Elective Courses
6760 ACCOUNTING FOR LAWYERS
This course surveys the elements of accounting, interpretation of financial statements and audit reports, and accounting problems likely to arise in a lawyer's practice. This course is designed for students with little or no accounting background.
2 credits
6520 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Basic considerations relating to administrative agencies, including nondelegation doctrine, fact versus law distinction, agency rulemaking, adjudication, due process requirements, information gathering and judicial review.
3 credits
6935 ADVANCED TOPICS IN LAW
The content of this course varies. It may include topics of current interest or not covered by other curricular offerings. The course may be repeated if there is no duplication of subject matter.
3 credits
6939 ADVANCED TOPICS IN LAW
The content of this seminar varies. It may include topics of current interest or not covered by other curricular offerings. The course may be repeated if there is no duplication of subject matter.
2 credits
6934 ADVANCED TORTS: DIGNITARY AND ECONOMIC HARMS
This course provides an intensive examination of dignitary and economic torts. Topics include defamation, privacy, tortious litigation, interference with family relationships, interference with economic interests, trade secrets and misrepresentation. The course not only explores substantive law in depth but also engages students in critical analysis of the doctrinal law’s underlying policies and values and whether the doctrine adequately addresses problems presented by technological advancements and changing social norms.
3 credits
6367 ADVANCED TRIAL PRACTICE: CRIMINAL LITIGATION
This advanced trial practice seminar will provide instruction on advanced technique in criminal litigation. Students will learn these techniques through a mixture of lecture, class discussion, and practical exercises. Students will also have the opportunity to perform as a prosecuting or defense attorney in a criminal mock trial.
3 credits
6331 ADVANCED EVIDENCE
This course focuses on the increasing use of forensic evidence in civil and criminal courts, with an emphasis on the different standards of admissibility and the interplay of science and law. Specific areas covered include DNA, ballistics, fingerprints, blood stain patterns, pathology, mental health issues, and other “expert” evidence offered in today’s courtrooms.
Prerequisite: Evidence
3 credits
6798 ADVANCED LEGAL RESEARCH
The focus of this course is to provide the student with the essential skills needed in order to become an effective legal researcher. Topics generally covered include the use of primary and secondary sources; case law research; statutory law and legislative history; administrative law; effective use of computer assisted legal research databases; and specialized research topics. Strong emphasis will be placed on developing those skills needed to locate and evaluate proper authoritative sources, both print and electronic. The course also serves as a seminar for students to use for the completion of the upper level writing requirement.
2 credits
6550 ANTITRUST
This course engages students in a disciplined inquiry of the role of the marketplace in maximizing consumer welfare and producer welfare from commerce. This course will cover the role of competition in a modern market economy, federal antitrust law, regulation, and policies. Topics covered include horizontal restraints, monopolization, attempts to monopolize, and oligopoly; problems concerning the relationship of antitrust to patent law; vertical restraints; mergers; selected Robinson-Patman Act problems, remedies, and enforcement.
3 credits
6050 BANKRUPTCY
This course examines the rights and remedies of debtors and creditors; bankruptcy, including liquidation, reorganization, and wage earner plans; attachment; judgment execution; garnishment; fraudulent conveyances; bulk sales; and collection remedies including compositions and assignments.
2 credits
6722 BIOETHICS AND THE LAW
This course will examine a number of issues at the intersection between law and medicine. In the course, we will explore legal and ethical issues faced by patients and physicians as a result of developing medical technology. Topics include organ transplantation, genetic engineering, end of life decisions, including physician-assisted suicide, reproductive rights including abortion, experimentation on fetuses and other human subjects, and the role of religion in excusing patients from providing their children with conventional medical care.
Prerequisite: Constitutional Law
2 credits
6070 BUSINESS PLANNING
Business Planning is a transactional oriented course focusing on for-profit closely held businesses. Particular attention will be given to the relationships between owners and their voting management and equity arrangements. Students will be required to analyze planning problems in five settings: starting a business, buy-sell agreements, family-owned businesses, employment agreements and franchise agreements.
2 credits
6250 COMPARATIVE LAW
This course introduces students to the major legal systems of the world. The first portion of the course provides an overview of the major families of law encountered in various nations of the world today: common law, civil law, religious law, traditional/tribal law, and the extra-legal approach seen in various Asian countries. The rest of the course examines how each of these systems handles the same types of common legal situations: inheritance and succession, criminal behavior and contracts.
