1 TORTS (Revised for fall 2024)

Instructor: Brad Saxton Fall 2024 – Room 354

Office: SLE-253 Monday and Wednesday
3:00 PM -- 4:50 PM
LAWS*107-12
Phone: 203-582-3642
E-mail: Brad.Saxton@quinnipiac.edu

Required Text: Henderson and Kysar, The Torts Process (10th ed. 2022).

Recommended Reading: Joseph W. Glannon, The Law of Torts: Examples and

Explanations (6th ed. 2020).

Class Attendance: This is a required course, and you are thus required to attend
at least 80% (or 23) of the (28) regularly scheduled class
meetings in order to take the final exam.

Class Participation: I expect that you will be prepared for class and will participate
when called upon to do so. (I will be calling on you.) I reserve
the right to lower your final grade for the class by one third of
a letter grade from what it would otherwise have been (e.g.,
from a B to a B-, or from an A- to a B+) if on multiple
occasions over the course of the semester you have been
unprepared for class when I called on you. If you know in
advance that you will not be attending or will not be prepared
for a class session, please let me know.

Final Exam: [Date and time TBA] The final exam will probably be three
and a half hours long, and it will likely count for one hundred
(100) percent of your final grade, subject to the provisions
included above concerning class participation. I will also be
giving a practice exam during the semester; I have not yet
decided whether I will count your score on the practice exam
as part of the basis for your final grade for the course. (Well in
advance of the practice exam, I will let you know whether it
will count toward your final grade.)

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Course Coverage: I plan this semester to cover the material indicated below. I will give
specific assignments each week. Please note that I will occasionally ask you to read some
additional materials related to the materials in the assigned portions of the text.

Tentative Syllabus1

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Torts Process:

Liability for Harmful and Offensive Battery pp. 1-114

Chapter 11: Dignitary Wrongs and Intentional Infliction of Emotional

Distress As assigned

Chapter 2: Actual Causation pp. 115-172

Chapter 3: Negligence: Duty of Care and Proof of Breach pp. 173-301

Chapter 4: Negligence: Proximate Cause, Special Instances of

Nonliability, and Defenses pp. 303-445

Chapter 5: Trespass to Land and Nuisance As assigned

Chapter 6: Strict Liability pp. 491-523

Chapter 8: Damages As assigned

Reasonable Accommodations and Recording of Class Sessions

Quinnipiac University is committed to creating a learning environment that meets the

needs of its diverse student body. Students with disabilities who wish to request reasonable
accommodations should contact the Associate Dean of Students, Kathy Kuhar, by email
(kathy.kuhar@quinnipiac.edu) or phone (203-582-3219). Quinnipiac University complies
with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Students seeking accommodations regarding class recordings must contact Associate Dean
Kathy Kuhar. Students who make unauthorized recordings without approved
accommodations may be subject to sanctions in accordance with the Academic Integrity
Policy and/or the law school Honor Code.

1
Subject to revision, including additions or deletions as may
appear appropriate or necessary.
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Class sessions will occasionally be recorded in whole or in part for use by students enrolled
in this class, including those who are not able to attend live. These recordings are the
intellectual property of the instructor and they may not be shared or reproduced without
my explicit, written consent. Further, students may not share these sessions with those not
in our class or upload or distribute them via or to any other online environment. Doing so
would be a breach of the University Academic Integrity Policy and the law school Honor
Code and, in some cases, a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA), a federal law governing privacy and students’ academic records.

Students participating with their camera engaged, or those who utilize a profile image, are
consenting to video or images being recorded. Students who participate via Zoom audio
are consenting to have their voices (and any sounds from their location not protected by
headphone use) recorded. Students who have short-term or long-term personal/health,
online safety or technology issues that may have an impact on recording of class sessions
should contact me to work out a comparable and equitable way to meet the course learning
goals.

Individual student recording of classes or meetings is prohibited. This includes

photographing, screen capture, or other copying methods of all video or Zoom Chat
exchanges during classes or meetings. Circulating such unauthorized recordings, including
via the internet, email, and social media, is also prohibited. All students’ privacy and
instructor copyright must be properly protected in the online learning environment.
Instructors and staff may not grant individual student requests to record class sessions or
meetings.

Students should review their current course grade or individual assignment grades in the
Blackboard gradebook, rather than discussing their grades in a Zoom Chat or in a
recorded part of a class session, and students should also be cautious about what
information they include in any private Zoom Chat.

Workload Expectations

Standard 310 of the American Bar Association’s Accreditation Standards requires that for each
credit hour earned, a student must do an amount of work that reasonably approximates at least 50
minutes of classroom instruction per week and at least an average of 120 minutes of out-of-class
work per week for fifteen weeks. Out-of-class work includes class preparation, post-class review,
outlining, time spent on written and other class assignments, meeting with study groups, meeting
or otherwise communicating with the professor to discuss course-related topics, and exam
preparation. The fifteen-week period includes one week for examinations.

In my judgment, based on the average length and difficulty of the reading assignments and the
number and average difficulty of other course exercises and assignments, at least eight hours or

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more hours of out-of-class work will be required on average per week to prepare adequately for
class, complete all assignments, master the course material, and perform satisfactorily on all
course assessments.

At the end of the course, students will be asked to indicate approximately how much out-of-class
time they have spent per week per credit hour on this course, so please be mindful of this
requirement as the course progresses.

