Obligations colleagues,

This year, for the first time, I've assigned a background reading book to my 1L Torts students: The Myth of the Litigious Society by our colleague David Engel at Buffalo, N.Y.  As I've communicated to David, I was deeply impressed by this book's even handed approach to tort law and reform in the United States, and especially the way it asks value-driven, big-picture questions about the tort system, which is how I approach the subject with 1Ls.

I've drawn up a reading reflection assignment for the students, and I write to share that with you in case it might be useful, whether for teaching the Engel book or another.  (I'll do some guide work with the students in the course of class and review sessions to help them stay on track with the book.)  When I went looking for "reading reflection" assignment models specifically in legal academia, I came up blank, so maybe I can spare someone else reinventing the wheel.

I hope to post my students' work on Blogger, where I've set up a site on which the assignment is posted:

http://1l.thesavorytort.com/

If anyone has read the Engel book and wishes to share any reflections, privately or publicly, I would be happy to hear from you and to share your views with my class.  I also welcome your willingness to share any teaching tools on integrating background reading with a law class.

Sincere thanks,

rick jps

Richard J. Peltz-Steele
 Professor, UMass Law School
 http://ssrn.com/author=625107 
 The Savory Tort  @RJPeltzSteele  +1 508-985-1102