3 credits
6937 COMPUTER CRIME LAW SEMINAR
This course will explore the legal issues that judges, legislators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys are confronting as they respond to the recent explosion in computer-related crime. In particular, we will consider how crimes in cyberspace will challenge traditional approaches to the investigation, prosecution and defense of crime that have evolved from our experiences with crimes in physical space. Topics will include: the Fourth Amendment in cyberspace, the law of electronic surveillance, computer hacking and other computer crimes, encryption, online economic espionage, cyber terrorism, the First Amendment in cyberspace, federal/state relations in the enforcement of computer crimes laws, and civil liberties online.
2 credits
6340 CONFLICT OF LAWS
This course examines situations in which the statutes, cases and interests of multiple jurisdictions come together in a single judicial forum. There will be discussions of questions such as personal jurisdiction in multiple for a, full faith and credit, and choice of law. There will also be discussion regarding internationally-focused questions such as how conflicts between the U.S. and foreign states are resolved and whether (and to what extent) provisions of the Bill of Rights operate extra-territorially.
3 credits
6511 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: FIRST AMENDMENT
This course will explore the historical, legal and social context of the First Amendment. Constitutional analysis of important First Amendment cases will be explored.
Prerequisite: Constitutional Law I and II
3 credits
6936 CONSTRUCTION LAW
This course examines the legal system’s role in the design and construction process. Focuses on basic principles of contract and tort law, application of legal principles to performance issues, and other legal principles impacting the design and construction process.
2 credits
7040 CONSUMER LAW
This course examines the laws affecting the manufacture, marketing, and sale of consumer goods. Time is spent on the regulation of information, conduct, prices, and enforcement mechanisms.
2 credits
5231 CONTEMPORARY LEGAL THEORIES
This course will focus on critical legal studies, law and economics, gender, speech, poverty, race, Americans with disabilities, and power dynamics in American legal culture.
2 credits
6572 COPYRIGHT LAW
Problems related to the protection of artistic and creative properties, including a study of the methods for securing and maintaining a copyright, the laws that govern the exploitation of the entitlement created by a copyright, and the problems and methods of protecting those rights.
3 credits
6105 DEATH PENALTY SEMINAR
This seminar examines the legal and constitutional issues surrounding the use of the death penalty in the U.S. and Florida. It focuses on death penalty laws, 6th and 8th Amendment issues, the state of the death penalty under recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and the ethical duties of defenders and prosecutors in death penalty cases.
Prerequisites: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence
2 credits
6718 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WORKSHOP
Domestic violence is a societal problem of epidemic proportions. This course will explore domestic violence issues in various areas of the law. Students will produce a domestic violence manual for a particular community, conduct a presentation on domestic violence before a group or organization, and write a paper on a selected domestic violence topic. The course will provide students with the opportunity to prepare memoranda, motions, and protection orders. Students will observe domestic violence hearings. Relevant Florida Statutes will be used in the course.
3 credits
6583 EDUCATION LAW
This course covers legal issues that arise in institutions of learning on the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels. Public and private issues examined include: affirmative action, freedom of speech, student dismissals, tenure, institutional closing, religion in the schools, and business planning.
3 credits
6589 EDUCATION LAW AND POLICY WORKSHOP
This seminar will explore selected topics in education law and policy making with a special attention to policy research. The beginning few weeks of the course will focus on the role of research in policy making and qualitative and quantitative research methods. Students will be assigned to groups based on their expressed interest in the selected topics. The final product for this class will be a policy research paper completed as a group assignment.
For the project students will be required to select a specific issue or topic in education law that they are interested in exploring with greater detail. After selecting the topic students will, as a group, frame a policy question. Once the question has been framed, students will have to conduct research into the current state of the law and legal and educational theory regarding their issue and question. As a group, the students will also be required to frame and conduct some non-exhaustive qualitative research. Once they have completed the qualitative research, the groups will be required to make a policy recommendation that integrates what they have learned from their research in the literature and their research in the field. The final product will be approximately 45-50 pages, and each group will lead a 2 hour class discussion on their topic.
2 credits
6717 ELDER LAW
This course covers topics such as health care powers of attorney, living wills, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care insurance, housing alternatives, guardianships, custodial trusts, social security benefits, retirement plans, incapacity, and elder abuse.