Course-Specific Learning Outcomes

(Bold-Faced Outcomes are Emphasized/Tested on Final Exam)

Specific Torts Learning Outcomes

• Reading Torts cases effectively

• Reading statutes (in Torts, not many) effectively
• From reading and discussing cases and statutes, learning the rules/doctrine (Torts),
including their historical development and the policies underlying them
• Being able to explain clearly the basic rules/doctrine (Torts)
• Recognizing legal issues (here Torts issues) in familiar and in new and unfamiliar
circumstances
• Being able to apply the applicable Torts rules effectively in familiar and in new and
unfamiliar circumstances
• Seeing arguments/predicting results
• Spotting key facts
• Knowing development/history/policies and understanding how they might inform
the application of the rules in context
• Explaining all this effectively, orally and in writing

Learning and Honing Critical Lawyering Skills; Gaining Facility In and Comfort With . . .

• Reading cases critically and carefully

• Understanding the material facts
• Recognizing and understanding the precise issues presented
• Understanding the parties’ competing arguments
• Learning how to glean the rules applied or adopted/announced as the court
addresses the issues
• Understanding the court’s holding
• Understanding the court’s reasoning for its holding
• Being able to explain all of the above

• Reading a range of other kinds of materials (including statutes) critically and

carefully
• Listening critically and carefully
• Thinking on the spot and under pressure, and speaking extemporaneously
• Speaking publicly
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 • Making effective presentations to groups
• Reasoning clearly and carefully
• Reasoning logically
• Being able to recognize, understand and explain analogies and distinction (e.g., “this
new case is materially like or unlike the previous case, and here’s why”)
• Understanding potential counterarguments
• Recognizing explicit and implicit assumptions
• Understanding potential future consequences of current decisions
• Communicating (orally and in writing) clearly, efficiently and effectively
• Getting familiar with litigation and a better understanding of the trial and appellate
courts’ roles
• Promoting justice, fairness, efficiency, ethics and professionalism

Institutional Learning Outcomes Addressed in This Course

While I have described above the learning outcomes that I have fashioned specifically for
this course, I am also including below a list of those of our institution-wide learning
outcomes that we will likely address to at least some degree over the course of the semester:

First Tier Learning Outcome 1: Graduates are expected to demonstrate competency in

legal analysis and reasoning and legal problem solving.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate competency in the following:
1. Reading cases, statutes, and regulations effectively to glean rules and – if in play
– the developmental history and policies underlying the rules.
2. Recognizing issues and possible rules implicated in new and unfamiliar factual
situations.
3. Applying applicable rules effectively to understand potential arguments and
counter-arguments in new and unfamiliar factual situations.
4. Assessing what additional facts may need to be gathered for appropriate analysis
of a legal issue.
5. Assessing the relative strength of arguments and predicting likely outcomes
effectively for legal issues.
6. Analyzing applicable rules and facts to formulate and evaluate potential solutions
to legal problems.

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First Tier Learning Outcome 2: Graduates are expected to demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of legal theory, systems, and doctrine, including core areas of substantive
and procedural law and alternative methods for resolving disputes.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
following:
1. The American federal and state legal systems, including their structures of
rulemaking and governance and their historical background.
2. Core doctrine and theory in “foundation” areas, including those that will be tested
on the bar examination.
3. The range of dispute resolution processes and the ability to advise clients and
others on choices of process/forum.
4. Appellate review standards and practices.
5. The impact of law and legal rules on society and its various sub-groups.

First Tier Learning Outcome 3: Graduates are expected to demonstrate competency in

oral and written communication in the legal context.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. Competency in cogently communicating analysis and advice orally in a range of
settings and contexts.
2. Competency in listening effectively to clients and others.
3. Competency in cogently communicating analysis and advice in writing across a
range of types of writings (e.g., memos, briefs, and client letters).
4. At least a basic understanding of principles of logic and rhetoric.
5. At least novice-level understanding of and competency in a spectrum of advocacy
skills.

First Tier Learning Outcome 4: Graduates are expected to demonstrate competency in

legal research and understanding of the factual research needed to solve legal problems.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. Competency in legal research, including effective use of technology for that
research.
2. Understanding of factual investigation, including an understanding of effective
strategies and practices for gathering the facts needed to evaluate legal issues or
problems.

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First Tier Learning Outcome 5: Graduates are expected to demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of the attorney’s professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the
legal system.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. Knowledge and understanding of the professional rules and the ability to
recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas in a range of practice settings.
2. Knowledge and understanding of the attorney’s ethical obligation to represent
clients diligently and competently.
3. Knowledge and understanding of the attorney’s ethical obligation to behave
professionally and civilly.
4. Knowledge and understanding of the attorney’s ethical obligation to behave in
accordance with the rules governing confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
5. Knowledge and understanding of the attorney’s ethical obligation to strive to
promote justice (including access to justice) and fairness and to assist the
profession in providing legal services to those who cannot afford to pay for them.

First Tier Learning Outcome 6: Graduates are expected to demonstrate at least novice-
level competency in other professional skills needed for competent, effective and ethical
participation as a member of the legal profession.

Specific Criteria
Graduates are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. At least novice-level understanding of and competency in approaches for
managing conflict for effective problem solving.
2. At least novice-level competency in collaborative work approaches.
3. At least novice-level understanding of and competency in effective approaches for
client interviewing and counseling.
4. At least novice-level understanding of and competency in effective negotiation
practices.
5. At least novice-level understanding of and competency in “learning how to learn”
(techniques for finding guidance for unfamiliar tasks).

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