Whatever you do, Do not get fooled by the theme of the course. I personally picked to take this class because I thought learning about Constitutional Law would be fun and interesting but boy, was I wrong.

First off, Professor Orren does not incorporate any slides, textbooks or even physical handouts to keep retain focus and attention during lecture. She literally just stands at the podium and talks, often times switching between rambling and picking random points from her stack of notes. Normally, I would be fine with a traditional way of teaching, but there is absolutely no structure for this class. The only form of "structure" from this class was the 4-5 cases she assigns every week for section review except she sometimes adds 6 more other additional cases to be aware of randomly in the middle of the week through canvas announcement. You will loose focus during class and you will be confused 99% of the time.

Second, if in any situation class is forced to operate online through Zoom, (as we did during Campus Closure during the Palisades Fire), she will not even entertain the idea of recording lecture for future use, in fact, she will mention how she thinks its "lazy" for students to rely on recordings. So don't even think about asking

Third, for Midterm and Final, she will not let you know in advance what the Midterm formatting would be like because she simply makes it up the day before. The lecture before midterm when someone asked what the formatting would look like, she said "I am unsure, I will come up with something for the day"..... Also there is no study guide for either one, so you just rely on the assigned cases and whatever lecture notes you have. But I can tell you know that you have to memorize facts about the cases assigned and connect them to each other, essay format (i recommend 2-3 pages long). Its manageable but annoying nonetheless.

Lastly, if you still choose to take this class, I hope that your TA makes it easier for you. My TA wasn't horrible but he also wasn't good so it was still a struggle to even comprehend. I just hope that you reading this makes you stay far far away from any classes she teaches. Honestly, she just proved that having tenure doesn't mean anything anymore.

This is the first law class I've taken and it was really interesting! The workload is manageable, but exam prep is stressful. Like previous reviews mentioned, her lectures are unorganized and she just talks at you about cases and writes others on the board, but as long as you take notes, you'll do fine. She uploads 10-15 page case briefs for the weekly cases, but I typically organized my notes using Oyez (unless the opinions were really important to the case) and IRAC method. For the exams, it's best to prep by topics/subtopics imo because the midterm and final exam essay questions are pretty broad. My advice: create/join a groupchat for the class and study with one another!

Professor Orren's class is great for someone interested in the material or considering law school. She is not very organized and the lectures lack structure (no slides, outline, and sometimes she says details on cases that aren't totally correct but overall she is so knowledgeable about the subject). The whole class is basically just discussing different Supreme Court cases, about 5 each week. Some of the cases are well known but a lot probably are new material for most. She provides edited/shortened versions of the cases but it is still a significant amount of reading, and just reading Oyez (although very helpful as an intro/review!) won't cut it for the discussion quizzes and tests. Going to lecture is important and helpful to know what her tests will look like. Quizzes are pop quiz style based on the weekly cases in section (these and "participation" were worth 25% together). Some of the quiz questions were HARD so knowing details on all 5 cases is necessary for doing well on these, but the grade was mostly all final (50%) but Professor Orren ended up making our final exam optional given the last-minute change to online which was nice.

Midterm and final. Quizzes and participation in section. 5 cases a week. 15 pages or less per case. Not too bad if you’ve taken another undergraduate law class. Interesting lectures. But disorganized. Not a bad thing, just something to expect. Nicest TA. Very helpful. B.M. Read the cases. Take lecture notes. Go to section. Not too bad. Would recommend.