GOVT 329 Tort Law and Pub Pol Syllabus - George Mason University

Laura Walker, J.D., attorney-at-law
Office phone 993-1422
Office Hrs: MW 2:05-2:35 & by appointment
GOVT 329 Tort Law and Public Policy
George Mason University Summer 2006
Department of Public and International Affairs
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thu. 11:45-1:50 Classroom Robinson 105B
Email: LWALKER1@gmu.edu
Faculty mailbox: 201A Robinson A
Office: 407A Robinson A
Course Description: In this course students will examine the parameters of tort law, specifically how we assign
social duties, assess damages, and determine the distribution of burdens for the every day risks of harm that exist
in modern society. Through readings, lectures, discussions and individual research each student will analyze the
validity of court decisions and a variety of proposals for tort policy, including aspects of tort reform. Students are
expected to gain the knowledge to effectively evaluate the delicate balancing of rights and responsibilities that
enables tort law to address the crucial needs of our American culture.
Textbooks: Torts Stories by Rabin and Sugarman, Foundation Press 2003 ISBN1-58778-503-X
The Forms and Functions of Tort Law by Abraham, Foundation Press 2002 ISBN1-58778-186-7
Grading--Student knowledge of course material will be calculated as follows:
Writing Review 5%
Quizzes (3 of 5) 35%
Presentations/Writings 30%
Final Exam 30%
94% and above: A
90-93.99%: A-
86-89.99%: B+
82-85.99%: B
77-81.99%: C+
72-76.99%: C
65-71.99%: D
64.99 and below: F
Class Schedule/Syllabus: The instructor may modify the attached class schedule and any such change shall be
announced in class at the earliest opportunity. Students must activate their GMU email accounts and are advised
to check for class notices on a regular basis.
Class Enrollment: Each student should verify his/her proper enrollment in this class with the registrar's office no
later than July 11, 2006. This is also the last day to drop this class without any tuition penalty.
HONOR CODE: Each student is advised to take GMU's honor code seriously. If any student’s schoolwork or
communication related to this course contains an honor code violation (including but not limited to falsehoods and
plagiarism), the student's work product may receive a grade of zero and/or the student may be referred to the
school's honor code committee for further inquiry. In most instances a violation of the honor code results in a
failing grade for the entire semester and additional sanctions as determined by the Honor Code Office or
Committee. Students may freely discuss this course's assignments with others and may seek appropriate
feedback and guidance. However, all final work products must always be the sole work of the submitting student.
For any presentation assignment, all resources must be clearly and accurately delineated in an appropriate
format, and all verbatim and paraphrased material requires footnotes, endnotes or parentheses that denote the
source and page number. Verbatim material must be in quotation marks.
Assignment/Exam Policy: All assignments must be completed at the scheduled time. In case of an extreme
emergency, verified by complete written documentation, and at the sole discretion of the instructor, some

assignments may be rescheduled, but any make-up assignment may be designed to be more difficult than the
original and may be in a different format. A late submission of an out-of-class assignment without legitimate
excuse, written documentation and instructor approval of the delay, may result in a reduction of fifteen grading
points for each day it is late, up to a maximum of three days, at which time no late submissions will be accepted
unless the student’s situation warrants reconsideration of the penalty policy. The day-late-penalty will be assessed
in full immediately after the designated submission time and such penalty will reoccur each subsequent day at the
same designated time.
*A substitute (make up) for an in-class assignment will only be provided if a student can document that the
absence from class was due to a personal, unavoidable problem that made attendance impossible or exceedingly
difficult. Note: there are additional requirements for make up quizzes.
Submission of Essay:
Other than the exception listed below, all papers must be submitted in hardcopy paper format on the due date, at
the designated time. In case of a documented emergency a paper may initially be emailed, provided it is emailed
by the deadline time and provided further that a paper copy is submitted within a short and reasonable period of
time thereafter. A written explanation of the email-qualifying emergency must accompany the paper’s hard copy
submission or the paper will be assessed penalties for lateness. Exception: The submission of the Presentation
Summaries should be sent by email whenever the 48- hour-in-advance time period does not coincide with a class
period. In that case an emailed copy suffices and there is no other requirement to bring in a paper copy at a later
date.
Summary of Work Required:
Writing Review (5% of final grade): To improve college level writing skills, students will have one brief “skill
review” assignment, which will be graded as pass (100) or variations of fail (0-70). A failing grade will be based on
writing errors and/or a lack of significant content. For those students who have recently completed a similar
assignment in my other courses, the new submission may be a modified version of prior work provided that the
student affirms in writing that the assignment has been reviewed and updated as needed.
Quizzes (35% of final grade)
A quiz based on that day’s reading assignment and/or on all previous course material will occur on five random
dates throughout the semester (tests may occur at various times in the class period). Students may use their
notes for any such quiz. Students are encouraged to prepare notes as they read each day’s reading assignment
and to bring these notes and all prior notes to each class. Notes can be handwritten or typed and can be part of
group study sessions. However, any professionally prepared notes or photocopies from the course texts, other
books, and/or websites are not permitted. Notes must be in paper format and cannot be accessed via any
electronic device during a quiz.
The top three quizzes will be used to calculate the student’s grade. Two quizzes can be missed or failed without
grading penalty.
The quiz grades will be: A (adequate-full credit), H (half credit), or F (failed-no credit).
Grading (based on A=1 and H = .5): 3 “A” tests= 100; 2.5 tests=85; 2 tests =70; 1.5 tests = 60; 1 test = 50; 0.5
test = 25
Make up quizzes will be given on the day of the final exam for those who qualify by missing two or more quizzes,
with each missed opportunity being for a valid, documented reason. If a student misses only one quiz, there is no
opportunity for a make up quiz. If a student misses two quizzes, there is one make up quiz; three missed quizzes
= two make up quizzes.

