Courses of Study 2012-2013 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
Courses of Study 2012-2013 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

LAW—Law

  
  • LAW 6079 - Low Wage Workers and the Law


    Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    Co-meets with ILRLR 6079 .

    K. Griffith.

    This course will build your critical reading, writing, oral presentation and analytical skills through the study of legal issues that affect low-wage workers in the United States. You will learn to evaluate and apply legal theories and ideas to workplace issues that affect this population of the U.S. workforce. Low-wage workers often face unique legal challenges in the workplace. Many of them have jobs that straddle a legal gray area, making it difficult to determine whether they are exempt from labor and employment law protections. Unauthorized, or undocumented, low-wage workers also raise challenging legal questions about the intersection between immigration law and labor and employment law. What rights do unauthorized low-wage workers have in the workplace? What are the consequences of treating them the same as authorized workers? What are the consequences of treating them differently? This course will address these legal ambiguities and will give students the ability to engage with a wide range of legal and policy questions related to low-wage workers. It will cover traditional labor and employment law statutes as well as new legal developments that affect low-wage workers. Much of the course will be dedicated to federal legislation and case law related to the above. At the conclusion of the course, students will assess theories about the relationship between law and organizing in the context of new forms of organizing among low-wage and immigrant workers.

  
  • LAW 6080 - Special Topics in Labor Relations: Advanced Issues in ADR - Mediation: Theory and Practice


    Fall. 2 credits. Letter grade only.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Co-meets with ILRLR 6080 . Course meets the first half of the semester.

    R. Scanza.

    This course is offered as a bridge between 6012 and 6019 by providing students with an opportunity to explore in greater scope and depth the law and practice of mediation.  In the first part of the course, students review the models of mediation and the benefits and challenges of each, including a comparative analysis of evaluative, facilitative and transformative styles of mediation. Next, students will examine the impact of federal and state laws on the process. Significant attention will be devoted to the use of mediation in the public and federal sectors and in public sector negotiation impasses. For the balance of the course students explore the use of mediation across industries, including construction, securities, employment, and commercial disputes. Ethical issues as well as obstacles to settlement and impasse strategies in mediation will all be examined and incorporated into workshops and case studies.

  
  • LAW 6091 - Introduction to the American Legal System


    Fall. 2 credits.


    The course is required for the LLM degree, except for LLM students who hold a JD degree from a US Law School. It is open only to LLM students who do not hold a JD degree from a US Law School. Regular attendance of classes is required and will be monitored.

    M. Ndulo.

    The primary purpose of the course is to provide a survey and an analysis of the laws of the United States. It does this by exploring the basic foundations of American Law, its nature, history and theoretical underpinnings. Special emphasis is placed on principles in the American legal system that are distinctive and require particular attention from students who have been trained abroad. Among the topics to be covered by the course are the structure of the US court system; judicial review; the legislative system; federalism; separation of powers; the jury system; consideration in contract; the US and International Law; civil procedure; constitutional law; criminal law; tort law, the common law; and civil law. Class sessions consist of lectures and guest speakers. Students are expected to participate in class discussions based on assigned readings. During the semester students will be assigned two written exercises to be answered in no more than three pages. The final requirement of the course is a ten-page essay addressing an issue covered in any of the lectures given in the course.

     

  
  • LAW 6101 - Antitrust Law


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    G. A. Hay.

    The antitrust laws of the U.S. protect competitive markets and limit the exercise of monopoly power. Topics include: price fixing, boycotts, and market allocation agreements among competitors; agreements between suppliers and customers; joint ventures; monopolization; and mergers.

     

  
  • LAW 6121 - Bankruptcy


    Spring. 3 credits. S-U or letter grade option.

    O. Lienau.

    Selected topics in the law of bankruptcy, including consumer and business bankruptcy. The course will cover bankruptcy liquidation, the ‘fresh start’ in consumer bankruptcy, rehabilitation provisions, ‘avoiding powers’ (including preferences and fraudulent conveyances), treatment of secured creditors, priorities in asset distribution, and business reorganizations. We will also briefly discuss collection issues and sovereign bankruptcy. The course will refer to central policy debates about the social and economic consequences of bankruptcy, the proper extent of bankruptcy relief in relation to the functioning of financial markets and the American economy, and questions of bargaining power in debtor-creditor relations.

  
  • LAW 6131 - Business Organizations


    Fall, spring. 3 credits. S-U or letter grade.

    Limited enrollment.

    L. Stout [fall], G. Fletcher [spring].

    An introduction to the legal rules and principles, as well as some of the economic factors, that underlay the conduct of business enterprise in the United States. A principal focus will be upon the large, publicly traded corporation that dominates much of the U.S. business environment – in particular, its control and the potentially conflicting interests that the form must mediate. Legal topics to be covered include business formation and capitalization, fiduciary obligations, shareholder voting, derivative suits, corporate control transactions, and the purpose of the film. We shall also devote some attention to closely held corporations and other business forms.

  
  • LAW 6158 - Client Counseling


    Spring. (Course will meet for only part of the semester) 1 credit. S-U grades only.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    L. Freed.

    Clients come to lawyers seeking problem-solving advice. This course follows a “client-centered” approach to counseling that will examine techniques lawyers can use to help clients make good decisions. Class sessions will incorporate role plays that cover different stages of the counseling process, including clarifying clients’ objectives and identifying alternatives and consequences, in litigation and transactional contexts.

  
  • LAW 6161 - Comparative Law: The Civil Law Tradition


    Fall. 3 credits.

    M. Lasser.

    This course introduces students to the institutional and conceptual organization of “civil law” legal systems (which govern almost all of Western and Eastern Europe and Latin America, as well as significant portions of Africa and Asia). The course will therefore provide a broad overview of “civilian” private law and procedure, criminal procedure, administrative law, and constitutional law. The course is particularly interested in the differences between common law and civil law understandings of the relationship between law-making, legal interpretation, and the judiciary.

  
  • LAW 6162 - [Comparative Constitutional Law]


    Next offered 2013-2014. 1 credit.

    Course meets in late March or early April.

    H. Kube.

    The course introduces students to different understandings and conceptualizations of constitutional law, focusing on a comparison between U.S. and German constitutional law. In case studies, we will examine underlying values, the interpretation of constitutional law as well as the role of the judiciary. By referring to German and U.S. law, the course is also an introduction to the different approaches of common law and “civil law” legal systems. Furthermore, we will analyze and compare the constitutionalization of European Law and its consequences.

  
  • LAW 6189 - Topics in International Intellectual Property Law


    Summer. 1 credit.

    O. Liivak.

    This course will provide an overview of the main bodies of intellectual property law with an emphasis on differences among various countries. Intellectual property can be a critically important asset to protecting and enabling a business while it can just as easily be an insurmountable liability for others. Leveraging the benefits while avoiding the pitfalls requires an understanding of the structure of each area of law. This course will give an overview of that landscape by exploring some current controversies in intellectual property with an emphasis on differing approaches among various legal systems.

  
  • LAW 6191 - Conflict of Laws


    Fall. 3 credits.

    B. Holden-Smith.

    This course will address the subject of conflict of laws in its theoretical and historical context, and will place a special emphasis on the international elements of conflict of laws. There will be a 3-hour in-class final examination which will involve both issue spotter questions and more theoretical questions.

  
  • LAW 6201 - Constitutional Law II: The First Amendment


    Spring. 3 credits.

    S. H. Shiffrin.

    A comprehensive discussion of freedom of speech, press, and association. The free-exercise-of-religion clause and the establishment clause of the First Amendment will also be treated to some extent.

     

  
  • LAW 6204 - Cornell Prison Education Program Teaching Practicum


    Fall, spring. 3 credits. S-U grades only.

    Limited enrollment.

    Staff.

