Law School
1,035 episodes - English - Latest episode: 24 days ago - ★★★ - 16 ratingsThe Law School of America podcast is designed for listeners who what to expand and enhance their understanding of the American legal system. It provides you with legal principles in small digestible bites to make learning easy. If you're willing to put in the time, The Law School of America podcasts can take you from novice to knowledgeable in a reasonable amount of time.
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Episodes
Tort law: Defenses - Contributory negligence
July 20, 2020 02:05 - 3 minutes - 1.51 MBIn some common law jurisdictions, contributory negligence is a defense to a tort claim based on negligence. If it is available, the defense completely bars plaintiffs from any recovery if they contribute to their own injury through their own negligence. Because the contributory negligence doctrine can lead to harsh results, many common law jurisdictions have abolished it in favor of a "comparative fault" or "comparative negligence" approach. A comparative negligence approach reduces the pla...
The US Constitution: History and overview (Part 1 of 4)
July 20, 2020 01:42 - 19 minutes - 11.2 MBThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article I); the executive, consisting of the president (Article II); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme ...
Criminal law: Severity of offense - Felony
July 14, 2020 23:57 - 15 minutes - 7.07 MBThe term felony originated from English common law, from the French medieval word "félonie", to describe an offense that resulted in the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods, to which additional punishments including capital punishment could be added. Other crimes were called misdemeanors. A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. Following conviction of a felony in a court of law, a person may be descr...
Criminal law: Scope of criminal liability - Vicarious
July 14, 2020 23:52 - 7 minutes - 3.56 MBThe legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support
Intellectual property: Farmers' rights
July 12, 2020 19:10 - 13 minutes - 8.01 MBThe International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, (also known as ITPGRFA, International Seed Treaty or Plant Treaty is a comprehensive international agreement in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims at guaranteeing food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from its use, as well as the recognit...
Tort law: Defenses - Assumption of risk
July 12, 2020 18:03 - 5 minutes - 2.97 MBAssumption of risk is a defense in the law of torts, which bars or reduces a plaintiff's right to recovery against a negligent tortfeasor if the defendant can demonstrate that the plaintiff voluntarily and knowingly assumed the risks at issue inherent to the dangerous activity in which the plaintiff was participating at the time of his or her injury. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com...
Tort law: Defenses - Comparative negligence
July 12, 2020 18:01 - 3 minutes - 1.51 MBComparative negligence, or non-absolute contributory negligence outside the United States, is a partial legal defense that reduces the amount of damages that a plaintiff can recover in a negligence-based claim, based upon the degree to which the plaintiff's own negligence contributed to cause the injury. When the defense is asserted, the factfinder, usually a jury, must decide the degree to which the plaintiff's negligence and the combined negligence of all other relevant actors all contribu...
Bonus episode: Supreme Court case opinion - Trump v. Vance
July 10, 2020 00:15 - 5 minutes - 3.4 MBTrump v. Vance, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a landmark[1][2] United States Supreme Court case related to the New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s attempt to subpoena the tax records of President Donald Trump as part of the ongoing investigation into the Stormy Daniels scandal, which Trump has litigated to prevent their release. The Court held that Article II and the Supremacy Clause do not categorically preclude, or require a heightened standard for, the issuance of a state crimi...
Bonus episode: Supreme Court case opinion - Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP
July 10, 2020 00:09 - 6 minutes - 3.88 MBTrump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 591 U.S. ___ (2020) was a Supreme Court of the United States case involving the United States House of Representatives subpoenas to obtain the tax returns of President Donald Trump, which Trump has litigated to prevent but which had been cleared by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In a 7–2 decision issued in July 2020, the Supreme Court reversed the Circuit Court's decision, asserting that the court had not properly assessed t...
Intellectual property: Database right
July 08, 2020 22:22 - 6 minutes - 3.19 MBA database right is a sui generis property right, comparable to but distinct from copyright, that exists to recognise the investment that is made in compiling a database, even when this does not involve the "creative" aspect that is reflected by copyright. Such rights are often referred to in the plural: database rights. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support
Criminal law: Scope of criminal liability - Corporate liability
July 07, 2020 23:25 - 8 minutes - 4.05 MBIn criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a corporation as a legal person can be liable for the acts and omissions of the natural persons it employs. It is sometimes regarded as an aspect of criminal vicarious liability, as distinct from the situation in which the wording of a statutory offence specifically attaches liability to the corporation as the principal or joint principal with a human agent. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/...
