Section Summary – Consumer Law, Commercial Law, and Bankruptcy Workshop

This discussion group was comprised of professors who teach in the fields of consumer law, commercial law, and/or bankruptcy. The group discussion centered around best practices for teaching and assessing our students in these courses. The group began by exploring innovations they have incorporated into their courses. One of the more interesting innovations introduced was by Professor Christopher D. Hampson of the University of Florida who breaks his class into groups and has them work through a moot Chapter 11 Plan Confirmation Hearing. The group also shared challenges with administering assessments and addressing accommodations under the ADA. A common technique to address this was to give more time to the entire class than the exercise requires, e.g. tell the class the assessment is designed to take 10 minutes but the entire class gets 20 to complete it, or leaving the assignment open all week to be turned in. Also making the assignments Pass/Fail has been found to lower the stakes on such assessments. Participants also shared techniques they used to get students more engaged in the course – a common one being having the students actually go out and find documents that affect them such a credit card agreement or the terms of an online service provider. A number of professors who teach secured transactions use financing statement searches to create fun exercises for the students. Also making examples of essay exam questions available during the semester as well a grading rubric and having students self-grade or go over their answers with the professor were effective way to give the students a sense of how they are doing. Some professors used polling software to get a sense of their class’s understanding of a topic and in instances where their understanding is deficient go back over the topics. The group finished by discussing challenges faced in teaching these topics and coverage was a common refrain. For Secured Transactions, many expressed sadness over it being removed from the NextGen Bar as the course is an important one and if it is no longer required, students are unlikely to take it due simply to not understanding its importance.

Saturday, August 2, 2025
9:00 am – 12:00 pm