    Students in the Practicum will co-teach a law-related course at either Auburn or Cayuga correctional facilities, as part of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP), which offers college courses to inmates working toward their associates’ degrees. Interested students should secure a full-time faculty advisor and submit a course proposal to the CPEP. Accepted students will design a detailed course syllabus, procure teaching materials, and teach a 2-hour class on a weekly basis. Students will also be expected to create, administer, and evaluate midterm and final examinations. Students must travel to and from a correctional facility on a weekly basis, at their own expense. Limited funds are available for teaching materials. Students who have secured a faculty advisor and who have received approval for their course from CPEP should direct inquiries about funding to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

     

  
  • LAW 6241 - Corporate and White Collar Crime


    Fall. 3 credits.

    S. Garvey.

    This course examines some of the principal statutes used to prosecute corporate and white collar crime. Theories of liability we will consider include traditional white collar offenses like mail and wire fraud, insider trading, false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice. They also include more recent entries into the field such as RICO, money laundering, and laws enacted to combat government contract fraud. In addition the course provides an introductory look at the workings of the now-advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

     

  
  • LAW 6242 - Corporate Finance


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Prerequisite: LAW 6131  and/or LAW 6821 .

    R. Minella.

    Any practice of business law requires a knowledge of accounting and corporate finance to be able to properly advise one’s clients. This course will cover basic corporate finance concepts to enable an attorney to be familiar with the area. Concepts covered will include:

    Measuring firm output: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statements

    Valuing firm output: Discounting and present value, cost of capital, capital markets

    Capital structure: Common stock, corporate debt, preferred stock, convertible securities and options, dividends and distributions

    The emphasis of the course will be on practical concepts and the real world, including private equity, leveraged buyouts, corporate restructuring, and valuation of business enterprises.

  
  • LAW 6263 - Criminal Procedures: Adjudications


    Fall. 3 credits.

    Satisfies the professional responsibility requirement. Enrolling in this course does not prohibit enrollment in another professional responsibility course.

    J. H. Blume.

    This course will primarily focus on the adjudication phase of the criminal process including: (1) the right to counsel, including the right to the effective assistance of counsel and conflict-free counsel; (2) the admissibility of incriminating statements and eyewitness identifications; (3) the law of guilty pleas; (4) jury composition and selection; and (5) fair trial procedures including rights afforded by the Confrontation, Double Jeopardy and Due Process Clauses.

  
  • LAW 6264 - Criminal Procedures: Investigations


    Fall. 3 credits.

    S. F. Colb.

    Criminal Procedure: Investigations examines the constitutional law that governs police attempts to solve crime and bring perpetrators to justice. The course considers the role of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the Fifth Amendment ban on compelled self-incrimination, in guiding police behavior and in structuring the trials that follow constitutional violations. Students will evaluate the wisdom and constitutional validity of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule, which prohibits the introduction of evidence obtained as a result of an unreasonable search, and the well-known Miranda v. Arizona decision as it has evolved over time.

     

  
  • LAW 6292 - [Deals]


    Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Limited enrollment. Students enrolling in this course may not enroll in Law 6572, Introduction to Transactional Lawyering.

    This course analyzes the structure of complex transactions and contracts – deals – from both a positive and normative perspective. We investigate the contracting patterns that have emerged with respect to different types of transactions, e.g., mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and financings, and consider whether more effective contracting arrangements could be achieved.

    The course is divided into two parts. The first part of the semester introduces students to concepts and tools to be used to evaluate alter­native transactional structures, including transaction costs, information economics, risk sharing and incentives, property rights, and finance. The second half applies those concepts and tools to “real world” transactions. The class is divided into teams, each of which is assigned a different deal and given a set of transaction documents. We will consider each trans­action over two classes. Prior to the first class, the student team will prepare a draft of a substantial paper analyzing their deal and prepare readings for the class that include excerpts from the actual trans­action documents, an overview of the legal and regulatory character of the industry, and a description of the competitive characteristics of the industry. The student team will then present its analysis of the transaction during the first class. In the second class, the lawyers and/or clients who actually participated in the transaction will make a short presentation. Students are expected to take this opportunity to test how the classroom approach corresponds to the way those who actually “did the deal” understood it – through asking questions and highlighting aspects of the deal that may or may not fit within the classroom framework.

  
  • LAW 6293 - Drafting and Analyzing Corporate Agreements


    Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    Prerequisite: two semesters of LAW 5041  taken in a US law school and LAW 6545 . Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    A. S. Jacobs.

    This course is intended to familiarize students interested in a transactional practice with key provisions of significant contracts they may encounter. Its focus will be on clauses that are found in a variety of agreements, as well as what a corporate lawyer typically faces in addressing issues that arise in structuring and negotiating deals. The course does not address specialized areas (such as tax, intellectual property, environmental, labor, and employee benefits matters), but it will provide students interested in such a specialization with the context in which to better understand where their work fits into the bigger whole. Students will be expected to have read and thought about sample documents that will be discussed in class. Grading will be based on class participation and attendance, two drafting exercises, and a final examination. Professor Jacobs will teach a substantial portion of the course over videoconference.

  
  • LAW 6294 - Deals Practicum: Private Equity Transactions


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grade only.

    Limited enrollment.

    S. Flyer, L. Kling, E. Nugent.

    This course will examine from a practical perspective the nuts and bolts of dealmaking for private equity transactions. The course will focus on issues and documentation that arise in connection with private equity acquisitions. It will examine the role of private equity in the economy and how private equity firms have changed the rules in the mergers and acquisitions industry by focusing on changes in deal dynamics and acquisition agreement provisions. We will then examine and analyze the private equity transaction from inception - formation of a private equity fund and the unique relationship between general partners and limited partners through the various stages of a private equity acquisition which will include the sharing of economics in a fund structure. The course’s emphasis will be on deal issues that arise and drafting contractual provisions addressing these issues, with an emphasis on developing an in-depth understanding of provisions in acquisition agreements and their interrelationship. We will examine why private equity firms pursue certain businesses including understanding a company’s fundamentals; review of the due diligence process; understanding the firm’s investment thesis; structuring the transaction; and executing a business plan for a successful exit. We will also review and analyze taking public companies private; securities laws implications and other rules regarding acquiring public companies by private equity firms. Students will learn about the intricate legal and business collaboration that is needed to successfully complete a private equity transaction. The course will utilize case studies, legal documentation including term sheets, letters of intent, purchase agreements, merger agreements, bank financing documents, and SEC filings, as well as mock negotiations and class discussion.

     

  
  • LAW 6301 - Directed Reading


    Fall, spring. 1-2 credits, variable. S-U grades only.

    Arrange directly with instructor.

    Available with permanent law faculty members [adjuncts, visitors, and others who are not members of the permanent faculty may supervise such courses only with the written consent of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs].

    Specific credit limits apply – carefully review the registration form available from online registration site or registrar’s office.

    Staff.

    An examination of a topic through readings selected by arrangement between the instructor and an individual student or group of students (not exceeding eight).

  
  • LAW 6310 - Economic Analysis of Law


    Spring. 3 credits.

    No background in economics is required.

    M. Frakes.

    The aim of this course is to introduce students to the economic approach to the analysis of law. In exploring this framework, we will address the following topics and areas of law: tort law; property law; contract law; civil litigation; public law enforcement and criminal law; the general structure of the legal system; welfare economics, morality, and the law.

  
  • LAW 6311 - [Education Law]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    This course focuses on selected legal issues that arise in the public and private education context, with emphasis on the elementary and secondary school setting. Topics considered include the legal and policy dimensions of the rights of students, parents, educators, and the state with respect to such issues as access to, control over, and regulation of the education setting and institutions. Issues germane to equal education opportunity, school finance, and school governance and regulation receive particular attention.

  
  • LAW 6331 - [Employment Law]


    Fall or spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    Staff.

    Survey of major statutory schemes, constitutional principles, and common law doctrines that affect the employer-employee relationship in the public and private sectors, other than laws regulating union formation and collective bargaining, which are covered in Labor Law. Topics covered include unjust dismissal, trade secrets, noncompetition covenants, drug testing, free speech, privacy, and antidiscrimination laws. In addition, the course provides an overview of major statutory schemes affecting the terms and conditions of employment, such as workers’ compensation, the Fair Labor Standards Act, ERISA, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

  
  • LAW 6361 - Environmental Law


    Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    Recommended prerequisite: Taking administrative law, either before or contemporaneous with environmental law, is strongly advised, but not required.

