PLAP 3810

This class is really interesting with minimal reading. The midterm and final are difficult, so be ready to memorize and write a lot of intense comparisons.

This course is one of the most difficult I have taken at UVA- the Midterm was incredibly difficult because of how much you had to do in 50 minutes, and the Final required the memorization of about 80 Supreme Court cases or else you shouldn't even try. The reading for the first half of the semester was manageable- Storm Center was actually fascinating and fun to read- but the second half was clearly heavy on the cases and got somewhat dry. The Final is worth 40% of your grade, so no matter how well you do before that it can all be messed up by a bad exam. Aaron is an AMAZING TA- sarcastic and funny, very chill, but also very knowledgeable. The Moot Court was really fun but people took it super seriously so it was fairly intimidating (especially when O'Brien came to watch ours). O'Brien is great and has fascinating stories to tell, but sometimes I think he really gets pleasure our of his students' pain in trying to memorize cases and learn all the material... Overall a great course for anyone interested in the Supreme Court or Law School, but otherwise I'd probably stay away.

Completely agree with the last review; the class was manageable up until the final. The midterm wasn't bad at all if you studied, the Moot Court paper was challenging but not terrible, but the final kicked everyone's asses and it counts for 40% of your total grade. Aaron was the best TA I've ever had in college and made the class SO much better. Definitely an interesting class and I learned a lot, but I would only recommend it to people who are really interested in law and are willing to put a LOT of time and effort into it.

Do not take this class for fun. Take this class if one or more of the following is true: you are interested in PPL, you are interested in American politics, you are interested in law school. The class is simply not worth your time otherwise. Now, onto the course itself. I did extremely well in this course and will share my secret to success. Brief all the cases. You will not retain any information about them if you do not brief them. I attended lecture, but it's not necessary because honestly, the exams only really cover the cases and readings. Do the readings. Try to keep up, but don't kill yourself if you fall behind; just keep making progress. To study for the final, just memorize all the cases - title, case facts, holding. I made an excel sheet that summarizes that information and my best part of the final was the multiple choice. Aaron was a great guy, though he wasn't all that knowledgeable about the class topic. But he was a fair grader and extremely available if you wanted his help. Moot court is kind of annoying - the court itself is fun, but the work to prepare is hard. I recommend being a justice or attorney because amicus curiae brief writers tend to get lower grades (at least from my experience of talking to people in various role) because they are graded only on the brief, and not on what they say at the simulation. Good luck!

Tough midterm, moot court is fun and definitely a grade booster. Readings aren't strictly necessary as long as you look at the cases on oyez.com

The second half of the course is very challenging - a LOT of reading and you have to know the cases inside and out for the final. The moot court is a lot of fun and the midterm is tough but fair. O'Brien has a quirky sense of humor that comes out in lectures and makes them entertaining.

ONLY take this class if you think you want to go to law school, it is basically the law school weed out. The entire class is reading court case after court case and memorizing their facts and why they’re important, which after about a week become tedious and boring. There are four grades, discussion, a midterm that is basically a race to write as much as you can in 50 minutes, a mock court paper on a Supreme Court case currently on the docket, and a final which is the midterm on steroids. O’Brien prides himself on the fact that no one ever gets an A+ so it really epitomizes a GPA killer. With that said, if you are very interested in law and are considering going to law school O’Brien is a very energetic and interesting guy, he really knows his stuff and is always willing to discuss the material or any current court events. So essentially great teacher but very, very difficult class.

This class was EXTREMELY difficult and not worthwhile in my opinion, given the vast options of classes available in the same department. The lectures are hard to follow, the cases and concepts are intermingled so much that its hard to remember what's important and why, Professor is OUT to get you!! Tells you that in class. Also, be ready to memorize close to 100 supreme court cases in preparation for the final.... do NOT take this class!!

Great class if you're interested in law, O'Brien is the man

My TA (Thomas) was great. He really wanted us all to succeed, which was great, because there was a huge amount of information that we needed to learn. If you learn the cases you will be fine. Don't read them or you will get totally freaked out by the volume of work. I recommend looking on oyez.com or even wikipedia. They lay out really good summaries of the cases. Also, do a study guide. That was really helpful too.

O'Brien is a character. I don't know how helpful he was, but he was ridiculously funny.