Legal Education Commons^™

A Tyrannosaurus-Rex Aptly Named 'Sue': Using A Disputed Dinosaur To Teach Contract Defenses, Miriam A. Cherry

All Faculty Scholarship

This piece focuses on the discovery of a T-Rex skeleton, and the contract formed between the private fossil collectors and the Native American rancher who ostensibly owned the land where the fossil was situated. Although the fossil was eventually sold at auction for over eight million dollars, the fossil collectors paid the rancher only $5,000 for its excavation. In addition to the rancher, the Sioux tribe and the Department of Justice also became involved in the case.

As described in my work, the law school Socratic method has come under attack in recent years. In response to such criticisms, the …