    J. J. Rachlinski.

    The course surveys the major environmental laws, with a primary focus on federal statutes. Emphasis will be placed on the various sources of liability to both individuals and corporations from common law, statutory provisions, administrative regulation and enforcement policy. Corporate successor liability through mergers and acquisitions will be included, including the increasing importance of performing a full range due diligence review for environmental conditions in such transactions. Special attention is paid to the economic, social, and political obstacles to efficient regulation of the environment.

  
  • LAW 6392 - Ethics and Corporate Culture

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 5140 )
    Spring. (This course meets the second half of the semester.) 1.5 credits. Letter grades only.

    Satisfies professional responsibility requirement. Limited enrollment.

    D. Radcliffe, W. B. Wendel.

    In the high-pressure worlds of business and law, all too often good people do bad things. In many cases, the unethical behavior is due in part to a toxic corporate culture. The attitudes, values, and practices that prevail in their organizations induce otherwise ethical employees to take actions that violate widely shared norms of conduct. Such behavior can be costly—even disastrous—leading to ruined careers, tarnished corporate reputations, and legal liability for the individuals and their companies. In an environment where “only results matter,” it can be difficult for a new MBA or law school graduate to recognize the risks. If she does see the dangers, she may still find it hard to avoid them. This course seeks to help MBA and law students understand how a firm’s culture can tempt—or push—employees into unethical behavior. It also considers how employees can meet ethical challenges posed by their firms’ cultures and what leaders can do to build ethically healthy cultures.

  
  • LAW 6401 - Evidence


    Fall, spring. 3 credits. Letter grade only.

    F. F. Rossi (fall), S. D. Clymer (spring).

    The rules of evidence in civil and criminal cases with emphasis on relevance, hearsay, authentication, witnesses, experts, and confrontation. The course focuses on the Federal Rules of Evidence, with some attention to how they diverge from the common law.

     

  
  • LAW 6421 - Family Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    A limited number of students can sign up for an additional credit to be awarded for clinical work supervised by the instructor, by registering for LAW 6422 Family Law Clinic Spring. 1 credit. Letter grade only. C. G. Bowman. This component satisfies the clinical course requirement.

    C. G. Bowman.

    Broadly understood, family law is the study of state-imposed rules regulating intimacy and intimate relationships in society. In this course we evaluate our assumptions and beliefs about the appropriateness of a number of current laws regulating families. Substantial attention is devoted to the social and legal consequences of marriage dissolution, including child custody, child support, property distribution, and spousal maintenance. Other topics considered include: the legal significance of marriage rights and obligations; non-marital relationships and their regulation; and domestic violence.

  
  • LAW 6422 - Family Law Clinic


    Fall. 2 credits. Letter grades only.

    Only open to students also registered in or have already taken LAW 6421 . Permission of instructor required. Satisfies the skills requirement.

    C. G. Bowman.

    Students will assist indigent clients in obtaining uncontested divorces and initial support orders. Skills learned include client interviewing and drafting pleadings, judgments, and other state-mandated forms.

  
  • LAW 6431 - Federal Courts


    Fall. 4 credits.

    Prerequisite: Constitutional Law and second semester of Civil Procedure. Students without such background should consult with the instructor. Knowledge of the basic doctrines of administrative law is very useful, although not a strict prerequisite.

    M. Dorf.

    This course examines the various constitutional, statutory, and judge-made doctrines that control access to the federal courts to vindicate federal rights. It is particularly valuable for those planning a career in public interest or the public sector, anyone else expecting to litigate extensively in federal court, and students who have or hope to obtain a judicial clerkship. Topics covered include: case or controversy limitations, including standing; constitutional and statutory limits on jurisdiction; causes of action for constitutional and statutory rights, including 42 U.S.C. §1983 and Bivens actions; bars to such actions, including sovereign immunity and abstention doctrines; and habeas corpus.

  
  • LAW 6432 - Federal Criminal Practice


    Spring. 2 credits.

    J. Feldman.

    The course will focus on federal criminal proceedings from a practice based perspective and will introduce students to the different stages of a federal criminal prosecution. Topics covered will include the initiation of a federal prosecution, bail and detention hearings, pretrial discovery and motion practice in federal criminal cases, litigating suppression motions, plea negotiation and federal sentencing practice and procedure. Participatory simulations requiring both oral and written advocacy will be incorporated into the curriculum. Depending on student availability, attending criminal proceedings in federal court and meeting with participants in the federal criminal justice system (federal prosecutors, defense lawyers, ex-offenders) may be scheduled.

  
  • LAW 6441 - Federal Income Taxation


    Fall, spring. 4 credits. S-U or letter grade.

    R. A. Green [fall], L. Kahng [spring].

    A basic course designed to develop understanding of tax concepts and ability to work effectively with the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, cases, and other tax materials.

  
  • LAW 6451 - Federal Indian Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    D. Jordan.

    The course will focus on the basics of Federal Indian Law, the ever-changing body of case and statutory law and treaties that define the limits and extent of Indian tribal sovereignty in the United States in the late twentieth century. The course will explore the nature and extent of tribal sovereignty at the time of European contact, the changing strategies of the United States in relating to tribes, and the lasting impact of those strategies on current-day tribal communities and their rights of self-government. The course will also explore the role of the United States in protecting tribal sovereignty and tribal resources. It will also examine the powers and jurisdiction of tribal governments with regard to both members and non-members of the tribe, as well as the lack or extent, as the case may be, of state jurisdiction over activities on Indian lands. Students will be encouraged to continually identify and question the legal, political and moral basis of the laws and policies that constitute Federal Indian Law in the United States today.

  
  • LAW 6460 - Financial Accounting

    (crosslisted)
    (also  )
    Fall. 2.5 credits.

    Limited enrollment. Johnson School core course. Non-Johnson students see  .

    R. Libby.

    For description, see  .

  
  • LAW 6461 - [Financial Institutions]

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 6460)
    Spring. 4 credits. S-U or letter grade option.

    Next offered 2013-14.

    An introduction to the regulatory structures, as well as some of the economic, technological and other factors, that pattern the conduct of financial intermediation in the U.S. The principal focus will be upon commercial banks, investment companies (mainly mutual funds), insurance companies, pension funds and securities firms in so far as these institutions discharge a common set of economic functions and give rise to a common cluster of counterparty and third party (“systemic”) risks. Legal topics to be covered accordingly include entry-, functional and geographical restrictions; consumer-protection (including disclosure requirements) and competition-promotion; capital adequacy-, solvency- and related forms of risk-regulation (including deposit insurance); community-reinvestment; and “self-regulation.” We shall also devote some attention to “alternative” financial service providers such as check-cashing services, community development financial institutions and micro-credit providers; and we shall take occasional note both of divergent (generally, non-American) jurisdictions’ dominant modes of financial intermediation and of the “globalization” of finance, in order both to place what is distinctive about the dominant American forms into bolder relief and better to understand the forces operating behind recent and still unfolding changes to the American (and global) financial and finance-regulatory environments. No prior background in financial law or economics is required, but it is helpful.

  
  • LAW 6462 - Fundamental Rights in the European Union


    Fall. 1 credit.

    Course meets in the beginning of the semester.

    S. Rodin.

    The main objective of the course is to develop an advanced understanding of how human (fundamental) rights are protected in the European Union, both in theory and in practice. Within this general objective, students will learn about the theoretical foundation of human rights, their normative ordering and how are they incorporated into the law of the EU. The course will present the evolution of the judicial protection of human rights before the European Court of Justice, how these rights have been crystallized in the Court’s case law and codified by the Founding Treaties, by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and by secondary legislation. The course will explore the tension between human rights and market freedoms and how this tension is resolved by the judiciary, particularly through the development and application of the judicial doctrines of “proportionality” and of “the margin of appreciation.” While the course is focused on the law of the EU, it will also address the relationship between the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the national courts of EU Member States.

