This was probably the most important class I've taken at UCLA. Knowledge of your civil rights is a vital part of being a global citizen, and freedom of speech is a phrase people bandy about but actually have no idea of the intricacies behind the concept. This class was incredible because you read the court cases that have clarified what you can and cannot say or do, and learned the tests that resulted from them. So for all the above reasons, this was an excellent class and I learned a lot. That being said, if you can't hear the instructor basically you're left to decipher case law on your own through the readings, and that's what happened when I arrived late and had to sit in back. I don't know why the mic wasn't used, but it wasn't. Also, for some reason the instructor and TA would not give out anything written to show what they were looking for in an IRAC. I wouldn't actually change lecture at all because I enjoyed all the information, even the circuitous off-the-track tangents. But I would really have appreciated some model answers to hypotheticals so I would have known what I was looking to emulate on the midterm and the final, since these are the only two components of the grade (midterm 45%, final 55%). A skeleton model answer was posted 2 days before the final, but it was like 'too little, too late.' If I'd had that before the midterm I could have relaxed and enjoyed the course and learned much more.

If you're interested in law/law school then you should definitely take this class!! However, for people not interested in law school then it's definitely a challenging class. You learn a lot and it's not pointless busy work, but the exams are 3 hours of grueling short answer questions where you are furiously writing until the last second. If you want to learn how to think like a lawyer, this class is a great crash course. I got an A because I worked really hard and diligently followed the methods they teach you on how to approach cases, so it's possible to do very well. Bailey Loverin was my TA and she was so thorough and good at explaining. Just don't take this class if you want an easy class you can skip most days.

I have mixed feelings about this class. It deals with interesting and important subjects, and teaches you a lot of basics about law. I would highly recommend this class to someone contemplating law school and looking for an intro.

However, if you are a Comm major who just needs to fill the requirement like me, pick another class. This class requires reading a lot of dense court cases every week. The exams are pretty grueling: 3 hours long and you need almost every minute of them.

Bottom line: I knew nothing about law, I went to every lecture, did all the reading, studied intensively, and ended up with a B. If you do all the work you'll be ok, but this class will take up A LOT of your time.

This class was one of the worst classes I've taken so far. This man does not know how to communicate to a class with what he wants to teach them. Ironic. Very vague lectures where he basically just reads court cases and how courts analyzed them. But the midterm and final are hard because he'll go over the rules on how to look at a case but grades 80% of it very hard based on your analysis. The tests i feel are open to interpretation since you're writing 3 blue books in 3 hour and lots of room for error. I know most people in the final exam didn't even finish. When we received the midterm back he got mad at the whole class for doing poorly and him having to curve the grade up when he should realize that he's just another poor part-time professor trying to boost his ego. Just take 101 with someone that cares to teach or a different legal communications course to save some headache.

Do NOT take this class! HARSH GRADING. Do not believe the grade distribution. Maybe I just had a bad TA, but I thought this class would just be a fun COM class. Hell no. This class messed up my GPA. I say again, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!!!!

Soooo I took this class to fulfill a comm requirement and it was the worst class I've ever taken at UCLA. Not the worst grade I got, but it's definitely down there. Professor Kassabian was kind of boring and I guess that's also why I never really went to class. To be fair, I only started studying last minute and wanted to pull my hair out because exams were tough and I wasn't interested in the subject very much. Readings were super dense and I just never bothered until a week before exams. Luckily my friend was a sweetheart and shared her notes with me and we studied together which really helped. For midterms i got around a D (lol) but somehow ended with an overall B grade so don't give up if you got a bad grade for the midterm! The final could save u if u did well in that. Overall, yeah, worst class at UCLA and glad that it's over. Should've probably did the readings early and went to class so don't be like me! One thing I learned from this class: I never want to be a lawyer

This class was a lot of work, with many cases to cover every class period. It requires diligent work and studying. The tests are not difficult if you study properly. The hardest part for me was learning how to take the test, the professor has specific guidelines. The information learned is really valuable, it just takes a lot of time. The professor was kind of boring, had no excitement in his voice, and kind of felt condescending when you asked a question. Would recommend taking the class in a quarter where the other classes are you are taking aren't as hard.

Professor Kassabian is a full-time lawyer. He did not have any real office hours. I got a D on the midterm and final but was not really told why I got points off of certain questions. Ended up with an NP even though my friends had similar answers to mine and ended up with A's and B's. The class is out of date and the amount of reading required is comparable to comm 10. Do not take this class if you have heavy readings for other classes or do not have an interest in Law.

This was one of my first classes at UCLA as a transfer student and the most difficult class I've taken here. Like others have said do not believe the grade distribution this is a difficult class especially if you have no interest in Law or being a lawyer. I found the material in this class to be interesting and think its a great class to take in prep for law school, however, the professor is a very boring monotone speaker and is not always clear on explanations and expectations from the class. Additionally, he really does not have office hours so you will be relying heavily on the TA for explanations so hopefully, your TA is good.

I dropped the classes after buying the course reader...
I am selling it. If you are interested, let me know. ( ********** )