03:16 PM
This three-unit course will explore the law of evidence as applied in American (primarily federal) courts, but with a different approach than a standard course.
We will use an experiential learning-by-doing approach, with part of our class time spent with students arguing for the admission or exclusion of evidence based on problems drawn from two simulated case-files. Both of the cases involve important but disturbing gender equality issues. One involves an allegation of Spousal Violence/Murder; the other is a civil sexual harassment in employment case. You will need to become familiar with every aspect of the two cases, and apply the law of evidence, as found in the Federal Rules of Evidence and a few case decisions, to argue why the law permits or prohibits the admission or exclusion of the evidence offered.
There is no traditional casebook in this class, and we will read only a handful of cases. We will use a "hornbook" (which is available free through the Berkeley Law Library subscription to Foundation Press study aids), the Federal Rules of Evidence (which are available for free online), two casefiles published by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), and a problem set which I co-authored, which I will distribute for free.
Students should expect to participate in break-our sessions multiple times in each class meeting, and will be on call for 3 of the 14 weeks of the semester.
Course coverage will include relevance, character evidence, witness examination, offers of evidence (and thus objections to offers of evidence), authentication of documents and other physical evidence, motions in limine, impeachment and rehabilitation, privileges, opinion testimony, scientific evidence, and hearsay.
Grading
Grades will be based on two mid-term exams, a final exam, and class participation. Here is the grading formula:
• The two mid-term exams, which will be take-homes, will each consist of 15 multiple choice questions worth 1 point for each question (a total of 30 points). At least some of the questions and answers will be subsequently reviewed in class for formative assessment purposes;
• The final exam, which will be a take-home, will include ten short problems requiring you to support the admission or exclusion of evidence with a limit of 150 words each, worth 40 total points (4 points each), and 18 multiple-choice questions worth 1 point for each question (a total of 58 points);
• Up to 12 class participation points will be awarded as follows. Four points will be awarded when a student is called on, is prepared, and satisfactorily participates. Thus, if you are called on and pass, or you are not present, or you are clearly not prepared, you’ll have lost an opportunity to earn four participation points. My goal is to give every student at least 3-4 opportunities to earn participation points (and to award 12 participation points to every student).
Exam Notes: (TH) Take-home examination
Exam Length: 5 hours
Course Category: Litigation and Procedure
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Readers:
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Books:
Required Books are in blue
- Evidence Law, A Student's Guide to the Law of Evidence as Applied in American Trials, 4th
Roger C. Park, David P. Leonard, Aviva Orenstein, Dale Nance, Steven Goldberg,
Edition: 4th (2018)
Publisher: West Academic
ISBN: 9781634609357
e-Book Available: unknown
Price: $146.00
Note: prices are sampled from internet bookstores. Law-school Bookstore prices are unavailable at this time. - Evidence in Context
Moberly, Burns, Lubet
Edition: 5th ed., 2017
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
ISBN: 9781601565853
e-Book Available: unknown
Copyright Date: To Be Determined
Price: 86.00
Note: prices are sampled from internet bookstores. Law-school Bookstore prices are unavailable at this time. - Rowe v. Pacific Quad, Inc.
Opperheimer
Edition: 6th / 2019
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
ISBN: 9781601568076
e-Book Available: unknown
Copyright Date: To Be Determined
Price: 42.00
Note: prices are sampled from internet bookstores. Law-school Bookstore prices are unavailable at this time.