  
  • LAW 6468 - Human Trafficking and Labor Migration


    Fall. 1 credit.

    Course meets in the beginning of the semester.

    H. Shamir.

    A rapidly evolving body of international and national law focuses on human trafficking. While significant political and scholarly attention has been dedicated to the prevention of sex trafficking, there is a growing understanding that human trafficking is not unique to the sex industry but occurs in other labor sectors such as agriculture, construction, and domestic work. This course will focus on understanding the mechanisms of anti-trafficking law, the ideological and policy impulses that produced and sustain it, the complex ways in which it is interacting with other legal regimes affecting labor migration (immigration law; human rights law and governance; international and national labor law; etc.), and the distributive effects it is producing both in the developed and the developing world. The course will begin with a study of the origins of anti-trafficking law in the context of sex work, and disagreements among feminists about the legal approach towards sex work/prostitution, and will then turn to an exploration of the challenges facing the current anti-trafficking legal framework in effectively reducing labor exploitation in both the sex industry and other labor sectors.

  
  • LAW 6471 - [Health Law]


    3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    This course will consider legal aspects of the organization, financing, and distribution of health care in the United States. It will emphasize issues of access, costs, and quality, and address the use of regulation, litigation and market-driven strategies to confront emerging problems. Readings will be from a health law casebook, supplemented by occasional handouts of current materials. The goal is to convey an appreciation of the challenges involved in providing health care to those in need and of the role of law and lawyers in meeting these challenges.

  
  • LAW 6501 - [Insurance Law]


    Spring. 3 credits. S-U or letter grade.

    Next offered 2013-14.

    Insurance is an increasingly important tool for the management of risk by both private and public enterprises. This course provides a working knowledge of basic insurance law governing insurance contract formation, insurance regulation, property, life, health, disability, and liability insurance and claims processes. The emphasis throughout the course is on the links between insurance theory, doctrine, and modern ideas about the functions of private law.

  
  • LAW 6511 - Intellectual Property


    Spring. 3 credits. Letter grade only or S-U by permission of the instructor only.

    O. Liivak.

    A survey of legal mechanisms for protecting intellectual property including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and related state law doctrines.

  
  • LAW 6514 - International and Foreign Legal Research


    Spring. 2 credits.

    Satisfies the skills requirement.

    T. Mills.

    The practice of law continues to become ever more dependent upon a clear understanding of the global context in which it occurs. This course provides an overview of sources, methods, and strategies for researching international and foreign law. Topics to be covered include the various legal systems of the world, public and private international law, the European Union, and the United Nations. The course will be delivered through lectures and hands-on exercises. Selected readings will be available online and on reserve; there is no required textbook. There will be a series of assignments and a final research project in lieu of a final exam. Foreign language ability is not required.

  
  • LAW 6531 - International Commercial Arbitration


    Fall. 3 credits.

    Students who have taken the international commercial arbitration course in the Paris program will receive 1 credit for this course. All others will receive 3 credits.

    J. J. Barceló III.

    A study of arbitration as increasingly the dispute resolution method of choice for international trade and transactional disputes (where the parties are from different countries). The course introduces the sources and hierarchy of norms governing international arbitration and then focuses on the legal issues and processes concerning enforcing agreements to arbitrate, selecting and challenging arbitrators, choosing the procedure and applicable law in arbitral proceedings, and enforcing the resulting arbitral award. The course gives special attention to the 1958 UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (and agreements to arbitrate) known as the New York Convention, and the UNCITRAL (U.N. Commission of International Trade Law) Model Law. The course’s unique approach—patterned on the nature of international commercial arbitration itself—presents commercial arbitration as a transnational phenomenon and not as a subject based in or controlled by any particular national system. The course materials include court decisions, arbitral awards, national arbitration statutes, the rules of various arbitration institutions, and scholarly writings—drawn from all over the world.

  
  • LAW 6534 - International Law / International Relations Colloquium (1/2)


    Fall, spring. 1 credit for the academic year.

    The colloquium meets every other week on Mondays (with a few exceptions) and lunch will be provided.

    O. Lienau, S. Kreps.

    This interdisciplinary colloquium, held at the law school and jointly offered with the Department of Government, invites scholars to present research related to international law and international relations. The presented work will span a broad substantive and methodological spectrum, and may include empirical and theoretical material. Students will be expected to prepare responses/comments for several speakers throughout the year and participate in the colloquium discussion. This course is especially appropriate for students developing their own research agendas but is open to all students interested in the topic.

  
  • LAW 6545 - [International Economic Law]

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 6350 )


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    Staff.

    This course will provide an overview of the legal context of international business transactions. Units will include the international economic legal environment, basics of trade law, the role and regulation of corporate actors, transnational sales, foreign investment, and international debt, among others. When applicable, we will pay attention to the complementarity and conflict between the law of international business transactions and other international law areas (human rights, environmental, emerging commitments to ideas of democracy/good governance, etc.).

     

  
  • LAW 6561 - International Organizations and International Human Rights


    Fall. 3 credits.

    M. Ndulo.

    The course is comprised of two segments: (a) international organizations and (b) International Human Rights. In the international organization segment, the course aims at providing a comprehensive legal analysis of problems concerning membership, the structure of the United Nations organization, and its functions in the context of the United Nations Charter. It also considers the use of force under international law with specific reference to the United Nations Charter. The course further considers the structure, jurisdiction and functions of the International Court of Justice. In the human rights segment, the objective is to introduce the theory, norms, and institutions central to the international human rights legal regime. The course will explore the emergence and the enforcement of international human rights norms, the international machinery for the protection of human rights in the world community including the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the International Criminal Court. Relevant decisions of these courts and of municipal courts are studied as well as basic documents.

  
  • LAW 6563 - International Mergers and Acquisitions

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 5870 )
    Spring. 1.5-2 credits, variable.

    J. Hanks.

    For description, see NBA 5870 .

  
  • LAW 6565 - [Interviewing Skills]


    Fall. The course will meet for only part of the semester. 1 credit. S-U only.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    This course will cover the components of effective interviewing, particularly client interviewing. The course will cover the purposes and types of interviews, interviewing for various purposes, information-gathering techniques, verbal and non-verbal communication, ethical considerations, counseling and decision making. The course will also cover special contexts such as interviewing witnesses, difficult or emotional clients and children.

  
  • LAW 6569 - Introduction to Depositions


    Fall, Spring. 2 credits. S-U grades only.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.  Students who have already taken Pretrial Discovery: Depositions (two-credit class) or Deposition Skills (one-credit class) may not enroll in this class.
     

    M.A. Whelan.

    Depositions are a critical component of pretrial discovery.  Indeed, many cases are lost, won, or settled because of information gleaned at a deposition.  Attorneys also often modify trial strategies because of a witness’s performance at a deposition.  Because depositions play such an important role in litigation, the majority of junior litigation attorneys can expect to deal with depositions in some manner from the very start of their careers.  This introductory course will expose students to several facets of a deposition: preparing for deposition, asking questions at a deposition, defending the witness at a deposition, using documents at a deposition, and reviewing the transcript of a deposition.  Students can expect to take and defend mock depositions and to observe and critique their fellow students’ deposition skills.  


     

  
  • LAW 6570 - Introduction to Chinese Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    Z. Yu.

    This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the nature and function of law in China. It will give future legal practitioners and persons who may fill offices dealing with China the knowledge they need to understand how successfully to interact with the Chinese legal system. The course is divided into three parts. Part I will briefly review the historical and theoretical foundations necessary for an understanding of contemporary Chinese law. Part II will provide an introduction to the current legal system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with particular focus on major legal institutions and processes. Part III will examine selected issues in the substantive law of the PRC.


  
  • LAW 6571 - Introduction to Financial Markets and Financial Regulation

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 5431 )


    Spring. 3 credits.

