B723 EVIDENCE HOME PAGE
Summer 2020: Prof. Alex Tanford
Last updated: 7.1.2020
Contact Prof. Tanford at tanford@indiana.edu
Link to Syllabus. The course is ready to go, but read this page first.
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Tanford's list of the 100 top movie trials, click here.
Office hours: Wednesdays, 1:00-2:00 by Zoom 997 0016 9966, or by apointment.
NB: This is an entirely on-line class.
1. Required materials
TEXTBOOK -- None. All materials will be distributed online from the syllabus page at no charge.
A COPY OF THE FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE: Click here.
2. Introduction
Prof. Tanford's Evidence course is a 3-credit online class with a specific focus on litigation, how lawyers use evidence rules, and making and responding to objections. Course materials, readings and problems will be distributed in electronic form from the online syllabus, so a computer and the ability to work over the Internet are required. This course is a self-scheduled online course that requires students to take the entire course over the Internet. Classes are interactive, not streamed lectures, and may be taken whenever you want.
3. Course focus
I teach Evidence using a problem method. Working through problems before class is integral to the course pedagogical structure, and classes focus on the problems plus additional examples from movies and the daily news. You should be prepared to make objections, respond to objections, offer arguments in support of your position, lay foundations, make rulings and defend them.
We don't read appellate cases and deduce principles from them. In fact, I don't actually care about principles, or what the Founders thought, or whether Justice Alito’s textual objection to the existence of the dormant commerce clause is consistent with the pragmatist philosophy upon which the Constitution was based. Which could explain why I didn't do well in law school. I care what the rules of evidence say and whether you learn how to use them as a tool of advocacy. We will read those rules and pay close attention to text. Every word in the rules is important, and we will use them to make short concise arguments about the admissibility of evidence. It turns out that the trial judges you will practice in front of will also not care about legal principles and judicial philosophy, but you had better know the rules.
4. Homework
The syllabus includes homework assignments. So they don't get lost in my overcrowded regular email account, please put your answer to the homework problem in the body of an email (not as an attachment) and send it to:
In the subject line, put your name (last name first) the word <homework> and the topic number as indicated on the syllabus e.g.:
Centrowitz, Matthew homework #10
Homework is to be turned in prior to taking the online class. It's not busywork, but something I think is important for you to have thought about in advance.
5. Communication
a. All communications from me to the class as a whole, such as the syllabus and exam information, are posted on the Evidence home page (this page).
b. All individual communications, such as inquiries why you have not been taking the online classes, are sent by email to your university email account.
c. Your best way to communicate with me is by email. I have only a vague idea what Canvas is.
6. Final exam
The final exam will consist of a series of 13 short-answer questions requiring you to argue for or against the admissibility of items of evidence in the context of a trial. It is open book. 3 hours maximum.
7. My expectations
a. I expect you to teach yourself the law of evidence. That's what lawyers do. They look up rules and cases and figure out what the law is. They don't wait for someone to explain it to them.
b. Treat the e-classes like live ones and prepare before signing on. You should read the materials, write out answers to the problems and turn in your homework before taking an e-class. Some of the assignments may seem short, but the problems can be complicated and should be thought through carefully. Preparation is more about thinking than reading. As a general rule, you should devote a minimum of two hours preparing for each class.
c. Do the assignments in the order they appear on the syllabus, e.g., read the rules, read the text, do the problems, turn in your homework, take the e-class, and then move to the next topic on the syllabus only after you have taken the e-class.
d. Don't wait until the last minute. The e-classes can take 45-70 minutes each if you take them seriously. Procrastination during the semester followed by a frantic effort to make up lots of classes in a few days is the single easiest way to do poorly on the exam. If you are going to delay starting the e-classes, please email me and tell me approximately when you will begin.
e. Attend every class. Since they are all online and can be taken any time, there is no possible reason you could miss a class. That's good, because I will put at least one thing from each class on the exam.
8. Email
I communicate by email to your university email address. It is therefore critically important that you maintain your email account properly, keep your mailbox empty, make sure nothing gets caught in your spam filter, and check it regularly.
9. Note on source of materials
a. Some of the text has been adapted from my book Indiana Trial Evidence Manual (7th ed. 2014) published by LexisNexis.
b. For many years, I taught evidence using problems from Steve Friedland, Paul Bergman and Andrew Taslitz, Evidence Law and Practice (LexisNexis). Consciously or not, it is likely that elements from those problems have found their way into the problems I have created for this course.