Article 1. First Year
18VAC35-20-350. Basic legal skills.
Article 1
First Year
Introduction to basic legal reference materials (including judicial, legislative and administrative primary and secondary sources) and their use; techniques of legal reasoning, analysis and synthesis; legal writing styles. Familiarization with the structure of the federal and state court systems, the concept of case law in a common law jurisdiction, fundamental principles of stare decisis and precedent, the legislative process, principles of statutory construction and interpretation. Reader should be assigned projects of increasing difficulty such as: case abstracts, analysis of a trial record to identify issues, short quizzes to demonstrate ability to locate primary and secondary sources, office memoranda or trial-oriented memoranda of authorities to demonstrate ability to find the law applicable to a factual situation and to differentiate unfavorable authority, and an appellate level brief.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.1, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-360. Civil procedure I.
Fundamentals of pleading and procedure in civil litigation, as structured by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Study shall include: jurisdiction over the person and subject matter, venue, time limits, commencement of actions, pleadings, parties, impleader, interpleader, motions, class actions and intervention, res judicata and collateral estoppel, discovery and other pretrial devices, joinder, summary judgment, judgments, post-trial motions. Reader should be required to draft complaints and other initial pleadings, answers and grounds of defense, motions, jury instructions, finding of fact and conclusions of law, judgment orders and decrees, interrogatories, and requests for admission.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.2, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-370. Contracts.
Study of legal principles related to the formation, operation and termination of the legal relation called contract. General topics include: offer and acceptance, consideration, issues of interpretation, conditions, performance, breach, damages or other remedies, discharge, the parol-evidence rule, the statute of frauds, illegality, assignments, and beneficiaries.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.3, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-380. Criminal law and procedure.
Study of substantive criminal law including concepts such as elements of criminal responsibility, principles of justification and excuse, parties, attempts, conspiracy, specific crimes, statutory interpretation, some introduction to sentencing philosophies and to juvenile offender law. Constitutional doctrines governing criminal procedure. Topics include: Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments, pertinent due process provisions of Fourteenth Amendment, search and seizure, confessions, identification procedures, right to counsel, arrest, jury trial, double jeopardy, and pertinent provisions of the state constitution. Part 3A of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia are examined as they relate to the procedural aspects of the constitutional issues.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.4, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-390. Property, real and personal.
Study of the ownership, use, and transfer of real and personal property in both historical and modern times. Topics include: estates and interests in land, future interests, concurrent ownership, easements, equitable servitudes, conveyances, real estate contracts, land trusts, nuisance, adverse possession, land use controls, landlord-tenant, the recording system, and title insurance.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.5, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-400. Torts.
Study of the historical development, principles, concepts and purposes of the law relating to redress of private injuries. Topics include: conversion, trespass, nuisance, intentional tort, negligence, strict liability, products liability, concepts of duty, causation, and damage, limitations on liability such as proximate cause, contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, immunity, and comparative negligence.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 9.6, eff. March 1, 1993.