    L. Stout.

    In most markets, money is traded for goods or services. In financial markets, money is traded for more money to be received in the future, often contingent on future events. Financial markets include markets for bank deposits; bank loans; insurance; corporate securities; government-issued securities; stock and commodity futures; home mortgages; car loans; credit cards; mutual funds; defined contribution pension plans; and many other types of transactions. Taken as a whole, the financial sector is one of the largest sections of the U.S. economy.

    Financial transactions are heavily regulated and subject to a variety of legal rules and regulations, both state and federal. This survey course will explore the general policy problems surrounding, and basic legal strategies developed to deal with, financial transactions, seeking to identify common themes and patterns in financial regulation. The objective is to help students develop a “37,000-foot” understanding of the basics of most financial markets and most areas of financial regulation.

  
  • LAW 6572 - Introduction to Transactional Lawyering


    Fall. 2 credits. S-U grades only.

    Prerequisite: Business Organizations [concurrent enrollment is permissible]. Satisfies the skills requirement.

    C. K. Whitehead.

    The conventional law school curriculum implicitly emphasizes appellate litigation, teaching students to read, argue and distinguish cases, and to predict what a judge will do. A transactional practice demands additional skills. A full understanding requires years of experience – not something that can be bottled into a one-credit course. Transactional Lawyering provides students with an initial intro­duc­tion to how a deal is structured and what a deal lawyer does – familiarizing them with some common problems and the tools used to address them. In exploring these problems, the course draws on moral hazard, adverse selection, and other economic theories and applies them to real deal issues.

    The course will culminate in the Transactional Lawyering Competition, to be held in October or November (before Thanksgiving Break). Students will be paired off into two-person teams, representing opposing sides in a transaction. Using tools from the course, each team will mark-up a simple transaction document to reflect their client’s interests, to be submitted before the Competition. Those mark-ups will then be used as the basis for team-to-team negotiations at the Competition. The mark-ups and the negotiations will be reviewed, scored, and judged by adjunct instructors who are themselves experienced transactional attorneys, assessing – and providing feedback on – how students perform.

    Students who participate in this course must commit to attending (i) nine lectures on transactional structuring (which may include a 90-minute guest presentation), (ii) a team meeting, and (iii) the Competition (which is expected to take place over a weekend), including a presentation by judges/adjunct instructors on how they would have handled the mark-up and negotiations. Readings for the lectures will be posted in advance on the course website.

  
  • LAW 6591 - Jurisprudence


    Fall. 3 credits.

    C. Thomas.

    This course will investigate justifications for, and critiques of, law. Recommended for students who wish to deepen their understanding of legal systems through an introduction to philosophies of law and related debates. The course will survey the major schools of jurisprudential thought, investigating questions such as: What makes a rule (or norm) a rule of law? Why should we obey the law? Is morality legally binding regardless of whether it has been enacted into law? Can there be “right” answers to legal disputes or is legal reasoning essentially indeterminate? What is the difference (if any) between law and politics? The course will consider approaches to these questions from a variety of perspectives, especially American Legal Realism, Natural Law, Legal Positivism, and Critical Legal Theory.

  
  • LAW 6592 - Labor Law, Practice and Policy


    Fall. 3 credits.

    A. B. Cornell.

    This course will focus on the federal laws regulating the organization of private-sector workers and unions and the process of collective bargaining in addition to addressing protected concerted activity unrelated to union organizing.  Issues of race, economic justice and immigrant workers will also be addressed.  Practice in the field of labor and employment law will be highlighted along with important and timely public policy issues.

  
  • LAW 6601 - Land Use


    Fall. 3 credits.

    E. M. Penalver.

    This course will provide a broad introduction to the theory, doctrine, and history of land use regulation. Topics will include zoning, homeowners’ associations, nuisance, suburban sprawl, eminent domain and regulatory takings. Throughout, we will discuss the ways land use regulation affects important human values, such as economic efficiency, distributive justice, social relations, and the environment.  Readings will be drawn from the leading cases as well as commentary by scholars in the fields of law, architecture, and planning.

  
  • LAW 6612 - [Law and Literature: The Jury as Audience]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Co-meets with ENGL 3762 .

    The jury is purportedly “the bulwark of democracy,” but it has also been seen as the most potentially destabilizing component of the Anglo-American legal system. Literature, drama, and TV crime shows have helped to form these competing views of the jury. How and why have plays compared jurors with spectators? How were nineteenth-century trial reports like and unlike novels, and how did jurors read both? Has the alleged “CSI effect” really made contemporary American juries demand more forensic evidence? This course explores these and related questions in historical and legal context. Works studied may include Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders, Wilkie Collins’s The Law and the Lady, Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers,” Anna Deavere Smith¹s Twilight: Los Angeles, and CSI.

  
  • LAW 6631 - Startup Legal Issues and VC Terms

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 6890 )


    Fall. 3 credits. S-U or letter grade option.

    Limited enrollment. BR Legal students must pre-register to receive first priority for the course.

    Z. J. Shulman.

    An in-depth analysis of key issues that an emerging high growth business must consider and address, including: (i) choosing type of business entity, (ii) protecting confidential information and inventions, (iii) sources of capital, (iv) understanding capitalization structures and venture capital financing terms (common stock, preferred stock, etc.), (v) use of stock options as employee incentives, (vi) fundamental employment practices, (vii) proper establishment and utilization of Boards of Directors, and (viii) acceptable business practices and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

     

  
  • LAW 6640 - Law and Mental Health


    Fall. 3 credits.

    H. R. Beresford.

    The course will explore (1) the impact of neuropsychiatric disorders on emotion, cognition and behavior, (2) the admissibility and use of neuroscientific evidence in legal proceedings, and (3) the role of law in fostering effective treatment of individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders and in regulating conduct that violates or threatens legal and social norms. There are two goals. The first is to convey an appreciation of the complexities of diagnosing and treating neuropsychiatric disorders. The second is to address the challenges involved in accommodating the rights and interests of individuals whose conduct can be puzzling, distressing or dangerous to self or others. Readings will include a casebook on Law and the Mental Health System and handouts from legal and medical sources.

  
  • LAW 6641 - The Law Governing Lawyerso


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    Satisfies the professional responsibility requirement. Enrolling in this course does not prohibit enrollment in another professional responsibility course.

    W. B. Wendel.

    This course is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the law governing lawyers in a variety of practice settings, including transactional, counseling, and civil and criminal litigation. The course is not focused merely on the ABA’s Model Rules, but draws extensively from judicial decisions in malpractice and disqualification cases, the new Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, and other sources of law. A major theme is the relationship between state bar disciplinary rules and the generally applicable law of tort, contracts, agency, procedure, and crimes. Another significant theme is the prevention of attorney discipline and malpractice liability through advance planning.

  
  • LAW 6652 - Managerial Finance

    (crosslisted)
    (also  )
    Fall. 2.5 credits.

    Limited enrollment. Johnson School core course. Non-Johnson students see  .

    R. Michaely.

    For description, see  .

  
  • LAW 6661 - [Constitutional Law of the European Union]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    This course introduces students to the law and institutions of the European Union. It examines the composition, organization, functions and powers of the Union’s governing bodies; analyzes the Union’s governing treaties and constitutional law; and studies the Union’s decision-making processes. The course also explores broader questions of political, economic and legal integration, such as the proper relation between the Union’s law and the domestic law of the Union’s Member states, and the desirability and feasibility of using the E.U. as a model on which to pattern other transnational agreements.

  
  • LAW 6681 - [International Law and Foreign Direct Investment]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    This course studies legal aspects of direct foreign investments. It seeks to identify legal problems that are likely to affect a commercial investment in a foreign country. Inter alia, it deals with the public international law principles and rules governing the establishment by foreign businesses of various factors of production (persons and capital) on the territory of other states and the protection of such investments. Thus, the course includes a discussion of the following topics: economic development and foreign capital; obstacles to the flow of investments to developing countries; guarantees to investors and investment codes; bilateral treaties; nationalization; joint ventures; project financing; transfer of technology; arbitration; investment insurance; unification of trade law; and the settlement of investment disputes.