3 credits
6549 EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
Course explores barriers to workplace equality and laws designed to remedy discrimination in the workplace, including 14th Amendment, Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Equal Pay Act and others.
3 credits
6547 EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION SEMINAR
This seminar will focus on current topics in the employment discrimination field. Students will, in addition to classroom study and discussion, engage in significant writing projects.
2 credits
6545 EMPLOYMENT LAW
This course focuses on the major state and federal employment laws affecting individual employees. Coverage includes the legal regulation of the hiring and firing process, testing and privacy issues, wage and hour laws, discrimination, occupational health and safety, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, covenants not to compete, and related topics.
3 credits
6575 ENTERTAINMENT LAW
Entertainment law surveys the many legal doctrines that shape the entertainment industry and explores how those various doctrines interact. Topics include free speech, defamation, invasion of privacy, publicity rights, copyright, contractual relations in the entertainment industry, and performer organizations. The course also explores practical aspects of entertainment law, such as client counseling and litigation strategy, and theoretical questions raised by the interplay of federal law, state law, and the rules of private organizations.
3 credits
6470 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
This course surveys the wide variety of topics that together comprise Environmental Law. Relying on concepts drawn from risk management, economics, ecology, and political theory, this course addresses both common law and statutory responses to conventional and toxic pollution and other adverse impacts on the physical environment, as well as conservation issues of species and habitat and resource management more generally. The course also considers administrative structures that govern much of the field and how federalism affects the law and the environment in the United States. The issues of climate change and control of global warming are woven into several phases of the coverage.
3 credits
6473 ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICE WORKSHOP
This workshop-type course relies primarily on simulations and problems that explore a variety of environmental law subject areas. The sampling is surprisingly broad, including matters that touch on all media (air, water, land) and all aspects of practice (ethical representation, client counseling, client defense, investigation, governmental enforcement and charging decisions, penalty calculation, and many more).
3 credits
6620 ESTATE AND GIFT TAXATION
This course provides students with a study of the federal estate and gift tax structure and its impact on the transfer of property and of income taxation of trusts and estates. The redistribution of wealth through taxation is also studied. Taxation of income of trusts and estate also includes annuities, property distributions, and income in respect of decedent. This course primarily involves a study of the unified system of federal gift and estate transfer taxes imposed by Chapters 11 and 12 of the Internal Revenue Code. With respect to the gift tax, the student will explore the transfers that are subject to tax as well as the annual exclusion and gifts to minors. With respect to the estate tax, the student will explore the transfers (both during life and at death) that are included in a decedent’s “gross estate,” as well as certain of the deductions that are available to reduce the size of the gross estate (and, ultimately, the estate tax owed).
3 credits
6450 ESTATE PLANNING
Estate planning focuses on the process by which individuals make comprehensive arrangements for their property and personal needs which remain in effect during disability and after death. Topics covered in this course include disability planning for property and health care needs, planning for the physical aspects of death, the use of non-probate techniques, the preparation and execution of wills, trusts, and other documents, and the fundamentals of federal gift and estate taxation.
Prerequisites: Estates and Trusts; Federal Income Tax.
3 credits
6302 FEDERAL COURTS
This is an advanced constitutional law class that focuses on issues of separation of powers and federalism as they relate to the federal courts. This course includes an in-depth analysis of the types of actions that can be brought against states, the jurisdictional roadblocks to those actions, and means to get around that immunity.
3 credits
6600 FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION
The purpose of this course is to give the student an overview of the federal income tax system (particularly as it deals with individuals). The emphasis will be on the proper way to read and interpret the tax code.
3 credits
6304 FLORIDA PRACTICE II
This course is designed to improve students’ legal analytical skills (the ability to analyze a problem) and legal writing skills (the ability to articulate your analysis in a logical, concise and organized manner) in preparing to take and pass the Bar Exam. This course will help students identify and practice essential test-taking strategies and skills and will give students a familiarity with the methodology of the exam, as opposed to teaching students the substantive material for the exam. Essay and multiple choice questions will be used, as well as other practical strategies, to help students develop the skills and confidence necessary to pass the Bar Exam. This course is not intended to replace substantive course study review and/or commercial Bar Exam preparation courses.
4 credits
6720 HEALTH CARE LAW
This course explores all the major topics in the health care field such as treatment, relationship, liability, professional licensure, right to die, reproductive rights, health care insurance, and regulation of health care facilities and transactions.
