• Wellbeing:
  • The first year of law school is a rich and challenging experience. The study of law entails careful examination of cases, statutes, and doctrines through close reading, class discussion, and study groups (including Deans Fellow groups). As a subject, law combines highly theoretical and intensely practical perspectives on justice, rights, markets, and the exercise of collective power for public ends. You will learn legal reasoning, sharpen your general writing skills as you take up the varieties of legal writing, and practice competency in speaking before others, whether in class or in a moot court argument in the Spring. The first year is also a lot of work, so remember to take care of yourself. Take advantage of the rich array of lunchtime panels and events on topics that interest you. Make room in your schedule for favorite pastimes and friends. For further suggestions and resources, take a look at the Law School’s Wellbeing page.

• Student Accessibility Services:

  • The University of Miami School of Law is committed to creating an inclusive learning environment that meets the needs of our diverse student body. If you have a disability (including physical or mental health challenges) and need academic accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services via email at access@law.miami.edu. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive; students are encouraged to contact the office and inquire about any disability-related needs within the first weeks of the semester. Please note as well that faculty members do not handle requests for disability accommodations.

• Class Recordings:
  • Students are expressly prohibited from recording any part of this course. Meetings of this course might be recorded by the University. Any recordings will be available to students registered for this class as they are intended to supplement the classroom experience. Students are expected to follow appropriate University policies and maintain the security of passwords used to access recorded lectures. Recordings may not be reproduced, shared with those not enrolled in the class, or uploaded to other online environments. If the instructor or a University of Miami office plans any other uses for the recordings beyond this class, students identifiable in the recordings will be notified to request consent prior to such use.

• Title IX:

  • The University of Miami seeks to maintain a safe learning, living, and working environment free from all types of sexual misconduct including but not limited to: Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Sex- or Gender-Based Discrimination, Sexual Assault (including Sexual Battery), Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Harassment, and Stalking. This also includes protection from discrimination for pregnant students. For additional information about the University’s efforts to prevent, stop, and address sexual misconduct, including resources and reporting options, please visit https://titleix.miami.edu/ or contact the University’s Title IX Office at titleixcoordinator@miami.edu.

Property (A2 and C1) Class Policies:

• Honorifics:

  In class I typically address students with an honorific (e.g., Ms. Patel or Mr. Diaz). If you wish to designate one or the other or some other honorific (e.g. Mx. Olsen), please let me know and I will be happy to use it.

• Conduct in Class:
  • Class Participation. In this course, I expect all students to be prepared to participate fully and actively. This includes regular attendance, completing assignments in advance, and engaging actively in classroom discussion. I will be calling on students with the goal of providing a deeper understanding of the material and exploring a range of ways to learn the legal doctrine in this course. Even when you are not being called on, you can learn from my questions and your classmates’ responses. While some of the questions I ask may have answers that are clearly correct or incorrect (e.g., did the appellate court affirm the lower court’s ruling?), many are intended to explore what the court’s reasoning was, or what purpose a particular statutory provision might be intended to accomplish, or what the law should be as to a particular matter. Your ability to participate in these classroom discussions is an essential part of the expectations for this course and is tied closely to our learning outcomes.
  • Please arrive on time. It’s better to aim for at least a few minutes early so you can get settled.
    • If you arrive late, come in through the back door, which is near the restrooms, not the doors at the front of the classroom.
  • Please don’t talk during class except to participate. I welcome class participation, but side conversations -- even whispering, even if it’s about class-related materials -- disturbs other students around you, as well as me.
  • Please bring all materials assigned for a given day. That will typically be your casebook, and in many instances also the supplementary materials -- either hard copy or on your laptop.
    • I will expect you to have them with you and be able to refer to them when I call on you. If the latter, make sure that your laptop is running at the start of class and your casebook/supplementary materials are open so you can easily go to any specific page referenced.
  • Please use your laptop in class only for class purposes such as note taking. Using your laptop for other purposes, such as playing games, checking social media, or sending or receiving instant messages or e-mail, is inconsistent with the class. It distracts students around you and makes you unprepared when I call on you, which slows down the class. If I call on you and you are looking at your laptop and are not prepared to answer the question, or if I discover that you are using your laptop for other than permitted purposes, I may revoke your right to bring a laptop to class.
  • Please don’t let any electronic device you bring make any noise in class. You’re welcome to bring your cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. into the classroom, but you need to make sure that any electronic device you have doesn’t create a disturbance in class. This means:
    • Before each class, turn off your cell phone or set it to vibrate.
    • Set your laptop to start running silently, with no sound sequence when it starts up.
    • If you arrive late, don’t turn your laptop on unless you’re certain it will make no noise when you start it. If you’re not certain it will start silently then take your notes by hand that day.
    • If an electronic device of yours does go off during the class, please come up and see me after class to let me know what you’ll do to prevent it from happening again.
  • Please don’t leave class before it’s over, even briefly, unless it’s unusually urgent.
    • Coming and going during class, like arriving late, distracts everyone, including me. Occasional instances where someone has to step out for an urgent need won’t be a problem, but keep in mind that being a lawyer -- examining witnesses in the courtroom, dealing with clients, negotiating a deal, making a presentation, and the like -- often involves staying put for longer than the 80 minutes class takes.
    • If there is too much coming and going during class time, I may impose a requirement that anyone leaving before class is over not return for the rest of the class, which will at least cut the disruption in half.

