Courses
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LAW JD 893: Research and Writing Seminar
This two-credit Legal Research and Writing seminar is required for LL.M. students in the American Law program. It is specifically designed to introduce foreign lawyers to the basic principles of American legal writing. In small class settings and individual conferences, students receive guidance on drafting and editing memoranda and agreements. Their work is critiqued and rewritten. The research component of the seminar trains students to locate cases, statutes and secondary material through indexing systems and the latest computer technology. Research assignments are integrated into writing assignments -- exposing students to the methods of US legal analyses -- so that by the end of the term, students obtain the skills needed to write memoranda appropriate for submission to US law firms. -
LAW JD 894: Trial Advocacy
This course introduces the student to the structure of the trial process and the skills used by trial lawyers. The topics covered range from opening statements to closing arguments, including conducting direct and cross-examination of witnesses, making and meeting objections, introducing documents and discovery into evidence, and using hypothetical questions with expert witnesses. Students must perform simulated exercises and will try one or more civil or criminal cases before a jury. Visit the web for more information on the instructors. PREREQUISITE: EVIDENCE. Students taking TRIAL ADVOCACY in the second semester of their third year may take EVIDENCE as a COREQUISITE. Students who have taken part in a clinic may not subsequently enroll in Trial Advocacy. NOTE: This class 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 895: Children and the Law
This course examines legal issues relating to children and how various legal, political, social, and economic institutions shape childhood and child development. A central focus is the allocation of authority among the child, the family, and the state: how the legal system attempts to reconcile commitments to the fundamental constitutional liberty of parents, state authority for promoting the well-being and protecting the interests of children, and the rights and interests of children themselves. Topics considered include: the scope of parental liberty as a constitutional right, children's rights (including human rights) and obligations and the debate over children's rights, education (including student speech and anti-bullying laws), defining and creating the parent-child relationship (including adoption), parental discipline of children, child abuse and neglect, foster care, medical treatment of and medical decision-making by children, child pornography and "sexting," sexual and reproductive rights and responsibilities of adolescents, juvenile delinquency and the juvenile justice system, and the legal representation of children. Students have two options for the written requirement: a final exam or three papers on assigned topics. There is also a limited research paper option (the paper will satisfy the Upperclass Writing Requirement). In addition, there will be one pass/fail skills exercise and reflection paper. NOTE: This course satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. -
LAW JD 897: Consumer Law
An examination of case law, statutes, and regulations governing transactions entered into for personal or family purposes rather than business or professional ones. Topics include theories of consumer protection, advertising, disclosure requirements, credit reporting and access to credit, quality of goods and services, billing disputes, collection efforts, and methods of enforcing consumer rights. This course might be of both professional and personal interest. -
LAW JD 898: Criminal Trial Practice II/Defenders (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to 3L students who have applied to and been accepted into the Criminal Clinical Program and who will begin the program in Fall 2011. This course will meet in the second semester for those students who have completed Criminal Trial Practice I. Students in the Defender Program will be assigned to represent indigent defendants charged with criminal offenses in either the Boston Municipal Court or the Boston Juvenile Court. In both locations, the students will act as defense counsel under the supervision of a clinical professor. The work in court will provide students with exposure to lawyering experiences such as investigation, interviewing, counseling and trial advocacy. Primary emphasis is on the development of trial skills, and students will spend the first part of the semester acting as defense counsel in misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity. Later in the semester, representation in felony cases is possible, as well as exposure to a number of other aspects of the criminal justice system. At all times, of course, case assignments are based upon an individual assessment of a student's progress and demonstrated competence. Students in the Defender Program must be available to be in court two days a week, from Monday through Thursday. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. -
LAW JD 899: Criminal Trial Practice II/Prosecutors (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to 3L students who have applied to and been accepted into the Criminal Clinical Program and who will begin the program in Fall 2011. This course will meet in the second semester for those students who have completed Criminal Trial Practice I. Students in the Prosecutor Program will act as prosecutors in the Quincy District Court, for the Norfolk County District Attorney's office. The students will have responsibility for all aspects of the cases they are assigned, under the supervision of the clinical professor. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of experiences, including investigation, interviewing and trial advocacy. Students will spend the first part of the semester representing the Commonwealth in misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity. Later in the semester, representation in felony cases is possible, as well as having an opportunity to appear before a six-person jury session. At all times, of course, case assignments are based upon an individual assessment of a student's progress and demonstrated competence. Students in the Prosecutor Program must be available to be in court two days a week, Monday through Thursday. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. -