3 credits
6264 IMMIGRATION LAW
This course is designed to provide students with a general knowledge of immigration law, including a basic understanding of admission of aliens under the non-immigrant and immigrant categories, removal, naturalization, and the law of refugee and political asylum. Detailed statutory and regulatory analysis of the applicable immigration laws as well as analyzing the impact of immigration in other areas, including criminal law, family unification, human rights, politics, and discrimination.
3 credits
6905 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Approved research and writing supervised by a member of the full-time faculty.
1-2 credits
6080 INSURANCE LAW
A study of the various forms of insurance policies, e.g. fire, homeowners, automobile, health and accident. Includes study of concepts of marketing, claims processing and insurance institutions, principles of indemnity, risk transference, reasonable expectations and unconscionable advantages.
2 credits
6570 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
This is a survey course that introduces students to patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity and unfair competition law. The course is designed to give students entering a general business or civil litigation practice a thorough overview of the various intellectual property doctrines.
3 credits
6719 INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE FAMILY LAW
This course explores issues in family law from an international and comparative perspective. It examines the legal relationship between children, families, the state and the international law system with special emphasis on the U.N. Convention of the Rights of the Child; Hague Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations; Hague Convention on Parental Child Abduction; selected regional conventions including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the European Convention on the Adoption of Children; and other treaties that regulate the relationship between the state and family life. The course will also comparatively examine the municipal or domestic family law of states in, for example, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe on such issues as marriage, divorce, child custody, adoption, and alternative families.
3 credits
6261 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
This course examines the legal framework of the international sales transactions, including the commercial terms of the sales agreement, shipping contracts, insurance, financing arrangements, and customs documentation. Students will also examine the foreign direct investment transaction, international franchise and distribution agreements, and contracts for the transfer of technology.
3 credits
6103 INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW
This seminar will explore the rapidly developing system for international prosecution of crimes. Selected topics will include so-called economic crimes (e.g. money laundering and drug trafficking) and crimes against humanity (e.g. terrorism and war crimes). Relevant procedural issues will be examined, including jurisdiction and extradition, as well as prosecution in international tribunals.
2 credits
6268 INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
This course will address several leading topics in international environmental law and policy, including climate change, ozone depletion, international trade and the environment, biodiversity, and the law of the sea. The course will examine sources of international environmental law and the role of international institutions in developing and implementing environmental agreements. The course also will address extraterritorial application of domestic law.
3 credits
6263 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
This course introduces students to the concept of established and evolving legal issues regarding human rights. The philosophical, political, and legal basis of defining human rights in various parts of the world will be addressed. The central theory of this course is that common international norms form basic international understanding of human treatment. Contemporary issues impacting regional and global areas will be discussed.
3 credits
6260 INTERNATIONAL LAW
This course focuses on the legal processes of the international community. The creation of law among nation states, the lawmaking activities of international organizations, the enforcement (and non-enforcement) of international law in both national and international forums, the limits of national jurisdiction, the responsibility of states for the injuries to the persons or property of aliens and the rules governing international agreements are surveyed.
3 credits
6987 INTERNATIONAL LAW – INTERNSHIP
The International Law Internship provides students with the opportunity to earn internship credit for internationally focused legal and policy field placement work conducted overseas or within the United States, but outside of the State of Florida. The Internship will provide students with firsthand experience in government, international organizations, public interest law firms, nonprofit organizations, and other areas of interest relevant to legal education.
3-6 credits
6988 INTERNATIONAL LAW – STUDY ABROAD I
International Study Abroad I is a generic study abroad course designed for students that participate in and successfully complete course work in ABA-approved international study abroad programs.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of first year of law school and minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA.
This course is graded pass/fail.
3 credits
6989 INTERNATIONAL LAW – STUDY ABROAD II
International Study Abroad II is a generic study abroad course designed for students that participate in and successfully completed International Study Abroad I course work in ABA-approved international study abroad programs.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of International Study Abroad I and minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
This course is graded pass/fail.
3 credits
6260 INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE USE OF FORCE AND ARMED CONFLICT
This course examines the principles of international law that regulate the use and conduct of force in international affairs. It examines the law relating to when it is permissible to use force (The Jus ad bellum) and the law governing the conduct of hostilities once the decision to employ force has been taken (The Jus in bello).
