EXTRA ACTIVITIES + PRACTICE QUESTIONS

By Stockton

Activities

How many of you have wondered; "What type of extra activities can I do to make me a better law student?" Me neither. Still, here are a few projects that will keep you sharp over breaks and vacations and put you a step ahead of your colleagues.

1. Prepare a topographical map of Blackacre (be sure to include two easements, one improvement, an acre subject to adverse possession and a right-of-way).

2. Commit a crime (nothing greater than a misdemeanor) and then represent yourself. Move to have all charges dismissed based upon a violation of your 4th Amendment Rights. Before the Judge rules on your motion, make sure he knows that if he decides your motion in the unscholarly, amateurish way typical of lower court judges, you're prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court.*

3. Create a life-size, talking doll of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes out of paper mache. The doll should recite lines from Holmes' more memorable opinions ("Two generations of idiots are enough!" - The Carrie Buck Case)**

4. Cross Examine your spouse or significant other about their credit card bill. Get them to admit that half their purchases were unnecessary. Bonus points if you get them to cry.

5. Create a diorama depicting the states in which you and your friends may be subject to personal jurisdiction and the basis for such jurisdiction (be sure to remember Long Arm Jurisdiction).

6. Default on a debt to a bookie or loan shark. Explain that such activities are illegal and thus, they have no way to enforce your promise.

7. Write and produce a musical based on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

8. Draft a quasi-contract, amend it into an implied-in-fact contract and then back into a quasi-contract.

Practice Questions

1. A contracts to sell B 1,000 ice cube trays. A then contracts with C for the manufacture of 1,000 ice cube trays. A is to deliver the trays to B on or before May 1. The trays are to be manufactured by C on or before April 15 and shipped to A no later than April 21. C is told that B, a restaurant owner, is relying upon the ice cube trays and that delivery after May 1 is will result in substantial monetary loss to B. Both contracts are reduced to writing with a clause stating, "This contract is whole and complete and its material terms cannot be altered except in writing, with written consent of both parties."C's factory burns down on April 12. The fire is ruled to be arson. Answer the following questions:

a) What was B going to do with 1,000 ice cube trays?

b) Was C involved in the fire? Why won't C's son speak to him?


2. A rare diamond is on display at the New State museum. It is valued at $1,788,245.22. On the first night of the exhibit, the diamond is found missing. Curator Smith suspects that John Doe, who catered the event, took the diamond. Smith tells the police that he has absolutely no evidence that Doe took the diamond but that Doe should be questioned. Police go to Doe's restaurant, arrest him and search the building. The diamond is found under a medium-rare porterhouse steak. Doe is arrested and convicted of the theft.

a) Can Doe's statement, "Boy, I sure could use $1,788,245.22 to help pay for those ice cube trays," made the night before the theft, be used against him?

b) Can the porterhouse steak be admitted into evidence? Can the baked potato? Can the fact that the steak was ordered medium rare but cooked well-done be used to impeach Doe?

* You may need to take a leave of absence from school for a semester or two.

** Also, the doll makes a great gift for a friend or relative expecting a child.