Courses

• LAW JD 938: American Legislative Practice: Interns/Seminar
  The American Legislative Practice: Internship option is a one-semester clinical program. Students are required to apply and be accepted to the program before they register. The Internship option is offered in both the spring and fall semesters in 2011/2012. The American Legislative Practice seminar will cover subjects that affect the legislative process including: constitutional interpretation by legislatures, theories of representation, legislative organization and rules, lobbying, legislative oversight powers, and legislature-executive agency relationships. The seminar component counts for three graded credits. COREQUISITE: American Legislative Practice: Interns/Fieldwork(JD937).
• LAW JD 939: Patent Prosecution (S)
  This seminar will examine various aspects of U.S. patent prosecution, including basic procedures, strategies, ethical considerations, and patent reform legislation. Related proceedings including reexamination, interference, and opposition will be discussed, as will certain aspects of international prosecution. PREREQUISITE-COREQUISITE: Intellectual Property, Patent Law, or permission of the instructor. 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. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. ** 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 941: Corporate Governance (S)
  This seminar will address corporate governance issues from an historical as well as current perspective. In addressing the legal framework of corporate governance for the modern U.S. corporation, we will consider the implications for corporate governance posed by different players, including investors, independent directors, corporate management, employees and other stakeholders. Throughout our discussions, we will seek to take into account the roles played by courts, legislatures, and regulatory bodies, as well as the challenges and responsibilities of lawyers who advise their clients in various settings. In addition to discussion of legal academic writings, cases and relevant laws, we will engage in a number of role-playing exercises in class. For example, students may be called upon to play various roles in a simulated annual meeting of shareholders involving a campaign to withhold votes to elect a company's board chairman or to play the role of legal advisers to independent directors of a company's board who are called upon to negotiate the compensation of the company's chief executive officer. There is no exam in this course. Each student will be required to write one short paper (up to 5 pages) that will cover a topic for a given class and will be responsible for leading (or co-leading with one or more other students) the discussion on that topic for a substantial portion of that class. In this regard, the student or students responsible for leading the discussion in a given class will also be asked to identify and post an additional reading for that class. Each student will also be required to write a longer paper of publishable quality due at the end of the semester. The professor will consult with each student at the outset, when a research topic is chosen, and during other stages of the research and writing process. PREREQUISITE: Corporations. RECOMMENDED: Securities Regulation (either prior to or concurrent with this course.) 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 942: English Legal History
  This course will cover the history of the common law in England from the late twelfth century to the time of the American Revolution. We will study the development of the legal profession, its doctrines, and its techniques in five areas: procedure, criminal law, property, contract, and tort. The readings emphasize primary sources, and students will give presentations in teams on historical documents handed out in class. Students can either write a research paper or complete a take-home examination. Research papers may, but need not, fulfill the Writing Requirement.
• LAW JD 945: Trial Advocacy (Advanced)
  This class will be limited to 12 third-year students who have completed an evidence course, trial advocacy course, and have viewed "My Cousin Vinny ." Invited to participate in teaching this class are prominent members of the Massachusetts trial bar, a storyteller and, from time to time other interesting guests. The class focuses on the strategy, technique, and trial of complex multiparty cases, and the analysis of sophisticated evidentiary problems. NOTE: All classes are held at the school except for the final trial of a complex case which is held at the Suffolk County Courthouse and which takes place during two regularly scheduled class periods. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. *** A student who fails either to attend the initial meeting of Trial Advocacy (Advanced), 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 946: Criminal Law
  Examines the basic principles of substantive criminal law, including the justifications for punishment, the essential elements of offenses, mitigating and exculpating defenses, and different forms of criminal liability.
• 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. 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. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. ** 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 954: Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights (S)
  Health law, bioethics, and human rights are converging in challenging ways, especially at the national level (in both legislation and constitutional adjudication), and the international law level. This seminar will explore the convergence and its meaning for the law and society through specific case studies, including post-9/11 emergency public health declarations; bioterrorism; use of physicians in torture and death penalty; global governance of synthetic biology, genetic engineering and the new reproductive technologies; and the meaning of "the right to health" in the wake of the litigation against the Affordable Care Act. PREREQUISITE: HEALTH LAW or with permission of the instructor. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. ** 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 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 class satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. GRADING NOTICE: All students will be graded on a CR/NC/H basis. ATTENDANCE 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 upperclass 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. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may elect to use this course to fulfill the upper-class writing requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** 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 960: Health Care Law & Economics (S)
  We will use approaches from health economics to explore topics in health care law, in more depth than we attempted in the basic Health Law class. Topics include Information asymmetries; agency costs (fiduciary duties); moral hazard; adverse selection & risk pooling. This seminar is jointly taught with a graduate-level health economics class in the BU Department of Economics, with Professor Randall Ellis. No prior training in economics is expected from the law students; you will be graded on a separate curve; and the class may be taken CR/NC/H. Short reaction papers will account for half of your grade; the remainder will be a 15 page paper. Longer papers may be submitted if you seek certification. ** 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 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 962: Forensic Mental Health Issues for Lawyers (S)
  Attorneys routinely deal with forensic mental health issues in the practice of criminal, tort, juvenile delinquency, child protection, civil rights, disability, employment and family law. Familiarity with the law alone is rarely adequate for effective advocacy in these areas of law when mental health issues arise. This course surveys the intersection between psychiatry and law with a focus on applications for legal practice. Topics include: competence to stand trial, criminal responsibility, competence to be executed, involuntary civil commitment, child protection and divorce child custody, commitment of sexual offenders, mental health malpractice, emotional distress claims, and use of mental health expert testimony in the post-Daubert era. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. ** 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 at the School of Law on 9/5/2012. 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.

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