LAW JD 901: Appellate Advocacy Program Director
This class is restricted to third-year students who applied and were accepted as directors of the BU Law Moot Court programs (Esdaile, Stone and Albers). NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. -
LAW JD 903: Supreme Court 2011 Term: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Habeas Cases (S)
This course will focus on criminal procedure and criminal law cases that are currently on the docket of the Supreme Court. Each week, the class will read a substantial amount of materials in preparation for one case, including its lower court opinion, the briefs from each party, two sets of amicus briefs, and a Supreme Court opinion drafted by a member of the class. Students will also be expected to read the most significant Supreme Court precedents involving each case. Prior to each class session, each student will be responsible for writing a 3-5 page memo critiquing the readings of the week. Students will also be responsible for drafting one 20-25 page Supreme Court opinion to be distributed to and discussed by the class. NOTE: Criminal Procedure is not a prerequisite for this course. 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 905: Entertainment Law (S)
This course will focus on the varied legal doctrines that influence both the business and practice of Entertainment Law. Some of the primary topics include issues involving publicity rights and the use and control of image, celebrity and promotion issues, defamation and free speech, invasion of privacy, copyright including infringement and dispute and other general contractual relations surrounding the entertainment field. The course will also explore the practical aspects of entertainment law such as complicated litigation issues involving jurisdictional and venue concerns, client counseling and negotiations and other ethical concerns raised in the course of representation of your client. This course will not focus on sports entertainment or any other specific labor-related organizations. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based upon papers and class participation. 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 wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment. -
LAW JD 908: Judging in the American Legal System (S)
This seminar explores the professional role of judges, both state and federal, in our American legal system. It invites analysis of the distinctive features of our judiciary, its multiple roles in legal determinations under stare decisis , in statutory interpretation, in fact finding (both at trial and in other contexts), in the many interactions with the direct democracy of the American jury, in administration and case management, and in contacts with the legislative and executive branches. 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 910: Law & Ethics of Medical Research (S)(formerly Medical Research and the Law (S))
This seminar will focus on the intersection between cutting edge medical research, law and ethics. How do law and public policy advance the goals of medical research while protecting those who volunteer to be human subjects? Who can legally consent to participate in research? Who is responsible for ensuring the potential benefits of the research outweigh the potential risks in conducting the research? How are conflicts of interest managed between the goals of treatment versus the goals of research or the financial sponsorship of a study and scientific integrity of the clinical trial? Should human subjects be able to profit from the results of research they participate in? The seminar will also take an in depth look at legal trends of property and gift law concepts applied to tissue banked for research as well as an overview of the regulatory and legal considerations in genetic and stem cell research. This seminar should be particularly engaging for students interested in health law, medical ethics and public policy. There are no prerequisites for this seminar. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. 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 913: Criminal Trial Practice II (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to 3L students who started the Criminal Clinic in Spring 2011. Criminal Trial Practice II will consider advanced issues in criminal practice, such as motions to suppress and sentencing advocacy. In conjunction with their class work, these students will be assigned to either the Prosecutor or Defender component of the clinic. Each student will be expected to devote at least two mornings a week to their work in court. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. -
LAW JD 914: Real Estate Finance and Tax (S)
This class will study the various forms of real estate financing, including conventional mortgage financing, hybrid debt-equity financing and "off-balance sheet" financing. The focus of the seminar is the structuring of complex real estate transactions with emphasis on the tax and accounting results. We will consider the economic and tax effect of various forms of real estate financing on owners, users and lenders and analyze major tax issues, including (a) distinctions between equity and debt, (b) distinctions between ownership and leasing, (c) original issue discount problems, (d) Section 467 rent agreement problems, and (e) tax-free exchange problems. We will also analyze major accounting issues, including (a) FASB No. 13 relating to off-balance sheet treatment of financing, (b) FASB Nos. 66 and 98 relating to accounting treatments of a sale of real estate and (c) the "synthetic" lease. We will also cover the various forms of ownership of real estate, including limited partnerships and REITs . Seminar paper is required and will be an in-depth study and analysis of complex tax and accounting issues. PREREQUISITE : Introduction to Federal Income Taxation. 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 915: Law & Development (S)