  
  • LAW 6692 - Legal Ethics-Oxymoron or Principles for a Successful Practice


    Spring. 2 credits.

    Satisfies the professional responsibility requirement.
      Enrolling in this course does not prohibit enrollment in another professional responsibility course.

    R. DuPuy.

    The Model Rules of Professional Conduct were designed to cover the practice of law in all settings. However, the changes that have occurred in the practice of corporate law have in many instances tested the scope of the rules and have required thoughtful analysis by corporate lawyers to ensure their ongoing ethical behavior. Clients using multiple law firms depending upon the issue, lawyer mobility, and the continuing growth of the role of in-house counsel have each created consistent tensions. This course will examine these issues though actual examples, focusing on the scope of the representation, determining who the client or clients may be, the use of confidential information and when it must or may be disclosed, conflict resolution, the duties within the entity, the unique position of a law firm associate or corporate junior counsel, zealous advocacy and determining and resolving conflicts.

  
  • LAW 6701 - Legislation


    Spring. 3 credits. S-U or letter grade option.

    J. Chafetz.

    Much of the “law” that lawyers work with is statutory.  This course will examine both how legislatures go about doing their work (that is, legislative process) and how courts and others utilize legislative output (that is, statutory interpretation).  We will begin with legislative process, focusing both on how laws are enacted and on the rules structuring legislative debate and behavior, including campaign finance regulation, lobbying regulation, and issues of “due process of lawmaking.”  We will then devote substantial attention to theoretical and practical issues in statutory interpretation, including theories of interpretation generally, the canons of construction, and the use of legislative history.

  
  • LAW 6710 - Law and Literature


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grade only.

    Co-meets with ENGL 6710 /GOVT 6042 .

    E. Anker.

    This seminar will study the relationship between law and literature to pose broad questions about the interpretive and other stakes of different theoretical approaches to literary criticism. We will consider frameworks for conjoining literature with law that are established (narratology, psychoanalysis, rhetoric) and new (cultural studies, performance, globalization), applying these analytics to specific issues (immigration, marriage, human rights) as well as literary texts. We will thereby investigate the evolution of law and literature as a field of inquiry, examining its institutional-intellectual genesis and its contemporary formations. While ranging across historical periods, we will in particular ask about the future directions of law and literature. To what emerging debates might law and literature scholars turn? What new methodologies and problems remain insufficiently explored?

  
  • LAW 6713 - [Prelude to the U.S. Supreme Court and Labor and Employment Law]


    Winter intersession. Students will register for the offering in October during the spring registration period and the course will be recorded to the spring record. 1 credit. S-U grades only.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Limited enrollment. Class is limited to 8 students with preference given to third-year students.

    This one-credit intercession course will expose students to a timely labor and employment law topic pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The class will travel to D.C. sometime during the semester in order to hear the oral argument. During the intersession period, students will be required to read the briefs in the case, prepare a five-page paper on a related topic, and to present their research in class. Over the break, students will be required to read The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin or another book about the Court agreed upon by the professor. A one-page review of the book will also be required. Additional reading may be assigned.

    The course will meet for two hours at the end of the fall examination period. Prior to the start of spring semester, during the second week in January, the class will meet for two four-hour days. This period will be spent discussing the substantive law in the case and hearing student presentations. The discussion of the case will continue on the six-hour drive to D.C. and debriefing on the return leg of the trip. Students will have one class session in spring with professors who have clerked (and/or practiced) in the U.S. Supreme Court. During the intersession period, students will be required to communicate with the professor regarding their paper topics and research agendas. Please note that this course may require students to miss at least one day of class during the semester for travel and will require an overnight stay in DC. Class is limited to 8 students with preference given to third-year students.

  
  • LAW 6731 - Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration


    Fall. 2 credits.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    J. P. Meyer, S. G. Yusem

    The field of alternative dispute resolution has virtually transformed the practice of law. Today, every lawyer has a professional responsibility to his or her clients to consider the most appropriate process available to resolve issues. The course will explore the characteristics of negotiation, mediation and arbitration as well as the ethical concerns inherent in them, employing interactive and videotape dispute simulations, enabling the student to engage as a negotiator, dispute resolution advocate, mediator and arbitrator.

  
  • LAW 6732 - [Cross Cultural Negotiations]


    2 credits. S-U grades only.

    Prerequisite: LLMs and third-year students are more likely to benefit than second-year students in the fall term. Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment. Course meets over a two week period in October and November. Attendance is mandatory for all course sessions.

    This Cross Cultural Negotiation workshop is designed to give law students an intensive opportunity to develop negotiation skills which can be used in the global market place to create and repair relationships and to manage conflict. Classes will consists primarily of inter-active negotiations and communication exercises, together with some lectures. Problems to be negotiated will have some rudimentary IP overtones.

  
  • LAW 6737 - [National Security Law]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    In the wake of 9/11, the question of American national security has been at the forefront of legal and political debate. This course will examine the current constitutional framework guiding national security institutions as well as its historical emergence – especially in the late 19th century and during the early period of the Cold War. We will cover such themes as the allocation of power between Congress and the President on matters of foreign policy and war making, as well as the role of the judiciary in checking the political branches. Special attention will be paid to how key statutes have shaped national security practices, including the National Security Act, the War Powers Resolution, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the Military Commissions Act. The course will also explore such topics as American detention policy (treatment of unlawful combatants and prisoners of war) in the context of international humanitarian law and the use of deportation and immigration powers in the service of national security aims.

  
  • LAW 6738 - Negotiation Skills


    Fall. 2 credits. S-U grades only.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    R. Minella.

    Attorneys in all practice areas negotiate frequently. Neither deal lawyers nor litigators can claim negotiation as “theirs” to the exclusion of attorneys in other practice areas. This course will provide students with an opportunity to learn and begin refining negotiation skills in various transactional and litigation settings. Students will engage in several negotiations during the course and will receive frequent feedback about their negotiations.

  
  • LAW 6739 - Online Legal Research and Resources


    Spring. 1 credit.

    Prerequisite: Lawyering required for J.D. students.  LL.M. students must enroll concurrently in U.S. legal research for LL.M. Students may take this course. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.Coruse meets first 6 1/2 weeks of the term.

    A. Emerson.

    Take your research skills beyond the basics of Lawyering. This course provides an overview of the resources, methods, and strategies necessary to conduct efficient and effective online legal research for upper level courses and employment. Students will learn when and how to use various databases while considering their relationship to each other and to traditional print sources. The course will be delivered through interactive lectures and hands-on exercises. Internet access will be provided in the classroom. Selected readings will be available through the course website and on reserve; there is no required textbook. There will be a series of assignments and a final research project tailored to students’ individual interests.

     

  
  • LAW 6740 - [Online Legal Research: Free Sources]


    Spring. 1 credit.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment. Course meets first 6 1/2 weeks of the term.

    Free online sources of legal information have proliferated in recent years. This course prepares students to become thoughtful, adaptive researchers who can use these resources to their advantage. Students will learn how to evaluate online content, develop strategies for finding legal and non-legal information, compare and contrast free and subscription research tools, and use free Web-based applications to organize their research and keep current in their fields. In addition to helping students develop practical research skills, this course will consider the role of free resources in the overall legal information context. Weekly problem sets and blog posts will be assigned, and students will prepare a final project on a topic of their choice (subject to instructor approval).

  
  • LAW 6741 - [Online Legal Research: Subscription Sources]


    Fall. 1 credit.

    Prerequisite: Lawyering required for J.D. students. LL.M. students concurrently enrolled in U.S. Legal Research for LL.M. Students may take this course.  Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment. Course meets first 6 1/2 weeks of the term.

    With the ongoing evolution of legal information, online legal research skills are fundamental. This half-semester course will help students become effective, efficient researchers by developing students’ skills and strategies in using subscription-based sources, including BNA, Bloomberg, RIA, Westlaw, Lexis and others. We will explore when and how to use various resources, considering their relationship to each other and to traditional print sources. Weekly problem sets will be assigned.