The first half of the course is devoted to the law of the use of force. It focuses on the prohibition of the use of force in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and the exceptions to that prohibition. Particular attention will be given to the right of self-defense, intervention to protect nationals, humanitarian intervention, terrorism, reprisals, intervention in civil war and self-determination.
The second half of the course will focus on the legal regulation of the conduct of hostilities and examine the concepts of war and armed conflict, the right to participate in hostilities, the law of weaponry, the treatment of prisoners of war, the protection of civilians, belligerent occupation, and the enforcement of the laws of armed conflict.
2 credits
6233 INTERNET AND COMPUTER LAW SEMINAR
This course surveys some of the legal issues that have arisen with the growth of the Internet. Topics examined will include First Amendment, privacy, tort liability, copyright, and others.
2 credits
6388 INTERVIEWING, COUNSELING AND NEGOTIATION
This course studies theories and skills involved in interviewing, counseling and negotiating. Student performances in role plays and simulations will be a primary means of instruction.
2 credits
6140 JUVENILE LAW
This course explores the special procedural and substantive law applicable to children, with particular emphasis given to specialized juvenile courts.
2 credits
6540 LABOR LAW
This course focuses on the law governing and policy issues surrounding the major facets of union-management relations in the private sector under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). These include union organizing, collective bargaining, contract enforcement, picketing and the economic weapons of both sides, including strikes. The course also covers the procedural mechanisms by which rights under the NLRA are enforced and remedies for NLRA violations.
3 credits
6586 LAW AND FILM SEMINAR
This course will examine how the law and lawyers have been depicted in film and television over the years; other media may be included. Students will be required to view two movies and selected television programs each week and prepare a written comparison of the role of the law and lawyers as they are depicted by the authors and actors. Topics that will be examined include the use of the rules of evidence, courtroom etiquette, ethics, gender, ethnicity, and a comparison of the victims and types of legal issues covered by the shows.
2 credits
6245 LAW AND LITERATURE SEMINAR
This seminar will explore the relationship of law and literature, focusing in particular on the portrayal of law, lawyers, and legal proceedings in selected essays, plays, short stories and novels. How and why is the understanding of justice different in literature than it is in the conventional legal discourse?
2 credits
6938 LAW AND POLITICS OF AFRICA SEMINAR
This course examines the domestic and international law and politics of Sub-Saharan Africa from the pre-colonial era through the colonization period and post-colonial independence and post Cold War eras. The course will introduce students to: (1) the historical and contemporary socio-political and legal development of African state systems, institutions and peoples; (2) the unique relationship between African states and those outside of Africa; (3) the extent to which Africa forms an integral part of the international system, and contributes to the progressive development of international law.
2 credits
6287 LAW AND POLITICS OF ASIA SEMINAR
This seminar examines the domestic and international law and politics of Asia from the pre-colonial era through the colonization period, post-colonial independence, Cold War, and post Cold War eras. The seminar will introduce students to: (1) the historical and contemporary socio-political and legal development of Asian law, state systems, institutions, and peoples; (2) the unique relationship between the nations of Asia and the outside world; (3) the extent to which Asia forms an integral part of the international system and contributes to the development of international law.
2 credits
6513 LAW AND RELIGION
This course studies opinions construing the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, with particular emphasis on recent church-state cases. Areas of discussion will include an exploration of the following: the historical formation and current judicial interpretations of the First Amendment guarantees of religious liberty; government regulatory and adjudicative powers over religious institutions and persons; religious pluralism; and religious expression in public and political forums.
2 credits
6751 LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT
An introduction to management of a law practice. This course will develop concepts related to four areas – business management, practice management, client management and life management. In the area of business management, students will be exposed to business start-up considerations, including choice of entity, financing, bookkeeping and trust accounting. In the area of practice management, the students will cover administrative and substantive systems, including conflicts of interest, docket management, form files and employee management. In client management, the students will be exposed to issues related to client acceptance, declination, disengagement, client satisfaction and malpractice to name a few. Quality management rounds out the course with quality-of-life issues such as succession planning, contingency arrangements, substance abuse and maintaining a balance in life.
2 credits
6950 LAW REVIEW
6523 LEGISLATION
This course will give students an introduction to the legislative process, to legislative interpretation, and to contemporary debates of law and policy that surround the legislative branch.
