Courses

• LAW JD 969: Appellate Advocacy: The Criminal Appeal (S)
  This seminar is designed to take students through a simulated criminal appeal, during which they will learn how to mold a cold record into a compelling brief procedurally, factually, and legally. The first portion of the course will focus on the mechanics and form of a criminal appellate brief. The course will then shift focus and deal with substantive criminal law. Students will be asked to read and critically analyze Supreme Court briefs (as well as the Court’s opinions) from a number of groundbreaking cases in criminal law. Additionally, students will be introduced to substantive issues of criminal law and criminal procedure that prosecutors and defense attorneys face daily in practice. Topics include challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, exculpatory evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, unlawful search and seizure, and custodial interrogation. In the final portion of the class, the seminar will focus on the art of the oral argument and persuasive advocacy. Students will be given a record on appeal, which will consist of pleadings and transcripts, and will be required to write an appellate brief (either as prosecutor or defense). Students will then face off against their peers in an argument before a simulated appellate panel during which they must orally defend their positions. There will be no final exam for this course. Grades will be based on class participation, written assignments, and performance on the appellate brief and oral argument. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: The seminar will be limited to 20 students. NOTE: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class writing assignment. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 971: Taxation of Financial Instruments
  This course is intended as an introduction to the financial characteristics and income taxation of basic financial instruments, consisting most fundamentally of (1) debt, (2) common stock, and (3) options. In each instance we will look at the financial characteristics of the security (after the fashion of an MBA offering in corporate finance), then study the basic tax rules governing each class of instrument. Time permitting we will also look at the treatment of some of the more exotic derivative securities that have come to play so pivotal a role in corporate finance, including forward and futures as well as notional principal contracts. Because the process of discounting is so central to an understanding of financial contracts, the course will begin with a rigorous study of discounting, including a laboratory introduction to the computation of present values using the financial functions of Microsoft Excel. Students who have not yet taken introductory tax should consult the instructor before registering.
• LAW JD 972: Lawyering in the 21st Century (S)
  The practice of law has changed dramatically in the last several decades and is expected to change even more as we enter the 21st century. Some law firms have as many as 1,000 lawyers, with offices throughout the world. Lawyers are associating not only in traditional law partnerships and professional corporations, but also in newly emerging “limited liability” entities, which purport to limit an individual lawyer’s liability for the legal malpractice of other lawyers in the firm. Some lawyers are forming joint ventures, or “networks,” to share resources and information for purposes of a particular case or for a series of cases. Others have ongoing “affiliations” with each other, which they advertise and use to market themselves to prospective clients. Accountants and other nonlawyers want to associate with lawyers in “multidisciplinary practices” that offer a full range of legal and financial or other non-legal services to corporations and other consumers. Individual lawyers are traveling all over the country and the world to serve their clients, thereby finding it difficult to avoid violating unauthorized practice of law statutes in their multijurisdictional practices. Lawyers and law firms are investing large sums of money in their clients’ business ventures, sometimes making more money from these investments then they do from the practice of law. And then there is the internet and other new technology—we are seeing individual lawyer and law firm websites, as well as internet-based legal service delivery mechanisms, including a lawyer referral service that permits lawyers to place blind “bids” on a client’s legal problem. This seminar will explore the ethical issues raised by these and other changes in the practice of law, including not only unauthorized practice, but also conflicts of interest, confidentiality, advertising and solicitation. A paper will be required. There are no prerequisites for this seminar. This seminar satisfies the Upper-class professional responsibility requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 973: Civil Litigation Program/Pretrial Advocacy
  The program also includes a serious classroom component during which you learn the theories of practice for use in the field. Pretrial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students and two clinical professors per group. Half of the classes are devoted to activities and simulations in which you role play with the skills that are taught. Students in the HEFD (section A1) and AHR (section B1) options take Pretrial Advocacy in the fall. Students in the ERC fall option (section C1) will take Pretrial Advocacy plus a “bootcamp” in Trial Advocacy.
