Courses

• LAW JD 949: The Challenge of Free Speech (S)
  This seminar will focus on equality and civility based challenges to free speech and association, reviewing the political theories and cultural trends that underlie regulation of presumptively low value, offensive or anti-egalitarian speech and discriminatory associations. We'll explore some comparative approaches to outlawing hate speech and pornography, as well as First Amendment case law; campus speech code cases and controversies; concepts of group libel, harassment, and threats; conflicts between anti-discrimination policies and associational rights; and public debates positing a right not to be offended, such as fights over the proposed Park 51 community center near Ground Zero, or the burning of the Quran. Are free speech and association normative or merely instrumental values? Is allegedly hateful or offensive speech a form of action, or actionable discrimination? What empirical evidence of harm justifies prohibitions of First Amendment freedoms? Does equality require protecting members of historically disadvantaged groups from psychic or emotional harm posed by presumptively hateful speech or discriminatory associations? Should respect for diversity limit criticism of diverse beliefs? ** 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 950: Homicide Investigations and Trials: Theory and Practice (S)
  This seminar will focus upon the substantive law of homicide, as well as the practical aspects of actual homicide investigations and trials: crime scene interpretation; DNA analysis; autopsies and related forensic evidence; expert testimony, particularly in the area of psychiatry and criminal responsibility; jury considerations; ethical concerns; and the role of the media. Students will have the opportunity to study actual murder cases, visit local crime laboratories and courtrooms, and learn prosecution, defense, and judicial perspectives on various contemporary issues arising in murder investigations and trials. 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. 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 951: Comparative Law (S)
  This seminar is an introduction to comparative law's themes and methods. Accordingly, the seminar is organized in two parts. The readings selected for the first part present theoretical articulations and practical applications of the main methodological approaches relied upon by comparative lawyers. Participants will become acquainted with the "mechanics", as well as the broader implications, of the various ways of comparing: functionalism, structuralism, culturalism, postmodern neo-culturalism and critical comparative law. The materials discussed in the second part explore how these different methodologies play out in recent and heated comparative law debates. Participants will be asked to reflect over the common law-civil law dichotomy and its implications for the debate over the European Civil Code as well as for projects of harmonization, such as the World Bank's "Legal Origins" study; the circulation of legal rules and institutions and the export of constitutional models in Eastern Europe and Iraq; the ambiguous relation between US and European legal cultures and the debate over different ideas of "privacy"; the "West" and the "Orient" in family law reform. ** 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 952: Copyright Law
  This course is a policy-oriented study of federal copyright law as it pertains to works of art, motion pictures, music, literature, sculpture, design of useful objects, and software. The course will concentrate on the scope of copyright protected subject-matter, the exclusive rights granted to creators of "original works of authorship", the nature of an infringement action, and defenses such as fair use. The course also examines some of the related state rights, such as the right of publicity, the tort of misappropriation, and purported contracts (EULAs) created by click-wrap & shrinkwrap. We will examine the extent to which such state causes of action are pre-empted.
• LAW JD 953: International Intellectual Property (S)
  International law is increasingly important to domestic lawyers every day. This is as true in intellectual property as in any field. Regulation of intellectual property is a cornerstone in the globalization of trade and commerce. In order to harmonize intellectual property laws, more and more countries sign up to multilateral agreements regulating these laws. However, jurisdictional differences still exist and affect this process. This seminar examines international agreements and comparative laws on intellectual property and ways in which the intellectual property laws of the United States relate to those of other nations. Topics will include securing and enforcing rights in trademarks, copyrights and patents under international regimes and in various jurisdictions, and selected topics such as database protection, geographical indications, the interplay between intellectual property, international trade and culture, and Internet-related issues. The seminar is designed to afford students who intend to practice in IP an acquaintance with key international IP principles and policy issues. The seminar will impart understanding in these areas using materials such as treaties, cases and commentary. The seminar will treat international and European intellectual property separately, and will focus on the major international systems related to each substantive IP area. The seminar is open to students who have completed or are enrolled in an IP survey course, or to LLMs with some intellectual property experience. 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. NOTE: THIS SEMINAR MEETS SEPTEMBER 6 THROUGH OCTOBER 25. ** 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 955: Advanced ADR (S)
  This seminar series will offer students the opportunity to actually mediate and arbitrate a specific case through 2 party role playing with Mr. Weiner as Judge, Mediator and Arbitrator. During the course, both sides will consider the advisability of mediation and its timing, and argue arbitrability in the context of a motion to compel arbitration before a court. The objectives of the series are for the students to begin to develop an understanding of the strategic, tactical and legal considerations of mediation and arbitration, and the advocacy skills required in mediating and arbitrating a dispute. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work and classroom performance. There will be no final exam. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upperclass Writing Requirement. 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.