Tort law: Property torts - Trover
July 04, 2020 05:46 - 34 minutes - 15.7 MBTrover is a form of lawsuit in common-law countries for recovery of damages for wrongful taking of personal property. Trover belongs to a series of remedies for such wrongful taking, its distinctive feature being recovery only for the value of whatever was taken, not for the recovery of the property itself. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support
Intellectual property: Copyright (Part 2)
July 03, 2020 16:06 - 24 minutes - 11.3 MBThe concept of copyright developed after the printing press came into use in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. The printing press made it much cheaper to produce works, but as there was initially no copyright law, anyone could buy or rent a press and print any text. Popular new works were immediately reset and re-published by competitors, so printers needed a constant stream of new material. Fees paid to authors for new works were high, and significantly supplemented the incomes of many...
Criminal law: Scope of criminal liability - Complicity
July 02, 2020 19:09 - 15 minutes - 8.84 MBComplicity is the participation in a completed criminal act of an accomplice, a partner in the crime who aids or encourages (abets) other perpetrators of that crime, and who shares with them an intent to act to complete the crime. A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of a crime if they purpose the completion of a crime, and toward that end, if that person solicits or encourages the other person, or aids or attempts to aid in planning or committing the crime, or has l...
Bonus episode: Supreme Court case opinion - Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V.
July 02, 2020 02:54 - 5 minutes - 3.08 MBBooking.com is an online travel agency, operating under both that name and at that domain name. The company sought to trademark its name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO had denied the application: it ruled that the term "booking" as applied to the class of travel services was a generic term, and that Booking.com had not shown how their mark had gained distinctiveness. Booking.com appealed to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, (TTAB), which upheld that...
Bonus episode: Legal Terminology
July 01, 2020 02:15 - 29 minutes - 13.7 MBA reference work with a list of legal terms from one or more languages, ordered alphabetically, explaining each word's meaning, and sometimes containing information on its usage, translations, and other data. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support
Criminal law: Elements - Concurrence
June 30, 2020 00:29 - 9 minutes - 4.2 MBIn Western jurisprudence, concurrence (also contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both actus reus ("guilty action") and mens rea ("guilty mind"), to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability. In theory, if the actus reus does not hold concurrence in point of time with the mens rea then no crime has been committed. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podca...
Tort law: Property torts - Replevin
June 25, 2020 23:00 - 14 minutes - 6.78 MBReplevin or claim and delivery (sometimes called revendication) is a legal remedy, which enables a person to recover personal property taken wrongfully or unlawfully, and to obtain compensation for resulting losses. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support
Intellectual property: Copyright (Part 1)
June 22, 2020 00:01 - 20 minutes - 11.9 MBCopyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States. --- Send...
Criminal law: Causation
June 21, 2020 22:55 - 24 minutes - 11.4 MBCausation is the "causal relationship between the defendant's conduct and end result". In other words, causation provides a means of connecting conduct with a resulting effect, typically an injury. In criminal law, it is defined as the actus reus (an action) from which the specific injury or other effect arose and is combined with mens rea (a state of mind) to comprise the elements of guilt. Causation only applies where a result has been achieved and therefore is immaterial with regard to in...
Criminal law: Mens rea
June 14, 2020 17:26 - 17 minutes - 8.08 MBMens rea; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action or lack of action would cause a crime to be committed. It is a necessary element of many crimes. The standard common law test of criminal liability is expressed in the Latin phrase actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, i.e. "the act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty". In jurisdictions with due process, there must be both actus reus ("guilty ac...
Tort Law: Property torts: Detinue
June 12, 2020 23:50 - 23 minutes - 13.3 MBIn tort law, detinue is an action to recover for the wrongful taking of personal property. It is initiated by an individual who claims to have a greater right to their immediate possession than the current possessor. For an action in detinue to succeed, a claimant must first prove that he had better right to possession of the chattel than the defendant and second that the defendant refused to return the chattel once demanded by the claimant. Detinue allows for a remedy of damages for the va...