• LAW JD 974: Civil Litigation Program/Trial Advocacy
  The program also includes a serious classroom component during which you learn the theories of practice for use in the field. Trial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students and two clinical professors per group. Half of the classes are devoted to activities and simulations in which you role play with the skills that are taught. Students in the HEFD (section A1) and AHR (section B1) options take Trial Advocacy in the spring. Students in the ERC spring option (section C2) will take Trial Advocacy plus a “bootcamp” in Pretrial Advocacy.
• LAW JD 975: War on Drugs - 25 Years of US Drug Policy (S)
  This seminar will examine the ways that courts, legislatures, law enforcement, presidents and the public have responded to what has been one of the most troubling social problems of our time: drug use and addiction. The history of drug prohibition in the U.S. reflects profound ambivalence: Should those who use drugs be treated or punished? Many of the questions stirring public debate on the subject were asked a century ago. The seminar will begin by looking at early prohibition movements, the cultural milieu that gave rise to them, and the state and federal anti-drug legislation that was enacted in response to the drug problem. The seminar will be divided into four units: 1) historical and legislative; 2) legal challenges based on such issues as the 8 th Amendment, the 4 th Amendment, liberty and property rights and federalism; 3) the drug war and foreign policy; 4) reform efforts. We will address such topics as whether law should regulate private conduct; whether drug laws have a disproportionate impact on minorities, and, if so, does this provide a basis for changing the laws; the merits of economic arguments against current policies; and whether the U.S. has anything to learn from harm reduction polices such as those that have been adopted in Europe. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 977: Health Care Reform & the Constitution (S)
  This seminar will examine the complex web of federal and state regulations that form the center of American healthcare policy and American healthcare reform. The goal for the semester will be to determine the best balance of federal and state governance and the best balance of legislative, executive, and judicial governance for healthcare policy. The first half of the course will center on the considerations that guide constitutional divisions of labor between our national and state governments (uniformity interests, political diversity, state experimentation, interstate competition, and regulatory success (among others)), and the second half of the course will center the considerations that guide constitutional divisions of labor among the three branches of the federal government (expertise, political accountability, agency capture, and individual justice (among others)). Specific topics will include public healthcare financing, private insurance regulation, healthcare quality controls, and healthcare privacy rules. PREREQUISITE: Health Law (JD 867) or Public Health Law (S) (JD 926). ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.**
• LAW JD 980: International Business Arbitration (S)
  Legal dimensions of international business dispute resolution through binding arbitration. Treaty framework for determining validity of arbitration agreement and for recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards (New York Convention, Panama Convention, Washington Convention). Comparative approach (French, English, Swiss, and U.S. legal systems) to the influence of national law on international arbitration. UNCITRAL Model Law. NAFTA Chapter 11 and bilateral investment treaties. Special status of international commercial arbitration in national law. Major arbitral institutions and rules, including ICC, LCIA, AAA and ICSID. State contracts: Act of State and sovereign immunity. Expropriation claims. Delocalization and the influence of the arbitral seat. Arbitral awards as a contribution to lex mercatoria . NOTE: This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 981: Criminal Trial Advocacy
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to 2L students who have applied to and been accepted to start the Criminal Clinic in Spring 2011. Trial Advocacy is a three credit course which will meet once a week for three hours. It will focus on courtroom skills in the context of criminal trial litigation. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 982: Criminal Trial Practice I (C)
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have applied to and been accepted into the Criminal Clinical Program. The Fall section is restricted to 3Ls who will begin the program in Fall 2010. The Spring 2010 section is restricted to 2L students who will begin the program in Spring 2011. (Fall/3L section) Criminal Trial Practice I will meet in the first semester for two hours each week at the law school and will require students to be available one morning a week to be in court, from Monday through Thursday. The classroom component of this course will provide students an introduction to Massachusetts criminal procedure and basic instruction in lawyering skills such as case planning and investigation. Students in the program will be assigned to cases handled by senior members of the Prosecutor and Defender programs and will be expected to conduct tasks out of court such as legal research, fact investigation, witness interviews and preparation. One morning a week, these students will be in court observing and second seating the cases they have helped to prepare. After the completion of this course, students will be assigned to the Prosecutor or Defender component of the clinic and must register for the appropriate section in the following semester. (Spring/2L Section) Criminal Trial Practice I will meet in the second semester for two hours each week at the law school and will require students to be available one morning a week to be in court, from Monday through Thursday. The classroom component of this course will provide students an introduction to Massachusetts criminal procedure and basic instruction in lawyering skills such as case planning and investigation. Students in the program will be assigned to cases handled by senior members of the Prosecutor and Defender programs and will be expected to conduct tasks out of court such as legal research, fact investigation, witness interviews and preparation. One morning a week, these students will be in court observing and second seating the cases they have helped to prepare. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 983: Law and Economics (S)
