Seth Chandler

Seth Chandler (a.k.a. John Belushi?)

Analytical Methods
Contracts (scroll down)
Constitutional Law (scroll down)

Analytical Methods

The Course

During the information session, it was suggested that this class was for people who had no exposure to the topics to be taught, but after taking the course, I think the opposite. There is not enough time to teach the basics of the numerous and disparate subjects that range from game theory, contract writing, agency problems, law and economics, statistics, and financial statements. However, this class is perfect for putting together statistics, finance, etc. with the law. The more background you have the better it is for the student to follow the lectures and apply the concepts specifically to the law. It's especially good if you're a nerd (e.g., if you know what the Kobayashi Maru is & you like Dr. Strange Love you'll probably like the subject matter in this class). This is a great course to take if you are tired of reading cases. It was refreshing to apply concepts to problems instead of reading cases and talking about theory in the abstract.

There is group work. There are 7 projects of which 5 are graded. Chandler's theory is that this is more like an MBA class than a law course. He thinks that the output will be of better quality from a group of 4 than the strongest person in the group. He's not wrong in this. Moreover, it makes the grading easier for the Prof. (and still the grades trickle back). However, this group work is a problem where there is relative grading as there is in law school, because you all get the same grade. In my case, my group broke up and caused loss of relationships.

Mathematica pervades this class. No doubt Mathematica is amazing, especially in the hands of a master, as Dean Chandler obviously is. However, I know that it caused consternation for many of the students regardless of the admonitions to "ignore the man behind the curtain." Some times it is hard for students to concentrate on the message instead of the method.

Professor

Dean Chandler did an excellent job of going through so many disparate topics and tying them altogether in a coherent class, showing how they are all tied together and interrelated. He was infinitely patient with student questions, and was very good at teasing out of students the arguments without pushing his own views and agenda. Dean Chandler made the class very interesting through reference to the real world and other popular media though syllabus optional assignments. In general, Dean Chandler is very good about taking any student comment and abstracting the theory that is implicitly backing it. This allows students to, hopefully, to learn to do the same through exposure of example. Finally, Chandler has a nice balance between encouraging preparation and censure. There were students who knew nothing and didn't read and all he said is "you would get more out of the class if you prepared."

No review would be complete, however, without warning that some people who took the class with me who found Chandler to be smug and condescending. As I didn't find this to be the case I leave it to someone else to elaborate, except to say that if you are sensitive to sarcasm and don't like people who aren't modest/humble you'll probably not like Chandler.

Thanks to Joshua Wyde for the above review.

Contracts

Anonymously contributed contracts outline - added 05-24-2008

Constitutional Law

Anonymously contributed con law outline - added 01-01-2011