Intellectual property: Authors' rights
June 08, 2020 23:28 - 8 minutes - 3.93 MBThe term is considered as a direct translation of the French term droit d’auteur (also German Urheberrecht). It was first (1777) promoted in France by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, who had close relations with Benjamin Franklin. It is generally used in relation to the copyright laws of civil law countries and in European Union law. Authors' rights are internationally protected by the for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and by other similar treaties. “Author” is used in...
Criminal law: Actus reus
June 07, 2020 22:48 - 10 minutes - 4.87 MBThe terms actus reus and mens rea developed in English Law are derived from the principle stated by Edward Coke, namely, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means: "an act does not make a person guilty unless (their) mind is also guilty"; hence, the general test of guilt is one that requires proof of fault, culpability or blameworthiness both in thought and action. In order for an actus reus to be committed there has to have been an act. Various common law jurisdictions define act...
Tort law: Property torts - Conversion
June 02, 2020 00:33 - 19 minutes - 8.88 MBConversion is an intentional tort consisting of "taking with the intent of exercising over the chattel an ownership inconsistent with the real owner's right of possession". In England & Wales, it is a tort of strict liability. Its equivalents in criminal law include larceny or theft and criminal conversion. In those jurisdictions that recognize it, criminal conversion is a lesser crime than theft/larceny. Examples of conversion include: 1) Alpha cuts down and hauls away trees on land s/he k...
Criminal law
June 01, 2020 00:23 - 14 minutes - 6.82 MBCriminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. Criminal law includes the punishment and rehabilitation of people who violate such laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, whe...
Intellectual property: Part 3
May 25, 2020 19:54 - 12 minutes - 5.88 MBCopyright infringement is reproducing, distributing, displaying or performing a work, or to make derivative works, without permission from the copyright holder, which is typically a publisher or other business representing or assigned by the work's creator. It is often called "piracy". While copyright is created the instant a work is fixed, generally the copyright holder can only get money damages if the owner registers the copyright. Enforcement of copyright is generally the responsibility ...
Tort law: Property torts - Trespass
May 25, 2020 17:54 - 22 minutes - 10.2 MBTrespass is an area of criminal law or tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem (or maiming), and false imprisonment. Through the evolution of the common law in various jurisdictions, and the codification of common law torts, most jurisdictions now broadly recognize three trespasses to the person: assault, whi...
Intellectual property: Part 2
May 21, 2020 23:02 - 10 minutes - 4.81 MBThe main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods for consumers. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time. Because they can then profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation. The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like ...
Intellectual property: Part I
May 17, 2020 22:56 - 9 minutes - 4.4 MBIntellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The most well-known types are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Early precursors to some types of intellectual property existed in societies such as Ancient Rome, but the modern concept of intellectual property developed in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term...
Tort Law: Transferred intent
May 17, 2020 03:53 - 3 minutes - 1.56 MBTransferred intent (or transferred mens rea, or transferred malice, in English law) is a legal doctrine that holds that, when the intention to harm one individual inadvertently causes a second person to be hurt instead, the perpetrator is still held responsible. To be held legally responsible under the law, usually the court must demonstrate that the person has criminal intent, that is, that the person knew another would be harmed by his or her actions and wanted this harm to occur. If a mur...
Tort Law: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
May 09, 2020 16:24 - 8 minutes - 3.83 MBIntentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED; sometimes called the tort of outrage) is a common law tort that allows individuals to recover for severe emotional distress caused by another individual who intentionally or recklessly inflicted emotional distress by behaving in an "extreme and outrageous" way. Some courts and commentators have substituted mental for emotional, but the tort is the same. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/messa...
Tort Law: False Imprisonment
May 03, 2020 22:47 - 7 minutes - 4.04 MBFalse imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification or consent. Actual physical restraint is not necessary for false imprisonment to occur. A false imprisonment claim may be made based upon private acts, or upon wrongful governmental detention. For detention by the police, proof of false imprisonment provides a basis to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. Under common law, false imprisonment is both a c...
Tort Law: Intentional Torts
April 26, 2020 01:14 - 6 minutes - 3.57 MBAn intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor (alleged wrongdoer). The term negligence, on the other hand, pertains to a tort that simply results from the failure of the tortfeasor to take sufficient care in fulfilling a duty owed, while strict liability torts refers to situations where a party is liable for injuries no matter what precautions were taken. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcaste...
Tort Law
April 10, 2020 01:33 - 27 minutes - 15.6 MBLearn the basics of tort law as taught in Law School. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/law-school/support