• Seating Chart:
  • You must be on the seating chart. I will pass around a seating chart on the first day of class.  You must be on the seating chart to receive credit for the course. If you are not on the seating chart, I will not turn in a grade for you at the end of the semester, even if you take the final exam. It is your responsibility to see to it that your name is on the seating chart. You must sit in your assigned seat for each class. If you would like to move to a different seat after the first day, just let me know and I’ll be happy to adjust the seating chart.

• Attendance and Absences:
  • Attendance is mandatory, as is preparation. Being present for class discussion and being prepared to particiate fully and actively in it are, as noted above, crucial to your understanding of the materials.
  • Attendance sheet. I will circulate an attendance sheet each class (including make-up classes), except for the first class, when I will circulate the seating chart. We will not be using the “Log Attendance” feature of Blackboard. Logging Attendance through Blackboard will not count as attendance.
  • Absences:
    • This policy applies to:
      • Absences on the regularly scheduled class meeting days and, if any are needed, make-up days. There is, however, a special rule for make-up days (see below).
    • You may have 4 or fewer absences with no direct effect on your final grade -- in other words, 4 or fewer absences will not have any impact on the determination of your final grade. Of course, having more than one or two absences may have an indirect impact on your final grade, because attendance and class discussion are crucial to learning the material.
      • Note: If you do miss a class, you may want to watch the class recording, which will be available on Blackboard. Doing so will help you understand the material we covered, but will not result in the absence being counted as being present.
    • If you have 5 absences, I may lower your final grade by one level (e.g., from a B to a B-).
    • In addition, if you have 6 or more absences, I may ask the Dean of Students to remove you from the class roll.
    • Exception for one missed make-up day: While I do not anticipate it, if we have to make up any missed classes, the makeup(s) will likely be held on a Friday at 2:00 pm. For one (and no more) of any make-up days that are scheduled, if you send me an email no later than 6:00 pm the Thursday before that Friday make-up class letting me know that you will not be able to make it, I will not count your absence from that make-up class toward the 4 days, so long as you also send me an email by 6:00 pm the following Tuesday certifying that you have watched the recording of the missed make-up class in full. The email should be sent to me (schnably@law.miami.edu) with a cc: to my assistant, Ms. Sue Demmings (sdemmings@law.miami.edu).
      • Note: if we need to schedule multiple make-up days because of hurricane or other contingency, I will announce an attendance policy specific to those make-ups.
    • What constitutes an absence:
      • You will be marked absent for any day on which you have not signed the attendance sheet, except for the first class of the semester, when I will pass around only the seating chart; you will be marked absent for the first day if you have not put your name on the seating chart.
        • The reason for the absence (illness, religious observance, other personal commitments, traffic jams, etc.; planned versus unplanned) does not matter.
          • Note: For your information, this is the University policy on absences for religious holidays (emphasis added):
            Any student absent from class in observance of a religious holy day shall not be penalized in any way for an examination or assignment missed during the period of absence. Absence in observance of a religious holy day does not relieve students from responsibility for any part of the course work required during the period of absence. Students who are absent on days of examinations or class assignments shall be offered a reasonable opportunity to make up the work without penalty, if the student previously arranged to be absent. Nothing in this policy shall preclude faculty members from limiting the number of student absences to a reasonable number of absences for any reason. The faculty member has discretion to determine how the make-up obligation will be fulfilled.
