Assignments

1. Choose a case from Environmental Law by Plater et al. This does not have to be a case we have discussed in class. Peruse the text or the "Table of Cases" on pp. 16-27 of the Reference section of your text for a case that interests you. You may choose a case that is not in Plater provided that it has my approval. If you already have decided upon a subject for your final research paper you may want to find a case that is related.
2. Go to the law library and, using the citation for the case you have chosen, locate it in the appropriate reporter and xerox this case and any headnotes. You do not have to find or xerox parallel citations.
3. Brief your case.
4. Shepardize this case and choose one citing reference. Xerox any pages of Shepard's you use and circle the citing reference you have chosen in red. Find the citing reference in the appropriate reporter and xerox this case and any headnotes.
5. Brief your citing reference. In addition, explain how your citing reference utilizes your cited case.

Read A Civil Action. Assume that you are the attorney for the municipality of Woburn. Just before the events that unfold in the chapter entitled "Facher's Plea", the City Council has asked you to prepare of a memorandum of law for their review. The City Council has given you very specific instructions. You are to examine the feasibility of filing a public nuisance, intentional tort against W.R. Grace and Beatrice asking for an injunction and damages. Examine the elements of this particular civil action. What evidence exists to support your claim? Summarize what you must prove in order to win your case. In what court will you file your complaint? What kind of damages will you seek? What will be the purpose of your request for an injunction? What difficulties do you expect to encounter both legally and with your particular clients? Be specific, be brief, and be organized in your typewritten reply of 800-1000 words.

Final Research Paper: How Case Law Defines a Statute

1. Select a Federal statute. In order to make a judicious selection you should read and consider beforehand the instructions that follow below. The United States Code Annotated will be particularly useful with its annotations, citations to important cases interpreting code sections, and other references useful to researchers. The United States Code, Congressional and Administrative News, your textbook, and the other reference materials in the Law Library or in the Environmental Science Department may also be useful to consult. All references used in your written answers below should be listed by number on a separate page; references should be cited only by number and perhaps page (e.g., [#3, p. 66] within your answers below.
   
   
2. Discuss the general significance/meaning of your chosen statute (500 words maximum, double-spaced, 1" margins all-around).
   
   
3. Judiciously select one or more section/subsection(s) from your chosen statute. Obviously some section/subsection(s) may be more significant than others. Choose one that has an important case history. Xerox and highlight your chosen section/subsection(s) and any other significantly related section/subsection(s) (see #5 below).
   
   
4. Find the sections of the Code of Federal Regulations corresponding to your chosen section/subsection(s). Xerox the related CFR.
   
   
5. Discuss the general significance/meaning of your chosen section/subsection(s) and related CFR (500 words maximum, double-spaced, 1" margins all-around). Pay particular attention to definitions and penalties related to your chosen section/subsection(s).
   
   
6. Shepardize your chosen section/subsection(s) and related CFR. Xerox the relevant pages of Shepard's U.S. Code and Shepard's CFR Citations. Make sure to xerox any information in the supplements as well.
   
   
7. Choose a case from #6 above. Highlight your chosen case.
   
   
8. Find your citation in the appropriate reporter and xerox this.
   
   
9. Brief your chosen case and explain how this case determined the meaning of the statute (1000 words maximum, double-spaced, 1" margins all-around).