Esteemed Students,

Happy (almost) New Year!  As you probably saw, I posted your final course grades for LAW 1101 (Intro) and LAW 1103 (Civil Procedure) to CUNYfirst.  Also, I posted your final course grades as well as your final exam grades and your grades on homework and other assignments in the GradeBook here on OL.  The final exam grades posted here on OL include all extra credit points, including 2 points on each exam for every student who participated in the review sessions, points for legal news posts, and points you may have asked me to carry over after the midterm exam.  I used these (OL) final exam grades to calculate your final course grades, NOT the final exam grades listed on Blackboard, which do not include any extra credit points (thus they are lower).

The Spring 2021 semester starts Friday, January 29.  Here is a link to the Academic Calendar that shows important dates and deadlines.  As of now, next semester I will be teaching LAW 1201 (Legal Research I) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10-11:15am.  This is different from what I told some of you before!  I’m sorry, plans changed.  🙁  Potentially, they could change again, but I’ll do what I can to prevent that from happening, and will let you know if it does.  Like all LAW courses, this one will be “synchronous” which means we will meet at those scheduled times on Zoom.  I hope to see many of you there!

Once again, THANK YOU, to each and every one of you, for a terrific semester!  I truly enjoyed working with each of you, and I hope you found our courses enlightening.  I commend each and every one of you for enduring, and even excelling under, such tremendously challenging circumstances.  If I can be helpful to any of you over the break, or anytime, please don’t hesitate to contact me!  You can email me, and we can talk on the phone, or meet on Zoom, or whatever works.

I wish each of you and your families a happy and HEALTHY New Year!

Sincerely,

Prof. C.

Good morning,

Your final exam for LAW 1101, Intro to Paralegal Studies, is now available for you to take on Blackboard, under “Content,” first item under the M&M/C&W excerpt folders.  You must complete it today (Wednesday, December 16, 2020) during any two-hour period until 5pm, in one sitting—so once you start the exam, you must complete and submit it before logging off Blackboard.  Two hours after you begin, Blackboard will automatically submit the exam.  If you have questions or you need additional time, contact me at 718.260.4939.

Info about the CR/NC grade also is available!  You should have received it in an email from the College, plus it’s posted here under our “Class notes & materials” and “Events & info” tabs.  I will open our class Zoom link at 12 noon to discuss the policy with anyone who would like to do so (not 11:30am like I previously said–I realized I have an advisement session then).

Finally, some of you may have noticed that your Intro quiz grades dropped–it’s just because I had incorrectly set the scoring, so some questions were assigned 10 points when they all should have been assigned two points.  The maximum total score was 20 (or 22 with the bonus questions).  So your performance was the same, just your numerical score may have changed.

GOOD LUCK on this and all your final exams, let me know if you have questions on anything, and maybe I’ll see you at noon today!

Cheers,

Prof. C.

Good morning!

Your Civil Law and Procedure (LAW 1103) final exam is now available in Blackboard!  You’ll find it under “Content,” it’s the first item after the folders of C&W and M&M excerpts.  You must complete it TODAY (Friday, December 11, 2020), during any two-hour period until 5pm, in one sitting—so once you start the exam, you must complete and submit it before logging off Blackboard, and two hours after you start, it will automatically submit the exam.  You may not start the exam after 5pm.  If you have any questions or problems, you may contact me today until 5pm at 718.260.4939.

GOOD LUCK!

Prof. C.

Esteemed Students!

I realized after class that I neglected to give you the specific information on Friday’s Civ Pro final exam that I promised.  I’m sorry!  The exam consists of 24 multiple choice and true/false questions, worth three (3) points each; four (4) “short answer” questions that require you to write a sentence or two explaining certain terms that you’ll choose from a list of options, also worth three (3) points each; two (2) open-ended questions that require a few sentences to answer, worth five (5) points each; plus two BONUS questions that require you to name certain Chief Jurists for two (2) extra points each!  🙂  Please see this list of study suggestions for additional guidance.  The exam will be available on Blackboard, under “Content,” this Friday, December 11, at 10am, and you may complete it during any two-hour period until 5pm.  I will be available during that time to answer questions by phone.