2 credits
5312 MEDIATION THEORY AND PRACTICE
This course presents a summary overview of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes, focusing on the facilitative model of mediation. The fundamentals of the facilitative mediation model are explored to gain an understanding of the primary causes for conflict, the fuel that keeps conflict going, and the methods to resolve conflict through the use of collaborative problem solving and principled negotiation. It is a skills development course that emphasizes the importance of the mediator’s empowerment of the parties to help them resolve their dispute through more effective communication. Because of a strong emphasis on the nuances of communication, the skills developed in more precise and effective communication are generally very helpful in human interaction.
Students will gain an understanding of the mediation process and through participation in role plays will be able to experience the significance of the empowerment of the parties in the resolution of their own disputes.
2 credits
6951 MOOT COURT
6507 NATIONAL SECURITY LAW SEMINAR
This course examines the legal framework for national security decisions. Students will analyze the delicate balance of liberty and security that must exist to preserve a democratic society. Particular areas examined include: constitutional separation of powers and shared responsibility for national security; the legality and scope of war and other uses of armed force short of war; access to and protection of sensitive information; intelligence collection and clandestine activities; and the formulation of national security policy and law.
Prerequisites: Constitutional Law
2 credits
6616 PARTNERSHIP TAXATION
This course addresses taxation of partnerships and tax consequences of partnership formation, termination, distributions of money or property to partners, and consequences of sale or exchange of a parternship interest or of the death of a partner.
3 credits
6573 PATENT LAW
A survey of the legal protection of inventions. This course covers the requirements for obtaining and enforcing a patent and the rights of a patentee with respect to licensing, assignment, and patent misuse.
3 credits
6361 PRETRIAL PRACTICE WORKSHOP
This course covers every aspect of pretrial preparation of a civil or criminal case. The focus of the course focus varies by semester. When the course covers civil pretrial practice, students proceed from initial client interview through formulating client representational strategy, developing a theory of the case, drafting pleadings, fact investigation, discovery and disclosure (depositions, issues, requests for production), motion practice, settlement conferences and negotiations, and final pre-trial preparation. When the course covers criminal pretrial practice, students proceed from initial client interview through formulating client representational strategy, developing a theory of the case, drafting motions, fact investigation, discovery and disclosure (depositions), Motions to Suppress, Arthur Hearings, Richardson Hearings and Motions in Limine.
This course also covers professionalism issues that arise in pretrial practice.
Prerequisite: Evidence.
3 credits
6811 PRIVACY LAW
Introduction to the expanding body of state and federal laws governing access to personal information and autonomous private decision making, such as privacy issues relating to law enforcement, the internet, drugs, alcohol, HIV and DNA testing, ambush journalism, and other topics.
3 credits
6063 PUBLICLY HELD CORPORATIONS
This course focuses on legal issues that are commonly faced by larger corporations and the special concerns involved in protecting widely scattered shareholder constituencies. Topics covered include directors’ roles in large corporations, social responsibility of large businesses, the growing prominence of institutional investors, securities fraud, insider trading, shareholder meetings, proxy solicitations, shareholder litigation, mergers and tender offers.
Prerequisite: Business Organizations
3 credits
6299 PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
This course aims to introduce students to the fascinating and complex world of international relations by examining the development and evolution of public international law and the general principles of law upon which national systems in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East are based, and situate specifically states, international organizations, regional institutions, multinational corporations, and people in their proper global legal context.
This course covers the general and comparative principles of international and national relations, including such topics as state formation and dissolution; government recognition; diplomatic privileges and immunity; international human rights and humanitarian law; international criminal law; international peacekeeping; international environmental law; international terrorism; women’s rights; and international cultural property.
3 credits
6234 RACE AND THE LAW
A survey of racial patterns in American law. Insight into race as a social and legal contracts discussed in detail. Focus will be on case law, statutes, works of historians, and critical race theorists in such areas as public facilities, voting rights, criminal justice, protest, public education, housing and environmental justice.
3 credits
6814 RACE AND THE LAW SEMINAR
This seminar will provide a comparative as well as interdisciplinary approach to issues concerning race and the law. We will address the racial and legal history of major racial groups in the U.S., including African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Whites. In addition to these histories, the course includes the following topics: competing definitions and understandings of race and racism; the legal system’s contribution to the construction of race; race, voting, and participation in democracy; developing notions of equality; segregation and education; and crime.
2 credits
6320 REMEDIES
Surveys the history and development of basic remedies for civil wrongs. Topics covered include contempt, damages, declaratory judgments, election of remedies, equity jurisdiction, injunctions, modern equity practice, present value adjustment, proof requirements, recession, reformation and restitution.
