The University of Florida
Fredric G. Levin College of Law

Comparative Law

Summer 2005
Montpellier, France

(Updated: July 26, 2005)

As I announced in class, I will not require the Practical Project this Summer. The schedule is simply too tight to justify two separate writing projects. Your exam, and voluntary class-participation (as well as an emphasis on attendance) will guide my grading.

I have also changed one of the reading assignments, to allow us to go into Legal-System Structure more quickly. I will simply add a lecture on Civil Procedure at the end. See the details below.

I have also

Professor Pedro A. Malavet

The Course. An introduction to the comparative method from the perspective of an American lawyer, focusing on methodology, rather than on substantive matters. Starts with a survey of Comparative Law, its history, current definition and scope, followed by practical uses of Comparative legal analysis in United States courts. The more substantial part of the semester studies the Civil Law tradition, the most common legal system in our world today. Naturally, this course can only provide a general overview of the large number of Civil Law nations. It starts with foreign legal education and the legal professions. Then the Civil law system is placed in its proper context: historical roots; structure; approach to judicial review; judicial organization. This is not Trade Law. While comparative methodology is helpful and often even essential for lawyers engaged in international business transactions, this class is neither International Trade Law nor International Business Law. Dean Dawson will focus on International Business Transactions in his courses. I will focus especially on the French legal system during our shorter Summer term.

Our class materials will consist of: Merryman, Clark & Haley, The Civil Law Tradition: Europe, Latin America & East Asia (The Michie Company 1994). Required. This is a difficult and demanding casebook, but I believe that you all have the capacity to use it successfully. It is, on balance, a really fun book; it includes an excellent selection of material and approaches the course in a manner consistent with my teaching goals. However, some of the material is dated, and many selections are translations of foreign original works which and can be difficult to read. Recommended Reading: Merryman, John Henry, The Civil Law Tradition (Stanford 1987).

Office Hours: I am not sure that having office hours will be practical while we are in France. However, I will try to set aside some time to meet with students. You may also send e-mail to malavet@law.ufl.edu. If you feel lost, or if you have doubts that cannot be resolved during class or during the period immediately following it, please do not hesitate to come and see me.

Testing Score: (1) One short essay project. This work will count for 10% of your testing score and will be graded on a pass/fail basis. This project is just a creative-writing exercise. In the past, students have had a lot of fun with it, and I have greatly enjoyed reading them. (2) An open-book, take-home, written final exam, this will cover the remaining 90% of your testing score.

Class Participation: When determining your final grades, I will consider class participation to adjust your testing score in two ways: (1) Minimum participation (20% of the overall grade). Each student will be required to participate in class discussion a specified number of times during the semester in order to meet minimum participation requirements, the exact minimum number will depend on the size of the class and will be announced in class. Class participation can occur in several ways: (a) I may call upon students at random during class; and (b) each student must sign-up to participate in class discussion; a set number of students will be allowed to sign up for each class session; each student must sign-up for the number of classes set for the minimum participation requirement; students who sign-up, are called upon, and answer correctly, get a participation credit, if they are unprepared, they will suffer a deduction. (2) Quality of Participation. I will consider the quality of student participation and conduct to further adjust final grades, as I deem appropriate, accordingly, you are encouraged to volunteer to answer questions at any time, i.e., class discussion should not be limited to persons who have signed up or are called-on at random.

Web Page. A very complete set of class materials (syllabus, notes or highlights for each subject we discuss, past examinations, feedback memoranda related to each exam, practical projects and feedback memos for them, and other useful information related to our course) is already posted to my web site at http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~malavet. I will update the site during the semester as I deem appropriate. I do not place materials on reserve in the library and I will not print out the material posted on the web site. It is your responsibility to review it. I will assume that you are familiar with the contents of the web site in our class discussion and in writing your examination.

Class Attendance and Conduct: Attendance is mandatory. Please keep in mind that we have a small group and a very compressed schedule in France. Therefore, regular attendance is extremely important. Additionally, students arriving late or leaving the room during class are an undue distraction. I will take roll daily by passing around a sign up sheet. It is the student's responsibility to initial the sign-up sheet in the appropriate place whenever they are in class, i.e., the roll does not have to come to you, you must come to the roll. I will allow three (3) unexcused absences per semester on a no-questions-asked basis (provided however that none of them may occur during the last eight sessions of the semester). Additionally, I am willing to be flexible about allowing a few excused absences, late arrivals or early departures, for good cause -such as a doctor's appointment- provided that the good cause is brought to my attention beforehand or as soon as possible thereafter in the case of unanticipated occurrences (excuses must be submitted in writing or via e-mail). Students will have no more than seven days after the time of the unanticipated occurrence to bring excuses to my attention, provided however that I will not accept any excuses offered after our last session of the semester.

Professionalism in the Classroom. Proper discipline in the classroom is intended to encourage everyone to participate in, to derive benefit from, and ultimately to enjoy the class. It is perfectly acceptable, and indeed professionally required, that you demand professional behavior of your classmates in and out of class. If you see conduct that is unprofessional and that affects your quality of life in the classroom, you should privately approach the offending student and ask that they modify their behavior. If private discussion is impractical or unsuccessful, you should bring the matter to the attention of the instructor or an appropriate official at Seattle University. You may do so privately, if you wish, but you are strongly encouraged to bring serious matters to my attention as soon as possible, so that I may take appropriate measures. Examples of inappropriate conduct are:

1. Students speaking loudly in private conversations during class (such conversations are disruptive, distracting, and have a negative effect on classroom atmosphere).
2. Students in any way commenting on or expressing their approval or disapproval of the class participation of other students.
3. Students preparing to leave the classroom, often audibly, before the session is over. I will announce when each session is over, getting ready to leave before then is inappropriate.
4. Laptop misuse. Laptop computers are wonderful tools for student note-taking and reference, however, during class time it is inappropriate to use laptops for any other purpose (e.g., to download music or any other files, to play games, to watch DVDs, to access inappropriate web sites -such as sexually-explicit web sites-, or to write notes in large type that is visible to students sitting behind the computer user). In addition to any other appropriate sanction, laptop use in class is a privilege and I will rescind it if it is abused.
5. Pagers and cellular telephones should be turned off during class.
   

Sanctions. Absences, tardiness and any other unprofessional conduct will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the instructor; excessive absences -even if an excuse is offered- tardiness or any undue conduct in the classroom may result in administrative removal of the offending student from the course or in a reduction of his/her grade.

* While I would not reduce someone's grade for excessive excused absences, I might administratively remove them from the course, although I would ensure that this was done on a "passing" basis. I would do this if, in my judgment, the person has missed so much of the semester that he or she cannot really benefit from the course.

Syllabus

(Updated: July 26, 2005)

Naturally, our Summer schedule will be limited to our 20 sessions,
rather than the 42 that I usually teach.

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