  This seminar provides a one semester introduction to the field of law and economics. Economic theory provides the jurist and the lawyer with tools to analyze the effects of legal rules on the behavior of individuals and firms. We start with the assumption that individuals act rationally, economic analysis of the law allows one to examine the expected outcomes from adopting a certain legal rule, and the welfare effects of such a rule, including its implications over efficiency, equality and fair distribution. Then we also examine the behavioral and the experimental challenges to these assumptions and their effects on the optimal legal rules. This seminar will apply economic theory to various fields of law, including Tort law, Property law, Contract law, Procedure, and Criminal law. Grades will be based on a seminar paper. NOTE: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. **A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 984: Professional Responsibility
  MOORE AND PETTIT SECTIONS: This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will be problems of disclosure, conflict of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. NERSESSIAN'S SECTION: This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will include problems of disclosure, conflicts of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. Additional themes that may be explored throughout the course include the impact of globalization on the legal profession and issues such as modern business needs for multi-jurisdictional legal practice, the ability of lawyers to practice in foreign countries, and the effects of globalization on legal careers and the institutional contexts (firms, government agencies, in-house legal departments, nonprofits, etc.) in which lawyers practice. Grading: Open-book, open note exam. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional responsibility requirement.
• LAW JD 985: Corporate Finance
  Analysis and structuring of capital transactions, with emphasis on financial statement analysis, attributes of equity and debt securities and transactions which restructure existing corporate capitalizations. Transactions discussed will include an acquisition, an out-of-court debt restructuring and a negotiated reallocation of equity. PREREQUISITE: CORPORATIONS.
• LAW JD 987: Securitization (Structured Financing)
  Securitization is a process which converts illiquid financial assets (e.g., loans, receivables) into liquid and tradable financial assets (securities). After an overview of the financial system we follow the process: creating loans, transferring loans to an entity, choosing the entity (form, possible regulation and tax considerations), distributing the entity’s securities, and examining global-cross-border securities. Because the process touches on many legal areas (e.g., banking, securities regulation, regulation of investment companies, corporation, trusts, UCC, bankruptcy, contract, and fiduciary duties) the class offers a high level understanding of the process and awareness of the issues on which it touches, focusing on planning. Students are graded on 5 short papers (up to 10 double-spaced pages) analyzing problems in particular topics related to the materials. Papers should be completed after presentation in class. Teaching book: Tamar Frankel, Mark Fagan Securitization (2008), with discussion topics, problems and role-plays. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 988: Mergers and Acquisitions
  MARKS SECTION: This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of mergers and acquisitions. PREREQUISITE: Corporations or permission of the instructor. NOWILL SECTION: This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of business acquisitions. We will explore in depth the legal aspects of acquisitions, principally corporate, securities and tax law and relevant case law, but we will also explore the practical aspects of the business lawyer's role in structuring the transaction, identifying, explaining and negotiating the business/legal terms, negotiating the acquisition agreements and getting the deal done. The course materials will consist of traditional statutory and case materials and explanatory text prepared by the instructors, but will also include "real" legal documents, such as merger/stock purchase/asset purchase agreements, non-competition and employment agreements and regulatory filings. PREREQUISITE: Corporations or permission of the instructor. NOTE: Professor Marks' section of this course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 990: Feminist Jurisprudence (S)