This seminar explores the use of the legal order to solve the problems of poverty, vulnerability and poor governance in the developing and transitional countries. It seeks to help participants not only to acquire knowledge about the uses of the legal order in development and transition, but also to develop some skill in decision-making about what the law in those countries ought to be. In consultation with the instructors, a participant selects a specific social problem in a developing or transitional country of choice. The participant drafts a bill addressing that problem, and writes a research report explaining how the proposed bill will help to ameliorate it. For the first half of the seminar, participants discuss selected readings; for the second half, participants present their bills and papers for class discussion. 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 916: Advanced Constitutional Law: The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment provides that, among other things, no State shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ... nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This course will explore the meaning that the U.S. Supreme Court has given to these relatively innocuous words. Specifically, the first half of the course will be an examination of the birth, death, reincarnation, and continued life of substantive due process. The second half of the course will be an examination of the Court's equal protection jurisprudence. -
LAW JD 917: Constitution & Foreign Affairs (S)
This seminar will examine the constitutional dimension of foreign affairs. We shall begin by reviewing the main theories of foreign affairs and throughout the course we shall attempt to understand how these theories are manifested in domestic legal materials. We shall ask how the constitution of the United States structures the national decision making concerning foreign policy, and place special emphasis on matters of war and peace. The respective powers of the executive and legislative branches as well as the jurisprudence developed by the courts in these matters will be discussed. Students may fulfill the Upper-class writing requirement through this seminar. ** 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 918: International Tax (S)
This seminar examines U.S. income tax laws and policies relating to the taxation of foreign income of U.S. persons and U.S. income of foreign persons. No prior exposure to international taxation is necessary. The readings for this course will consist primarily of law review articles and legislative materials from both the United States and other jurisdictions. Topics will include residence, source of income, elimination of double taxation, taxation of nonresidents, anti-avoidance measures, and income tax treaties. The prerequisite for this course is Federal Income Taxation. Each student must complete a final paper. NOTE: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. RESTRICTION: Students may not register for both International Taxation I (JD781/TX906) and this seminar. **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 919: Negotiated Mergers & Acquisitions (S)
This seminar introduces students to the principal business and legal issues found in and raised by mergers and acquisitions transactions and highlights the significant role that lawyers play in structuring, managing and effecting these complex transactions. The seminar will begin with an overview of how and why mergers and acquisitions take place. The course will then cover the mergers and acquisitions process, including deal-making strategies the corporate law affords, and will proceed through all aspects of the life of an M&A deal from inception to closing (and beyond). The seminar will cover how M&A lawyers negotiate and document the inherent risk allocations of business combinations. We will examine deal terms and structures, risk defining and shifting devices, and the role of the lawyer in managing the process. We will also highlight the due diligence process, stockholder relationships, fiduciary duties and securities laws considerations, and liquidity considerations. Theoretical readings will be balanced against practical articles and commentary, recent court decisions and model deal documents. The assigned reading will include materials from real deals and transaction documents. Students are encouraged to analyze and discuss the real-world problems faced by parties, legal counselors and courts called upon to judge such transactions. The seminar will be highlighted by guest lectures by experts in international M&A and Delaware jurisprudence. Students will be required to participate in mock negotiations/discussions. In addition, there will be a short final exam. Grades will be based on class participation and written materials (70%), which may include required email submissions prior to class and mock negotiations/discussions during class, and a final exam (30%). PREREQUISITE: Corporations (May be waived with an instructor's permission.) NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class 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 921: Negotiation (S)
This seminar will examine the process of negotiation through practical exercises and discussion of theory. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (JD881). NOTE: This class 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 922: Constitutional Theory (S)
This course will examine contemporary controversies concerning the nature of constitutional interpretation and the proper scope of judicial review in our constitutional democracy. It will use a series of problems or debates about certain controversial rights -- e.g., right to privacy, reproductive rights, right to marry, right to die, right to welfare, and right to equal citizenship -- to assess several theories of constitutional interpretation. The readings will illustrate the theories of originalism, reinforcing representative democracy, and protecting fundamental rights, as well as civic republicanism, progressive, and feminist theories. Authors will include Robert Bork, Ronald Dworkin, John Hart Ely, Catharine MacKinnon, Frank Michelman, Michael Sandel, Antonin Scalia, Cass Sunstein, Laurence Tribe, Robin West, and others. ** 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.