• LAW JD 956: Pre-trial Advocacy: Civil and Criminal
  This is pre-trial advocacy, both civil and criminal, from soup to nuts. Learn how to prepare for argument and draft pleadings and supporting documentation. Each class you will be on your feet engaging in mock oral argument in support of those pleadings. On the civil side you will learn how to seek and oppose injunctive relief. You will master discovery practice under the Rules of Civil Procedure including practice involving interrogatories, requests for production of documents and depositions. You will also learn about motion practice including motions to dismiss and for summary judgment. On the criminal side you will argue bail matters and learn about discovery under the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Motions to dismiss due to insufficient Grand Jury presentation and motions to suppress statements and other evidence will be explored. Plea bargaining and guilty pleas will also be discussed. We will deal, too, with practices applicable to both the civil and criminal side including motions to sever, motions in limine , voir dire and jury impanelment . PREREQUISITE: EVIDENCE. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails either to attend the initial meeting of a section of Trial Advocacy, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the registrar, WILL BE administratively dropped from the section. Students who are on a wait list for a section are required to attend the first section meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 957: Law and Sexual Minorities (S)
  This seminar will consider the legal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered citizens. In particular, the seminar will cover evolving family structures, privacy rights, the military, employment discrimination, and the tension between protecting the rights of victims of discrimination and those who discriminate. Students will write a research paper or an appellate brief and will prepare an oral presentation. Students may satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement with their paper. ** 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 958: Effective & Ethical Depositions (S)
  The purpose of this seminar is to teach students how to take and defend effective and ethical depositions. The course involves both a simulated deposition component and a professional responsibility component. The seminar also satisfies the professional responsibility requirement. SIMULATED DEPOSITION COURSE COMPONENT: Students will be divided into firms representing either the Plaintiff or the Defendants in a gender discrimination and defamation case brought by an attorney who has been denied partnership. The students will prepare and perform depositions of lay and expert witnesses and gather experience with obtaining and developing facts, preserving testimony, and the uses of depositions. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY COURSE COMPONENT: The simulated context offers the opportunity to explore several professional responsibility issues that arise naturally in deposition practice. These issues emerge largely because of the dual professional roles of an attorney: zealous representative and officer of the court. Some of the more timely issues involve proper witness preparation, improper witness coaching, inadvertent waiver of privilege, and abusive tactics. WRITING AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS: Each week students will write a short one or two page comment on the professional responsibility issues raised in class. At the end of the course, students will perform a videotaped deposition rather than take a final written exam. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT: Students may elect to fulfill the upper-class writing requirement with the permission of the instructor. 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 959: International Business Agreements: Negotiating, Structuring and Drafting (S)
  This seminar will provide an overview of the private dimensions of negotiating and drafting international business agreements, and specifically on the contractual aspects. Students will gain hands on experience in structuring, drafting and analyzing various international business agreements and documents including global joint venture agreements and privatization provisions, sales, distribution and franchise agreements, international development agreements, share purchase agreements, letters of intent and technology licensing agreements. The design of the class will assist students in identifying critical legal issues and techniques likely to affect the outcome of international business negotiations including protecting against political, economic and legal risks. Emphasis will be placed on the important differences between international and domestic agreements from the American law perspective. Grades will be based on class participation and a final research paper. At the option of the student a final examination can be taken in lieu of a research paper. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. 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.
• LAW JD 961: Housing Law (S)
  Over the last fifty years housing law has evolved in a number of significant ways. Where once a lease was primarily a transfer of an interest in land, it is now primarily a contract. Where formerly a landlord could rent or not rent to whomever the landlord chose, a variety of federal and state anti-discrimination laws now limit the landlord's unbridled choices. Rent control laws now limit the ability of landlords to raise rents, to evict tenants, to convert their buildings to condominiums, etc. Public housing and governmentally subsidized housing has generated much heated debate as well as litigation over such issues as the location of the developments or the number of subsidized units in a given city, handicapped discrimination, racial discrimination, and drug evictions. Finally, landlords now find that they are increasingly liable in tort because of claims of inadequate security, lead poisoning, etc. This seminar will focus on the various policy, legislative, and social aspects of the issues surrounding rent control, public housing, subsidized housing, condominiums, housing discrimination, zoning (as it affects housing), environmental problems in housing and premises liability. Student presentations and papers are required. 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 waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 963: Licensing Law and Practice Workshop (S)
  The number of transactions worldwide involving intellectual property has skyrocketed in the past ten years, as increasing numbers of businesses seek to monetize their patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret assets. As a result, licensing has developed into distinct legal practice. This seminar will focus on the various practical legal and business issues that arise in patent, software, trade secret and trademark licensing (and - time permitting - music licensing) including contract law and intellectual property concerns as well as the effect of antitrust, bankruptcy and international law on these transactions. Prior coursework in intellectual property law would be useful, but is not required, as the course will include a segment on IP basics. The course will not include an exam or paper; instead, the course will be arranged in a workshop format, in which students will draft, edit, and revise various license agreements and related documents in response to case studies that are based on actual transactions. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 10 students. ** 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 965: Trust and Honesty in Law, Business and Public Policy
