Lee Fennell : Courses and Seminars
Torts
LAWS 30611
The focus of this course, offered over two sequential quarters, is on the Anglo-American system (mainly judge-created) of liability for personal injury to person or property. Special stress is laid on the legal doctrines governing accidental injury, such as negligence and strict liability, assumption of risk, and the duty requirement. The rules for determining damages in personal-injury cases are discussed. Alternative theories of tort liability, e.g., moral and economic, are compared. The student's grade is based on a single final examination.
Winter 2010
Lee Fennell
Independent Research
LAWS 49901
Second- and third-year students may earn course credit by independent research under the supervision of a member of the faculty. Such projects are arranged by consultation between the student and the particular member of the faculty in whose field the proposed topic falls.
Winter 2010
Lee Fennell
Fair Housing
LAWS 97312
This seminar will focus on the law and policy of fair housing, broadly construed. Significant attention will be devoted to antidiscrimination laws in housing, including the federal Fair Housing Act. We will also explore existing and proposed policies for improving access of lower-income people to housing. The dynamics of segregation and concentrated poverty will be examined, as well as the effects of zoning and other land use controls. Additional topics may include urban squatting, rent control, gentrification, subprime lending, the siting of locally undesirable land uses, and the use of eminent domain in blighted areas. The student's grade will be based on class participation and the student's choice of either a major paper or a series of short research papers. With instructor approval, writing for this seminar may be used as partial fulfillment of the JD writing requirement (SWP for JD '10; SRP or WP for JD '11 and JD '12).
Winter 2010
Lee Fennell
Land Use
LAWS 61301
This course will examine mechanisms for regulating land use and development. We will consider constitutional and other legal limitations on land use controls, as well as political, economic, and other policy considerations that bear on regulatory choices. The interactions among land use controls undertaken by different governing bodies will also receive attention. The student's grade is based on a proctored final examination; participation may be taken into account as indicated on the syllabus.
Autumn 2009
Lee Fennell
Local Government Law
LAWS 71701
This course examines the law regarding provision of public goods and services at the state and local level. It explores the way in which local government law addresses the issues of what services a local government should provide, which residents should receive those services, who should pay for the services provided, and who should provide the answers to the previous questions. It explores the relationship among federal, state, and local governments, with particular emphasis on judicial analysis of the constitutional and statutory bases of those relationships. Grading is based on a proctored final examination; participation may be taken into account as indicated on the syllabus.
Spring 2010
Lee Fennell
Independent Research
LAWS 49901
Second- and third-year students may earn course credit by independent research under the supervision of a member of the faculty. Such projects are arranged by consultation between the student and the particular member of the faculty in whose field the proposed topic falls.
Autumn 2009
Lee Fennell
Independent Research
LAWS 49901
Second- and third-year students may earn course credit by independent research under the supervision of a member of the faculty. Such projects are arranged by consultation between the student and the particular member of the faculty in whose field the proposed topic falls.
Spring 2010
Lee Fennell