  This seminar examines the evolution of feminist legal theory and its critique of the U.S. legal system and its norms. It takes up various debates within feminist jurisprudence and examines its application to many contemporary issues of law and public policy. The seminar provides an introduction to feminist jurisprudence and the various “generations” of such scholarship, as well as its relationship to other forms of legal theory. Students will learn about several prominent strands of feminist legal theory, including liberal (or sameness), relational (or difference), radical (or dominance), Critical Race, postmodern, and “Third Wave.” We will consider the relationship between feminist jurisprudence and other forms of critical theory, such as Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, and masculinities theory. The seminar will assess debates within feminist jurisprudence concerning how best to understand gender, the ideals of sex equality and equal citizenship, questions of sameness and difference between women and men, and over whether, in view of differences among women based on class, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and the like, it is desirable or possible to speak about “women” – or “men” – as a meaningful category. Topics considered will include, depending on student interest, some of the following: legal regulation of sexuality, marriage, reproduction, and family; work/life conflict; employment discrimination (including sexual harassment); political leadership and representation; pornography; poverty and social welfare policy; violence against women; war and military service; international human rights; and the debate over multiculturalism and its impact on sex equality. The format of the seminar is primarily discussion, with some lecturing. The written requirement may be satisfied either by a research paper (which may be used to satisfy the certification requirement) or three shorter papers on assigned questions or a take-home exam. Students will also write several short reaction papers about the readings. **A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 991: International Human Rights (S)
  This seminar provides a detailed overview of the substantive and procedural aspects of international human rights law. Topics may include: • Fundamental rights to freedom, family, and bodily integrity, as well as other rights to health and education, cultural expression, and the like. • International and regional human rights instruments and systems, the obligations of states and individuals to uphold human rights, and remedies for violations. • The law of war (jus ad bellum), the use of military force and the doctrines of pre-emptive self-defense and “humanitarian” intervention. • International crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. • International terrorism, indeterminate detention and the use of military tribunals for alleged terrorists. • The intersections of human rights with issues of corporate law, business interests, and the work of corporate lawyers and attorneys in private practice. • The professional and ethical obligations of lawyers with respect to human rights issues. There will be some comparative analysis of international and domestic laws and frameworks. A common theme throughout is the intersection of national and international legal norms with the realms of national and international politics, and the extent to which one or the other is better suited to address the serious challenges faced by the international community. Grading: The final grade will be based on a course paper. PREREQUISITE: None, but students lacking familiarity with international institutions and general concepts of public international law may find themselves performing additional background reading at times. RESTRICTION: Students who previously enrolled in Human Rights Law (JD 875) may not register for this seminar. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 992: Health Insurance, Health Reform and the Law (S)
  The seminar examines recent and pending federal and state health legislation to identify changes in laws and legal principles governing health insurance and health benefit programs in the U.S. Special attention is paid to Massachusetts as a model for federal legislation and the comparative advantages of federal and state governance. Students explore the role(s) of insurance in the health system by analyzing and comparing federal and state laws governing different types of health benefit plans (including indemnity insurance, consumer choice, and health promotion plans), and how reforms affect current law, including state licensure, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Topics include basic concepts of insurance; accepting, managing and shifting financial risk; individual and employer mandates; insurance exchanges; contracting with providers; designing and administering plans; defining benefits; and remedies for breach of contract and negligent care. PREREQUISITE: JD 867 (Health Law) or LW 751 (Public Health Law at BUSPH) or permission of instructor. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the instructor's permission. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 995: Art Law (S)
  This seminar will consider selected legal issues concerning unique art objects and artifacts. The problems that lawyers face when they deal with art cut across traditional legal boundaries. The seminar will explore the sometimes conflicting rights and interests of artists, collectors, dealers, museums and the public, from the perspective of the lawyers who advise them and of the law makers to whom they sometimes appeal. A paper is required. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 998: Health Care Transactions (S)
  This course is similar to Deals (JD 904) but centered in the health care sector. Partners and general counsel from leading firms will participate for the deals they were personally involved in. After an introduction to joint venture theory in the context of health care, everyone in the class examines 2 transactions: a physician recruiting agreement and an ambulatory surgery center JV. The remainder of the course will involve 5 – 6 complex health care transactions, using actual documents from recent deals. For these transactions, you will work in teams to analyze one of the transactions, and will present your conclusions to the lawyers who closed the deal. Your individual papers will be based on a topic related to your transaction. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. **A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.

Note that this information may change at any time.

Back to full list of School of Law