  
  • LAW 6742 - Patent Law


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grade only or S-U by permission of the instructor only.

    Prerequisite: An intellectual property survey course such as  LAW 6511 , is recommended but not required.

    O. Liivak.

    This course will focus on U.S. patent law giving comprehensive coverage of doctrinal elements and touching on key policy issues. No technical background is required.

  
  • LAW 6743 - Selected Topics in Patent Law and Practice


    Spring. 2 credits.

    J. Dabney.

    This course will consider important assumptions that underlie much current day patent law and practice but are seldom articulated or critically analyzed. Students will consider the legal effect(s) of “public domain” status; the meaning of “invention” (which now includes at least some “business method” conceptions); the relationship between patent “claims” and patented “inventions”; conflicting standards for determining if a patent is valid or infringed; procedural devices that operate to limit or allocate adjudicatory authority in the patent system (e.g., judge versus jury; court versus agency); and intersections between patent law and principles of administrative, antitrust, federal court jurisdiction, personal property, tort, and unfair competition laws. Special attention will be paid to conflicts between precedent of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court formed in 1982, and applicable Supreme Court patent precedent. The grade for the course will be based on a combination of class participation (20%) and five reaction papers (80%) of 600 to 800 words each (approximately 2 ½ to 4 pages of typed, double-spaced text). A student may write up to six reaction papers, and in that case, the grade will be based on the student’s five best papers.

  
  • LAW 6752 - Oral-Presentation Skills


    Fall. 1 credit. S-U grades only.

    Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.  The course will meet for only part of the semester.

    J. Atlas.

    This course examines effective ways to organize, summarize, and present information orally. With particular attention to the concepts of clarity, brevity, and audience, students will make – and critique – in-class presentations (including a moot-court argument) designed to inform and persuade the listener.

  
  • LAW 6761 - Principles of American Legal Writing


    Fall, spring. 2 credits. Graduate program grading – HH, H, S, U.

    Enrollment limited to: graduate students. Satisfies the LL.M. writing requirement. Limited enrollment. Attendance mandatory at first class meeting.
     

    L. Knight.

    This course provides foreign-trained lawyers with an introduction to the American legal system and essential principles of legal writing, analysis and legal research skills in the United States. Students are afforded an opportunity to practice some of the forms of writing common to American legal practice by drafting documents such as memoranda and briefs in the context of representing hypothetical clients. Students are given the opportunity to conference individually with the instructor and to re-write assignments after receiving the instructor’s comments.

  
  • LAW 6781 - Products Liability


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    J. A. Henderson, Jr.

    Applications of products-liability doctrine and theory to a variety of problems drawn from or closely approximating actual litigation. An overview of the relevant case law, statutes, and administrative regulations, including the Restatement, Third, of Torts: Products Liability.

     

  
  • LAW 6791 - Public International Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    J. Ohlin.

    An introduction to the legal rules governing the conduct of states vis-à-vis other states, individuals, and international organizations, with reference to major current events and issues. Topics include the nature, sources, and effectiveness of international law; the establishment and recognition of states; principles concerning state sovereignty, territory, and jurisdiction; the law of treaties; state responsibility; international criminal and humanitarian law; terrorism; and human rights. Special attention is given to the law governing the use of force.

  
  • LAW 6801 - Remedies in Litigation


    Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    E. L. Sherwin.

    This course examines the remedial consequences of lawsuits and the remedial choices open to litigants: essential strategic information for students considering a litigation-oriented practice. It covers compensatory remedies, injunctions, and special remedies such as constructive trusts. It also clarifies the meaning of equity and the role of equity in modern American law, as well as the developing law of unjust enrichment. The course focuses on private law (tort, contract, property), but it also includes some coverage of remedies for enforcement of Constitutional rights and public law.

  
  • LAW 6821 - Securities Regulation


    Fall. 4 credits.

    Prerequisite or corequisite: Business Organizations.

    C. K. Whitehead.

    This course analyzes key issues under the U.S. federal securities laws, principally the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, with respect to the domestic and international offer and sale of securities. It includes a study of what constitutes a security, the public offering process, mandatory disclosure requirements for public companies, exemptions from registration (including exempt global offerings), and potential liabilities and sanctions.

  
  • LAW 6822 - Social Science and the Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    V. Hans.

    This course examines the relationship of social science to law, focusing on the growing use of social science in the legal system. Over the past several decades, increasing numbers of social scientists have conducted systematic research on the operation of law and legal institutions. At the same time, social scientists themselves are testifying as experts in increasing numbers, encouraging lawyers and judges at both the trial and appellate levels to rely on social science evidence to decide cases. Social science research is also used as a tool in law reform. The aim of the course is to develop a critical analysis of these uses of social science in law and litigation. Are social scientists asking the right questions? Are lawyers, judges, legislators, and legal reformers using social science findings appropriately? Is the law’s increasing reliance on social science problematic or advantageous – or both?

  
  • LAW 6841 - Sports Law


    Spring. 2 credits.

    Recommended prerequisites: Antitrust Law and Labor Law. (Course meets for 10 weeks).

    W. B. Briggs.

    The course traces the development of sports law in the United States. Particular attention is given to the relationship of sports with antitrust and labor law. Contemporary issues involving arbitration, collective bargaining, amateur athletics, agents, franchise movement, and constitutional law are addressed.

     

  
  • LAW 6844 - [State and Local Government]


    3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014.

    State and local governments have long been regarded as “laboratories” for possible solutions to difficult social issues, and as political institutions that are closest to the people. In additional to traditional concerns, state and local governments in recent years have been the primary actors in contentious areas such as health care reform, gay marriage legalization, campaign finance reform, property rights protection, and other issues. This course will examine the powers of and legal restraints on state and local governments in state systems, and as a part of the American constitutional order. Topics will include state constitutions, the rights that they confer, and their methods of interpretation; local government boundary formation and boundary change; state and local service, police, and taxing powers; the emergence of supra-local (regional) government; and the place of state and local governments in the federal system (including commerce clause, privileges and immunities clause, and taxation issues). The final part of the course will consider several areas of recent and future litigation – such as the interstate validity of gay marriages and federal challenges to states’ medical and health reforms – as a way to illustrate the difficult issues of conflicting sovereignty that this area of law presents.

  
  • LAW 6861 - Supervised Teaching


    Fall, spring. 1-2 credits, variable. S–U grades only.

    Staff.

    Arrange directly with instructor.

    Specific credit limits apply – carefully review the registration form available from online registration site or registrar’s office. Available with full-time law faculty members [option not available with adjunct faculty].

  
  • LAW 6871 - Supervised Writing


    Fall, spring. 1-3 credits, variable. S–U grades only.

    Arrange directly with instructor. Available with permanent law faculty members [adjuncts, visitors, and others who are not members of the permanent faculty may supervise such courses only with the written consent of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs]. Specific credit limits apply – carefully review the registration form available from online registration site or registrar’s office.

    Staff.

  
  • LAW 6881 - Supervised Teaching and Supervised Writing - Lawyering Program Honors Fellows


    Fall, spring. (yearlong) 4 credits. S-U grades only.

    Prerequisite: application process. Specific credit limits apply – carefully review the registration form available from online registration site or registrar’s office.

    Staff.

    Lawyering Program Honors Fellows serve for the full academic year as teaching assistants in the Lawyering course. With training and guidance from the Lawyering faculty, Honors Fellows work on myriad course-related tasks and some program-wide initiatives. In addition to meeting regularly with first-year students and critiquing papers, Honors Fellows may help design course assignments and documents, participate in simulations, and assist the research attorneys with the teaching of legal research.  Honors Fellows also teach classes on the Bluebook.  Additionally, Honors Fellows serve as educational mentors to first-year students and may participate in workshops on basic law-school skills. 

  
  • LAW 6891 - Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation. LL.M. students who have not taken Federal Income Taxation must secure permission of the instructor.

