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. 003 - Evidence (Spring 2026)
Instructor: Jonah B Gelbach (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
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Units: 4
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
MW 3:35 PM - 5:25 PM
Location: Law 170
From January 12, 2026
To April 28, 2026
Course End: April 28, 2026
Class Number: 33430
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 59
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 60
As of: 02/05 11:45 AM
Evidence rules address which sources of proof are admissible in criminal and civil trials. We will study the Federal Rules of Evidence, related case law, and constitutional concepts that limit the use of certain types of proof, and we will also occasionally discuss state-specific evidence rules. Topics include relevance, unfair prejudice, character evidence, expert testimony, impeachment, hearsay, and the Confrontation Clause.
Important notes:
1. This evidence course focuses on the Federal Rules of Evidence and does not seek to teach the California Evidence Code.
2. This course will have remote Zoom meetings during three weeks (which will likely be non-contiguous). A schedule of which dates involve Zoom meetings will be available on the bCourses site by the first class meeting, and possibly substantially before that.
3. The final exam will be primarily multiple-choice, although there will be a small number of short-answer questions as well.
4. We will be using Jeffrey Bellin's excellent and concise casebook, The Law of Evidence, Second Edition, which may be purchased new from Amazon for $35 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F13TCCR7.
Please buy the *second* edition rather than the first edition.
You can also buy the Kindle version of the *second* edition for $10, at https://www.amazon.com/Law-Evidence-Jeffrey-Bellin-ebook/dp/B0F148V21Y/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0.
Finally, I recommend buying the Rules Supplement, which is available at https://www.amazon.com/Federal-Rules-Evidence-Legislative-Commentary/dp/B0CLHPSR5X.
Exam Notes: (F) In-class Final Exam
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Exam Length: 3.5 hours
Course Category: Litigation and Procedure
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