  This is a Course for law and graduate business students, in which students of both disciplines teach, and negotiate with each other in the context of real-life situations. The Course offers an opportunity for students of both disciplines to learn together the approach of each other's discipline and environment. The teaching book, which Frankel and Fagan wrote, contains nine real-life cases (modeled after business-school format) in which law, trust, and honesty, were ignored with catastrophic results. The modules contain a role-play in which students would negotiate the contracts, control mechanisms, or other measures to avoid future disastrous results. The Course focuses on the nature of the particular businesses, the culture of the organizations and management, and the applicable laws. It emphasizes the approach in each discipline in seeking solutions to the problems. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 966: Gender, Law and Policy Colloquium (S)
  This seminar provides students a chance to study contemporary issues of gender, law, and policy through the format of a series of presentations of works-in-progress by legal scholars actively engaged in new and important research on such issues. Many legal and social problems implicate gender and gender equality. Gender remains a significant category of analysis in numerous substantive areas of law. Gender equality is also a commitment of domestic law and international human rights law, but gender inequality persists. We examine these issues through a series of seven presentations in which scholars with expertise in the area of gender, law, and public policy present scholarly works-in-progress for discussion with the instructor, students, and interested faculty from the law school. In alternating weeks, when there is no outside speaker, the instructor and students will discuss the paper that is to be delivered the following week, as well as relevant background reading. Topics will vary year to year, depending on the speakers, but in the past have included: anti-discrimination law, criminal law, employment law, family law, First Amendment (speech and religion), gender identity issues (including transgender rights), international human rights, the intersection of race and gender, masculinity studies, privacy law, reproductive rights, theories of sex difference, and work-family balance. Students will write a short reflection paper on each scholarly paper and one longer paper (10 pages) about one of the seven works. NOTE: This seminar does not 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 967: Advanced Trial Practice (S)
  This intensive seminar takes an integrated approach to civil and criminal procedure, evidence, and trial practice to teach the current trial techniques at work in our courts. Taught at the United States District Court itself, the course involves in-court observations, specific critique of actual trial presentations, and seminar discussion of all aspects of procedure, trial preparation, evidence, and trial practice. A term paper on some aspect of the trial process is required. While neither evidence nor trial practice is a formal prerequisite for this course, they are recommended. The goal of the seminar is to enhance the quality of judgment, exposition, and fact-law teaching a lawyer exercises on behalf of the client in the trial environment. ** The first class will meet 4:30-6:30 on 9/7/2011 at the School of Law. Subsequent classes will meet on Wednesdays 12:00-2:30 p.m. in Judge Young's chambers. 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. 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.
• LAW JD 968: Immigration Law
  This class will cover the immigration laws of the United States, including the administrative and regulatory framework of the United States agencies charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws. The topics covered by this course include the power of the Congress to regulate immigration; the effect of politics on immigration policy; nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications and visa processing; the law of asylum; the effect of criminal acts on immigration status; grounds of removal from the United States; relief from deportation, immigration court representation; and the law of naturalization and derived citizenship.
• 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 12 students. NOTE: This seminar does not 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 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 976: Legal Aspects of Capital Formation and Allocation: The Issuer's Perspective (S)
  This course will analyze the legal issues that arise in connection with the transactions that occur over the course of a company's life cycle. Beginning with the funding of an entrepreneur's dream, and continuing through an initial public offering, a take-private acquisition by a private equity fund, an out-of-court debt restructuring and ending in a post-reorganization public company, students will develop an understanding of the legal, business and regulatory challenges that companies encounter over time. Students will assume the role of outside counsel in advising a client as it contemplates each stage of its development, as well as roles as counsel advising venture and private equity firms and distressed debt holders. Guest speakers from leading Boston-based legal, business and investment firms will assist in focusing class discussion. Students will be expected to develop a working familiarity with capital structures, deal terms, financing arrangements and the roles of various public and private market participants in the subject transactions. Negotiation of a venture capital term sheet, drafting of an IPO prospectus, analysis of a going-private transaction and navigation of an out-of-court debt restructuring will provide an introduction to the key issues facing a corporate lawyer advising the issuer. A case study will unfold over the course of the semester, providing the outline of each stage of legal and business development. Students will review model agreements, court decisions and legal articles in seeking to identify salient issues and potential solutions available to an issuer. Student performance will be evaluated based on memoranda analyzing issues raised, preparation of documents relating to each phase of company development (initial funding, IPO, going private, restructuring) and class participation. PREREQUISITE: Corporations is a pre-requisite. Basic accounting and finance literacy will be necessary to benefit fully from the course's focus. ** 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.

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