When I was asked to write a piece on “Teaching Elder Law in Contracts,” I agreed, even though, at that time, I did not cover any elder law topics in my contracts course. But the deadline was a long way off, and there would be plenty of time to figure out how to incorporate elder law in the course.
What fascinated me about the topic, however, was not how to raise elder law issues in core courses like contracts, but why raise those issues? The reasons were not self-evident. Why not discuss antitrust issues? Corporate issues? Business planning issues? AIDS issues? Before tinkering with a successful course, as I think my contracts course is, one should know why. Theory should precede practice.
To understand my thinking on this topic, you should know what I attempt to accomplish, not only in my contracts course, but also in my elder law seminar. In my contracts course, I teach both process and doctrines. As for process, I hope to teach students how to read and analyze statutes and cases and how the doctrine of precedent works. I also provide the students with some idea of the limits of language, rules, and “doing the right thing.”