In the words of one author, "Insurance ideas and practices define central privileges and responsibilities within a society. In that sense, our insurance arrangements form a material constitution, one that operates through routine, mundane transactions that nevertheless define the contours of individual and social responsibility. For that reason, studying who is eligible to receive what insurance benefits, and who pays for them, is as good a guide to the social compact as any combination of Supreme Court opinions.” Accordingly, this course will cover an array of insurance law issues, including contract law foundations, insurance regulation, first-party insurance (including life, property, and disability), and liability insurance (including its implication on tort law), always keeping in mind the broader societal implications of insurance as a risk- and cost-spreading device.