Kathleen E. Payne

Kathleen E. PayneProfessor of Law Emerita
Law College Building
648 N. Shaw Lane Rm 368
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
payneka@law.msu.edu

  • Biography

    Prior to joining the Law College faculty in 1980, Professor Payne was a law clerk to Justice Blair Moody, Jr. of the Michigan Supreme Court. She serves as a case evaluator for the Wayne County Mediation Tribunal Association. Since 1988, she has given bar review lectures on commercial law and multi-state subjects. Professor Payne received the MSU Law Student Bar Association's Distinguished Professor Award for 2004-05. Professor Payne teaches Secured Transactions, Bankruptcy Reorganizations of Business, Contracts, Legislative Drafting, and Torts.

  • Degrees

    LL.M. University of Michigan, 1981; J.D. Detroit College of Law, 1977; M.A. Eastern Michigan University, 1970; B.A. Michigan State University, 1967

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Courses

    Equity
    (Formerly DCL 333) Considered are the history and development of equity, equity jurisdiction, remedies available in equity and contempt powers.

    Secured Transactions
    (Formerly DCL 240) Covers the process of financing the sale of goods, the secured transaction under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, including creation, perfection, priority of security interests in personal property and default procedures.

    Torts I
    (Formerly DCl 141) The study of the protection that the law affords against interference by others with one's person, property or intangible interest. It is broadly divisible into three areas of liability: intentional interference, negligence and strict liability. Specific tort actions and defenses are analyzed. Each is examined in the context of underlying social and economic factors that provide the framework in which law develops and social conflict is managed.

    Torts II
    This course surveys specialized torts such as nuisance, defamation, privacy, civil rights, misuse of legal procedure, misrepresentation, interference with advantageous relationships, torts in the age of statutes, and alternative compensation systems.

    Workers' Compensation
    This course approaches workers’ compensation from a national perspective, exposing students to the varied laws across the country while focusing on the common principles of this area of law in all states. With its “no fault” status, workers’ disability compensation is a unique type of law which impacts businesses and most workers in the United States. The Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Act is used as the model law for the class and several important Michigan cases are included as additional course materials.

  • Bar Admission(s)

    Michigan, Illinois, Nevada