3 credits
6010 SALES
Sales is an advanced course in contracts that builds upon the basic first-year offerings and focuses on the planning and regulation of sales transactions under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The course also covers international sales governed by the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG). Major topics include electronic commercial transactions; the methodology and scope of the UCC and CISG; allocating the risk of loss; warranties; breach; excuse for non-performance; warranty disclaimers and remedy limitations; rejection, revocation, and cure; anticipatory repudiation and the right to demand adequate assurances; and techniques of statutory analysis.
2 credits
6336 SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE WORKSHOP
Introduction to the scientific issues facing lawyers. Topics include: scientific evidence, crime labs, forensic pathology-autopsy, deposition and motions, experts, fingerprints, digital image enhancement, depositions, document examination, witnesses, toxicology, laboratory management and accreditation.
3 credits
6051 SECURED TRANSACTIONS
The goal of this course is to acquaint the student with the arsenal that benefits and protects both the debtor and the creditor. Specifically, the student will be introduced to the legal system and rules governing the relationship between the debtor and the creditor (in those instances where the creditor has or has attempted to acquire an interest in the debtor’s property as a means of ensuring satisfaction of the underlying obligation) and between that creditor and all of the debtor’s other creditors including, on frequent occasion, a bankruptcy trustee. Students will also be introduced to the concepts of secured financing transactions using the problem approach.
3 credits
6560 SECURITIES REGULATION
This course exposes students to a study of the federal and state securities laws and the industry they govern. Emphasis will be on the regulation of the distribution process and trading in securities. Subjects dealt with include the functions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, registration and disclosure requirements and related civil liabilities, “blue sky” laws, proxy solicitations and reporting requirements, broker-dealer regulation, the self-regulatory functions of the exchanges, and the regulation of investment companies.
Prerequisite: Business Organizations
3 credits
6581 SPORTS LAW
This course deals with the issues that arise in the representation of individuals and organizations involved in sports.
2 credits
6587 THEATER LAW SEMINAR
Although normally thought of in terms of its creative and artistic values, staging a play or musical also involves numerous legal relationships and obligations. Accordingly this course surveys the law governing the theater industry. Among the subjects we will examine are the authorship rights of playwrights; the financial rights of investors; the employment rights of actors and actresses; and the attendance rights of audiences. Although our main concern will be Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, we also will spend time considering the legal rights and duties of amateur theater groups.
2 credits
6288 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS
This course will examine the law, theory and practice of international, regional and sub-regional courts and other justice mechanisms such as truth and reconciliation commissions in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia, El Salvador and Colombia, among others. It will examine the structure and practice of international courts and justice mechanisms, particularly the International Court of Justice as well as introduce a variety of other international tribunals including the International Criminal Court and the International tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, European Court of Justice, World Trade Organization dispute settlement regime, World Bank Inspection Panel, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
3 credits
6576 TRADEMARK LAW SEMINAR
Problems related to the protection of commercial marks and products, including a study of the methods for securing and maintaining protection, the laws that govern exploitation of the marks and products, and problems and methods of protecting those rights.
2 credits
6290 TRAVEL LAW SEMINAR
An introduction to international and domestic issues facing the travel industry. Among subjects covered are legal liabilities of airlines, cruise ship operators, travel agents, innkeepers, and tour operators.
2 credits
6363 TRIAL PRACTICE
A series of classes and simulations devoted to the study of trial techniques, followed by the preparation and trial of a mock trial.
Prerequisite: Evidence.
3 credits
6366 TRIAL TEAM
Inter-school competition.
6475 WATER LAW
Examines legal control of water resources, focusing on water’s special status as partially public and partially private property. Topics include riparian water rights, prior appropriation, and historical evolution of water rights. The course also includes allocation issues that arise among states and federal authority over water resources and federal acquisition of water rights.
3 credits
6235 WOMEN AND THE LAW
This course examines gender issues in a variety of areas of law, including contracts, torts, criminal law, and property. Emphasis will be on domestic violence, rape, comparable worth, sexual harassment, stereotypes, economic consequences of divorce and child custody, biological reproduction, prostitution, and pornography.
3 credits
6236 WOMEN AND THE LAW SEMINAR
This seminar deals with the history and legal issues surrounding gender from a national and international perspective. The seminar presupposes that there are political, cultural and legal implications that result from sex and gender.
2 credits