Torts roadsign
Note: To see the latest version of this page, you may need to hit refresh on your browser.

Key information


Classroom Notes and Presentations:

Mindmap of Torts — initial version
This is the semester's starting version of the mindmap — as it was when I first opened it up in class. It does not include changes I made along the way.
Mindmap of torts [.html] (Dated 8/30/2022)
This is the webpage version, which is easy to look at using your web browser, but which doesn't include all the sprawling formatting.
Mindmap of torts mindmap file [.mm] [right click to download] (Dated 8/30/2022)
This [.mm] mindmap file allows you to see the mindmap-style formatting, as I worked with it in class. This file can be viewed with free/open-source Freeplane software.
Mindmap of Torts — updated version
This is the semester's mindmap after my having made revisions as we went through it.
Mindmap of torts [.html] (Dated 8/30/2023)
This is the webpage version, which is easy to look at using your web browser, but which doesn't include all the sprawling formatting.
Mindmap of torts mindmap file [.mm] [right click to download] (Dated 8/30/2023)
This [.mm] mindmap file allows you to see the mindmap-style formatting, as I worked with it in class. This file can be viewed with free/open-source Freeplane software.

Course Polling:


Book assignments

There is one traditional get-it-from-a-bookseller book you need for the course. Get your own physical, printed copy of this:
Four Trials by John Edwards, with John Auchard
Published: 2004, Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 0743272048
ISBN-13: 978-0743272049
The main casebook for the course is an open-source/open-access (a/k/a "OER") book. It is in two volumes:
  • Torts: Cases and Context, Volume One (2019; Pylon Edition, Version 2.0)
  • Torts: Cases and Context, Volume Two (2019; Pylon Edition, Version 2.0)
These volumes are available for free download in PDF and DOCX formats. To make sure you are looking at the right edition/revision, look for the green safety cone on the cover.
You have lots of options in terms of how you might access the books:
  • You could read them on your computer or tablet.
  • You could print them yourself.
  • You could have someone print them for you.
  • You could purchase paperback-bound copies through lulu.com (links on the casebook website). Note that when I uploaded the books to lulu.com, I chose a setting so that I will get zero revenue from the sales. So what you pay is just what lulu.com is charging for itself. (I also am working on trying to make the book available through Amazon. If I succeed in that, I'll post links on the casebook website.)
  • You could get used copies from a student who took the course last year.
Note that from time to time, the manuscript is updated to fix minor typos. These fixes don't affect pagination or the usability of the book. (I keep a list of these fixes here.)
Unfortunately, OU Law has frequently changed their exam policies in past semesters. Because of new and shifting policies, I cannot say at this point what format of exam I will have. (I anticipate that I can pin down some details after the semester begins.) But if I have an exam that allows access to printed materials while writing an essay answer, then you will want to have a printed copy by the end of the semester to use on the exam. So for that possibility you might choose to start the semester with a printed copy (which you might mark-up and highlight), or you might instead choose to wait until the end of the semester to print out a copy (which perhaps you will have marked-up electronically over the semester).

First week's assignments

Readings are from Torts: Cases and Context, Volume One (Pylon Edition, Version 2.0) (TC&C), which is (as mentioned above) available for free download in PDF and DOCX formats.

First day of class:
- Read all of TC&C Chapter 1 "Basic Concepts."

Second day of class:
- Read all of TC&C Chapter 2 "An Overview of Tort Law."

Third day of class:
- No additional reading.