Family Law Drafting

Course Catalog Number:
5396
Course Credits:
2
Course Type:
Lecture
Course Priority:
Limited Enrollment - 3rd Year Priority
Graduation Requirements:
"W" Writing
Professional Skills
Full Year Course:
No

Course Description

A substantial percentage of family law cases are settled prior to or during the trial. The oral agreement should be reduced to a comprehensive, final, written agreement that either party can enforce. Because the devil is in the details, it is an art for lawyers to be able to transport the parties from what is often a vague, general agreement on major principles to a final agreement dealing with the gritty details. The most successful lawyers are those who can look at a general provision agreed upon by the parties and see the anticipated problems that must be accounted for in the final agreement.
This class will focus on the development of the skills needed for critical thinking, anticipatory problem analysis and precise drafting. The class will work primarily on drafting the most important clauses in property settlement agreements.
Structured lecturing will be done, although substantive law will be interactively explored in each class. Each class session will introduce one or more problems by way of hypothetical. The assignment will be to draft (by the next class) provisions to solve the problems presented.