Also–following up on our discussion about the possible CR/NC grading option, I strongly recommend that you read this Resolution of CUNY’s University Student Senate, of which City Tech Law and Paralegal Studies student Juvanie Piquant is the chair.  It explains the background of the CR/NC policy and why many students believe it should be continued during the current semester.  I’ll let you know the college’s decision on that when I learn it.

I hope this is all helpful!  Have a pleasant evening, study hard, and keep warm!

Prof. C.

Esteemed Students!

Here is your chance to give me a grade!  PLEASE complete the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) survey by this Friday, Dec. 11.  You should have received emails like the one shown below at your City Tech email address for each of your courses.  They’re from “NYC College of Technology Course Evaluations,” SPSSurveys@scantron.com, and they include links to short surveys for each of your courses.  Completing them will only take a few minutes, but they will provide us with valuable information!

THANK YOU!

Prof. C.

Good morning,

DON’T FORGET!  Today we’ll be joined by guest speaker Alicia N. Washington, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which is part of the US Department of Justice.  Alicia has served in the US Attorney’s Office’s General Crimes Section; International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section, and currently in the Public Integrity Section. Before attending law school at Columbia, Alicia worked as a paralegal at the Department of Justice for one year.  She also previously worked as an associate at a couple of private law firms.  If you have time before our class, please review this background information on what the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York does; and this press release about the case Alicia prosecuted with the drugs smuggled in puppies (ugh); and this recent article illustrating the type of work the US Department of Justice does, which includes the recent presidential election.  Please be ready to ask questions!

I look forward to SEEING you soon! (because you’ll have your cameras on) 🙂

Prof. C.

Esteemed students!

DON’T FORGET!  Today, our Civ Pro (1103) class will meet on Zoom at 3pm, not 2:30pm.  Before 3pm, everyone should complete quiz #4, which is now available for you to take on our course Blackboard site!  As usual, it’s available under “Content,” all the way down at the bottom of the list, and I think you can also access it through an “Announcement” titled “New test” which includes a link to the quiz.  I designed the quiz to be “complete-able” within 30 minutes, and Blackboard gives you 60 minutes before it “automatically submits” your quiz.  However, if you believe you need additional time, let me know.  If you have questions while you are taking the quiz, please call me at 718.260.4939.

At 4pm, we will welcome our guest speaker, paralegal-turned-attorney Matt Vaccaro!  If you have questions you would like me to ask him, you are welcome to email them to me in advance. Of course you’ll be welcome to ask him questions yourself when he is with us!

Good luck on the quiz, see you at 3pm!

Prof. C.

Esteemed Students,

I apologize again for the last-minute cancellation of yesterday’s class!  I hope you all enjoyed your “Intro-free” day.  We WILL meet tomorrow!  Wed. Dec. 2, 11:30am-12:45pm at the regular Zoom link.  We’ll discuss legal research and analysis, so please review M&M ch. 7, and take a look at these two important recent slip opinions (see M&M p. 191 for definition!) that we’ll discuss as examples of the “Types of Appellate Court Decisions” described on M&M p. 201, Exhibit 7.8: First, this unanimous decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejecting the Trump campaign’s challenge to Pennsylvania’s election results–it’s extremely well-written, and you’ll understand the outcome from just the introduction (pp. 1-3) and conclusion (pp. 20-21).  Second is the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision invalidating Governor Cuomo’s limits on attendance at religious services in NYC “orange” and “red zones,” which includes a majority opinion (the first, starting with the words “Per Curiam”), followed by two concurring opinions (starting at pp. 8 and 15), then a whopping three dissenting opinions!  (starting at pp. 20, 23, and 29).

Have a pleasant evening, see you tomorrow!

Prof. C.

Esteemed Students,

I’m still trying to get my laptop fixed so I can get back on Zoom!  I will follow up with you about how we will cover today’s material but I will NOT be posting an assignment today as I previously stated.  I’ll get back to you tomorrow about that and about Wednesday’s class.  Grrrr…

Enjoy the rest of today,

Prof. C.