Note regarding quizzes: Questions on previous course material may be more difficult than questions on that day’s
reading assignment. Students are expected to be intelligently familiar with each day’s reading assignment but are
not expected to thoroughly understand the full legal analysis of any court case prior to class lectures.
Presentations/Writings (30% of final grade):
Each student will complete this assignment via four separate tasks which will be graded separately, and
then averaged for the collective grade in this category.
Task # 1: Write a one page summary and critique of a current tort-related event and submit this 48 hours
in advance of the designated presentation day. (by 11:45 a.m. two days in advance)
Task # 2: Present the current event for class discussion on the designated day.
Task # 3: Write a one page summary and critique of an assigned outside reading and submit this 48
hours in advance of the designated presentation day.
Task # 4: Present the assigned topic for class discussion on the designated day.
Final Exam (30% of final grade): The final exam will be cumulative and will be a Scantron test. Students are
encouraged to bring two pages of notes to the final exam.
Class Attendance and Additional Participation:
Each student is expected to attend class and to contribute to all class discussions. Consistent attendance and
intelligent participation may be used at the teacher’s discretion to fractionally raise a student’s numerical score to
the next letter grade for the final grade posting.
Syllabus
Students are expected to have a general understanding of the assigned reading for each class.
FFTL = The Forms and Functions of Tort Law
TS = Torts Stories
Wednesday, July 5 Introduction to Class
Overview of Tort Law and Key Legal Terms
Thursday, July 6
Chapter 1 FFTL Introduction
p. 27-39 TS Hand formula
Monday, July 10 Writing Skills Paper Due
Chapter 2 FFTL Intentional and Emotional Harm
Tuesday, July 11
Chapter 3 FFTL pg. 46-65 Negligence
Wednesday, July 12
Chapter 3 FFTL pg. 66-86 Negligence
Chapter 3 TS Rowland
Assigned Student Presentation: McDonald’s Coffee
Thursday, July 13
Chapter 4 & 5 FFTL Proof and Causation
Chapter 2 TS MacPherson—only skim read this chapter
Assigned Student Presentation: Tort Reform

Monday, July 17
Chapter 6 FFTL Proximate Cause
Chapter 5 TS Wagon Mound
Assigned Student Presentation: Palsgraf
Tuesday, July 18
Chapter 7 FFTL Defenses
Chapter 7 TS Murphy
Assigned Student Presentation: Cousins Club v. Silva
Wednesday, July 19
Chapter 8 FFTL Strict Liability
Assigned Student Presentation: Exculpatory Clauses
Thursday, July 20
Chapter 8 TS Rylands (strict liability)
News Presentation and Assigned Student Presentation: Anderson v. W.R. Grace (Cryovac/ Beatrice Foods)
Monday, July 24
Chapter 9 FFTL Products Liability
Chapter 6 TS Hymowitz
Assigned Student Presentation: Corvair and Pinto
Tuesday, July 25
Chapter 10 FFTL Damages
Assigned Student Presentation: BMW v. Gore
Wednesday, July 26
Chapter 11 FFTL Duties
Chapter 4 TS Tarasoff
Assigned Student Presentation: Wal-Mart v. Ortiz
Thursday, July 27
Chapter 12 FFTL Tort Reform
Chapter 9 TS Escola
Assigned Student Presentation: Alami v. VW
Monday, July 31
Chapter 13 and 14 FFTL Defamation, Privacy, Misrepresentation
Assigned Student Presentation: Nader v. General Motors
Tuesday, August 1
Review for Final Exam
No Class on Wednesday, August 2
FINAL EXAM- Thursday, August 3
Scantron exam—form 882-E
Two pages of notes permitted
1:30-4:15 Note: The final exam begins at 1:30