    R. A. Green.

    This course examines the federal income taxation of corporate transactions, including incorporations, dividends, redemptions, liquidations, and reorganizations.

  
  • LAW 6892 - [Negotiated and Collaborative Decision Making]

    (crosslisted)
    (also ILRLR 6892 )
    Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment. Students must attend the first week of classes to enroll in the course.

    C. R. Farina, M. J. Newhart.

    Increasingly, systematic and collaborative techniques are being used both to address conflict and to reach decision in diverse settings, including the workplace, communities, and government. This course focuses on the nature of conflict; personal, cognitive and cultural factors affecting collaboration and negotiation; systems for conflict management, and different orientations for negotiation, mediation, and facilitation. Private and public settings will be considered; emerging processes will be discussed. Case studies and exercises will be used to develop critical thinking and reasoning abilities, improve negotiation skills, and illustrate the collaborative, creative and response methods for resolving disputes.

  
  • LAW 6921 - Trial Advocacy


    Spring. 4 credits.

    Prerequisite: Evidence recommended. Students without prior Evidence study are advised to speak with the instructor prior to enrolling. Satisfies the skills requirement. Limited enrollment.

    G. G. Galbreath.

    The course is devoted to the study and weekly performance of the full range of trial techniques. Fundamental skills are taught in the context of challenging procedural and substantive law problems. Each stage of the trial is examined: jury selection, opening statement, direct examination, cross-examination, objections, impeachment, exhibits, expert witnesses, child witnesses, pre-trial, and closing argument. In addition to a lecture and student exercises every week, students will do a full day jury trial exercise at the completion of the course on a weekend at a local court with an actual judge and jury. All weekly performances are digitally recorded and reviewed and then re-reviewed by another faculty member with the student individually. There are occasional written assignments and class attendance is mandatory for all exercises sessions and the first class lecture.

  
  • LAW 6941 - Trusts and Estates


    Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

    Prerequisite: first-year Property.

    G. S. Alexander.

    The course surveys the law of succession to property, including wills and intestate succession, as well as the law of trusts. The course covers the basic aspects of the federal gift and estate taxes, but does not examine them intensively.

  
  • LAW 6951 - Whistleblowers and Business Integrity


    Spring. 2 credits.

    N. Getnick, S. Schwab.

    This course analyzes how the law furthers business integrity by protecting whistleblowers through a variety of state and federal laws. The course will delve into affirmative civil enforcement pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the Federal and state False Claims Acts and pursuant to the citizen initiative provisions of other whistleblower laws (e.g. the IRS, SEC and CFTC whistleblower laws). It will also look at broader issues relating to corruption and business integrity.

  
  • LAW 6981 - WTO and International Trade Law

    (crosslisted)
    (also NBA 6980 )


    Spring. 3 credits.

    J. J. Barceló III.

    The law of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including international trade theory, the WTO dispute settlement process, and the basic WTO rules and nondiscrimination principles limiting national trade policy. A study of national (U.S.) fair and unfair trade law within the WTO framework (safeguard, antidumping, subsidies and countervailing duty remedies). Consideration will also be given to non-trade values within the WTO system (environment, labor rights, and human rights).

     

  
  • LAW 7012 - Advanced Criminal Procedure: Post-Conviction Remedies


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Prerequisite or corequisite: Criminal Procedure is strongly recommended. Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    K. M. Weyble.

    This course examines the procedural and substantive law governing collateral challenges to criminal convictions in state and federal courts, and explores the tensions between the criminal justice system’s competing interests in finality and production of reliable convictions and sentences. The course includes a historical overview of modern habeas corpus, studies substantive claims for relief common to collateral proceedings, and examines important procedural limitations on relief including the exhaustion requirement, procedural default, and no retroactivity. Much of the course will concentrate on the meaning, application and impact of the modifications to the federal habeas corpus statutes made by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

  
  • LAW 7052 - Advanced Persuasive Writing and Appellate Advocacy


    Fall. 3 credits.

    The course can be used to satisfy the writing requirement or the skills requirement, but not both. Limited enrollment.

    B. R. Bryan.

    Students will master the art of persuasive writing and oral advocacy. Lecture topics include: knowing your audience; writing a Statement of Facts that appears objective but subjectively persuades; what good judges are taught about good writing; methods to achieve clarity, brevity and logic; issue selection; the effective use of precedent; establishing credibility; understanding non-legal factors that influence decisions; the interplay between judges and their law clerks; appellate procedure and standards of review; the winning opening statement; and handling questions from the bench. Students will critique actual briefs, judicial opinions and oral arguments for technique and persuasive value. Guest speakers, including a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a federal prosecutor, will provide advice and recommendations. Students will apply what they have learned to the drafting of an appellate brief based on an actual court record. The brief will be written in stages and followed by one-on-one critiques. Students’ will also present an oral argument. Initial practice arguments are critiqued by the professor and student panels (to permit students to see an argument from a judge’s perspective), and the final argument is judged by the professor.

  
  • LAW 7060 - African American Social History, from 1910 to the Present: Race, Work, and the City

    (crosslisted)
    (also HIST 3760 ILRLR 3860 )
    Fall. 4 credits.

    N. Salvatore.

    For description, see ILRLR 3860 .

  
  • LAW 7070 - [Animal Law]


    Fall. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    Staff.

    This cutting-edge and constantly evolving field of law will explore the statutory and case law in which the legal, social, or biological nature of nonhuman animals is an important factor. The course encompasses companion animals, wildlife, and animals raised for food, entertainment, and research, and surveys traditional law topics like torts, contracts, criminal law, constitutional law, and federal laws as they intersect with animals. Grades are based on participation in open-minded discussions and a paper that satisfies the writing requirement.

  
  • LAW 7081 - [Advanced Topic in the Anthropology of Law]

    (crosslisted)
    (also ANTHR 7422 )
    Spring. 3 credits.

    Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    A. Riles.

    For description, see ANTHR 7422 .

  
  • LAW 7091 - Biblical Law


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    C. M. Carmichael.

    Analysis of law and narrative in the Bible from the perspective of ancient law and legal history. Topics include the nature of the law codes (e.g., hypothetical formulation versus statutory law), legal issues in the narratives (e.g., law of adultery and women’s rights), law and morality (e.g., the Ten Commandments), law and religion (e.g., institutions guaranteed by the law but condemned by religious authority), the transformation of extralegal relations into legal ones (e.g., with the introduction of money), legal interpretation in antiquity (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount), social factors in legal development (e.g., shame and guilt), and aspects of criminal, family, and private law (e.g., an eye for an eye, incest rules, and unjust enrichment).

  
  • LAW 7102 - Capital Punishment Law


    Fall. 3 credits.

    Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    K. Weyble.

    This seminar examines the complex body of law governing imposition of the death penalty in the United States. The course aims to provide a historical overview of capital punishment law, critically analyze its constitutional doctrines, and introduce aspects of criminal procedure that are unique to death penalty cases. The primary focus will be on Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, including challenges to the arbitrary and discriminatory application of the death penalty, the development of modern death penalty statutes, the role of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the capital sentencing trial, and constitutional limitations on eligibility for the death penalty. The seminar is recommended for students interested in the Capital Trial Clinic or the Capital Appellate Clinic.

  
  • LAW 7112 - [Twentieth Century Jurisprudence: The Great Works]


    Spring. 3 credits.

    Next offered 2013-2014. Satisfies the writing requirement. Limited enrollment.

    Staff.

    This seminar is devoted to (most of) the key books in modern analytical legal philosophy.  We will read and discuss the following: H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd ed., 1994); Hans Kelsen, Pure Theory of Law (1930); Joseph Raz, Practical Reason and Norms (rev. ed., 1990); Ronald Dworkin, Law’s Empire (1986); John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (1980). This seminar does not offer a survey of legal philosophy. Rather, aspiring to give an alternative to the excerpt-driven style of law school teaching, this seminar allows students to study and criticize the full and complete arguments of the great jurisprudential minds of recent times.  

 

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