The Classroom Series

Brief the Clerk

Name the legal idea you want taught, who you teach, and how many minutes you have. The Clerk drafts the lesson: the mechanism, the run sheet, the words to say, the case file your students read, the discussion questions, and the exit ticket. Print it and teach it.

The cases are fictional, deliberately. The Clerk invents the parties and the facts. Real cases on this site are researched and reviewed by a human before anyone reads them, and a generated file about a real defendant is not something we are willing to hand a classroom. Fiction argues just as well and carries none of that risk.

What do you want taught?
A doctrine, a skill, or a goal. For example: hearsay, reasonable doubt, why eyewitnesses are believed, the elements of self defense, how to read a contract against yourself.

Who do you teach?

How long is the period?

How the Clerk chooses the shape

Content without a mechanism is a worksheet. The Clerk picks the shape that fits the doctrine, so that students produce the evidence of their own reasoning rather than being told about it:

Blind split	The class is divided and each half receives a different version of the same case, neither knowing the other exists. Best for anything about what reaches the jury: hearsay, relevance, prior bad acts, omission and framing.
Admissibility first, merits second	Students vote on what the jury should be allowed to hear, then decide the case on only what survived their own ruling. Best for evidence law and for showing that the record is a choice.
One record, two instructions	Both halves read identical facts but are given different burdens or standards, then return separate verdicts. Best for reasonable doubt, preponderance, presumptions and affirmative defenses.
Change one fact	The class votes, a single fact is altered, and the class votes again. Best for the elements of a claim or defense: self defense, intent, negligence, causation, consent.
Two briefs, one jury	Students argue opposing sides of the same record and the room votes on which argument persuaded them, not on who was right. Best for advocacy, rhetoric and burden allocation.

Want to see a finished one first? The Hot Coffee Lesson is the hand-built version of the blind split, on a real case, with the research behind it.