      • The fact that you actually attended does not excuse you from the requirement of signing the attendance sheet. You will be marked absent a particular day if you have not signed the attendance sheet for that day. Keep in mind that:
        • It is an Honor Code violation to ask someone else to sign your name for you on the attendance sheet.
        • It is an Honor Code violation for you to sign someone else’s name for them on the attendance sheet.
      • You must sign the attendance sheet in class when it is circulated.
        • If for some reason the attendance sheet does not reach you during class, then you need to come up immediately after class, before I leave the room, and sign it then.
        • If there is a day when you attend but do not, for whatever reason, sign the attendance sheet during class or immediately after class, you may -- one time only -- email me and let me know that you were in fact there, and I will have you marked present for that day. You must send me this email within two weeks of the date of the particular class. The email should be sent to me (schnably@law.miami.edu) with a cc: to my assistant, Ms. Sue Demmings (sdemmings@law.miami.edu).
    • Attendance at a section other than the one in which you are enrolled: As you may have seen from the 1L course schedule, I am teaching two sections of Property this Fall: Section C1 in the mornings Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Section A2 in the afternoon Tuesdays and Thursdays. You must attend the section to which you are assigned, and only that section (except as set out below). If you attend a class in a section other than the one for which you are registered, that will be counted as an abscence.
      • Exception: If you anticipate that you will be unable to attend your section’s class on a particular day, but would be able to attend the other section’s class that same day, email me at least 24 hours in advance to let me know the reason, and I will let you know whether you may attend that other section’s class that day and have it count as attending. The email should be sent to me (schnably@law.miami.edu) with a cc: to my assistant, Ms. Sue Demmings (sdemmings@law.miami.edu). My decision one way or the other is final. I would not expect most class members to need to take advantage of this exception at all during the semester, but I realize there may be unusual circumstances. You should also note that I will consider any request for such an exception on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving only if the most compelling and unavoidable circumstances are presented.
    • Note that other classes you’re taking may have an attendance and absence policy similar to this one, or a different one. You should make sure you are aware of the particular absence policy for each of the classes in which you are enrolled. One difference you may see is that since the reason for the absence does not matter under the policy for this course, I do not require students to submit the online Absence Notification form the Dean of Students provides. Other classes (such as those where absences are excused on a case by case basis), may require you to do so.
    • In general, the aim of this policy is to leave it to you to manage your own commitments and circumstances through a fairly generous allowance of absences. Accordingly, I will be very reluctant to make any exceptions. But if you believe there are significant circumstances that might make your compliance with this policy uncertain even with your best efforts, please raise the matter with me well beforehand and I will be happy to talk with you about it.

• Honor Code and Academic Integrity:
  • You should generally familiarize yourself with the Law Student Honor Code.
  • Any work you submit in this course is expected to be your own work. The use of generative AI such as large language models (for example, ChatGPT) in writing academic work for this course, including exams and any other mandatory written assignments, is prohibited unless expressly identified in writing by me, in advance, as an appropriate resource for the academic work or exam.
  • You may not upload to any AI database any prior exams, practice questions, Supplementary Materials, or any other course materials I have authored, whether for this course or any other course I teach or have taught, without my express written permission in advance. I do not generally anticipate granting such permission.

Back to the Property Syllabus