Courses

• LAW JD 771: Health, Poverty and Law (S)
  Persistent, severe health disparities are increasing, with serious implications for the nation's health and wellbeing. This course will explore how medical-legal partnership can tackle the root causes of health disparities -- complex and multidimensional social problems such as food insecurity and unhealthy housing. Students will learn how law and policy impacts health, how legal remedies can address social determinants of health, and how lawyers can play a role in the health promotion of vulnerable populations. Opportunities for practical interdisciplinary problem solving will be provided throughout the semester. Three of the course sessions will be taught jointly with students from the Boston University School of Medicine at the Medical Campus. NOTE: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing 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 772: Deals Skills
  This course will introduce students to business and legal issues encountered in a variety of business transactions. The course will focus on the client's expectations of counsel, the role of the lawyer in communicating with opposing counsel and others within the lawyer's own office, and the preparation and review of terms of agreements. There will be a minimum of lecturing and the course will emphasize in-class negotiation workshops and drafting based on sample transactions. Many assignments will require cooperative work by teams of students. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 18 students. Preference will be given to students who have completed Contract Drafting. NOTE: This course satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. GRADING NOTICE: All students will be graded CR/NC/H.
• LAW JD 775: Mental Health Law (S)
  This seminar introduces students to the law governing issues of mental health and the relationship between law and psychiatry. After providing an overview of mental disabilities and their treatment, the seminar will cover topics such as informed consent, access to care, criminal liability and the death penalty, civil commitment, anti-discrimination protections, and the impact of mental disability on families. We will consider whether the law adequately reflects psychiatric approaches to mental health and whether and how the law should meet the needs of people struggling with mental disabilities. In addition to case law and legal scholarship, reading materials may cover other disciplines, primarily psychiatry. Students will be required to give class presentations and write one substantial research paper. ** 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 776: International Intellectual Property Dispute Resolution (S)
  The seminar will explore and discuss the challenges of solving international intellectual property disputes before state courts and other dispute settlement bodies (including the Geneva-based WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and WTO dispute settlement body, as well as international investment treaty arbitration bodies). It will offer the opportunity to analyze both substantive intellectual property law issues as well as procedural law and enforcement issues (including conflict of laws) from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective in the light of real cases and materials coming from various jurisdictions (particularly North America, Europe and Asia). The fundamental aim of the seminar is to develop the skills of the students in identifying the challenges of international IP dispute resolution and in developing efficient strategies in order to solve them. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: 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. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This class meets for six weeks beginning March 20, 2013 and continuing through April 24, 2013. ** 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 777: Education Law and Policy (S)
  This seminar considers the legal and policy framework of K-12 public education. During the first two-thirds of the meetings, we will study school desegregation; school finance; achievement gap and equity reforms; school choice, charters, and vouchers; single-sex public education and other identity-based schooling; standardized testing; and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. We will give particular consideration to questions of equity and achievement. We will then create working groups that will develop a topic for further research, evaluation, and problem-solving, and present their work in person and in writing to the class. **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 778: Legal Ethics and CSR for Corporate Lawyers (S)
  This seminar offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public from the perspective of lawyers who represent corporate or business entities, as either outside or in-house counsel. Topics addressed will include duties of confidentiality and problems of disclosure, conflicts of interest, and issues of client identity, as well as broader questions of competence and fiduciary obligation in serving clients "without a heartbeat" and who "do not breathe" (as Judge Posner put it). Additional themes that will be explored include intersections with business ethics, public policy, and principles of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The latter will include the emerging debate over extending human rights concepts to corporate actors, as well as related questions about balancing the need for corporate accountability with anti-poverty campaigns and the need for economic development abroad. A recurring theme throughout is whether shifts in fundamental corporate governance paradigms are now (or will be) required as the pace of international trade quickens, as corporate supply chains lengthen and grow in complexity, and as the traditional geographic, economic, and social barriers between nations erode. Grading will be based on a seminar paper. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: With approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the paper may be used to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. NOTES: This course satisfies the Upper-class Professional Responsibility requirement. Students may NOT register for this seminar if they previously completed the Globalization seminar. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** 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 779: Topics in Environmental Law: Current Hot Button Issues (S)
  This seminar will examine current hot button issues and controversies in environmental law with an emphasis on their legal and policy implications. Examples may include greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other fossil fuel sources/users; NIMBY fights over the location of pipelines and wind farms; and the respective environmental impacts of wind, solar, biomass and other alternative energy sources, coal, oil, nuclear or natural gas powered-energy. Through stakeholder analysis, role playing and decision making exercises involving actual cases, students will gain a focused understanding of key federal environmental laws, regulations and policies and learn how practicing lawyers apply the law to a complex set of facts where there are no black and white answers. The course will be conducted in seminar format which means that active participation in discussion and in class exercises will count for a major part of the final grade. Several written projects, collaborations and presentations will be required throughout the semester. There are no prerequisites to this course. ** 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 780: Trademark and Unfair Competition
  This course will examine the precepts of trademark and unfair competition law. We will investigate issues of ownership, protectability, misappropriation, and infringement in the context of words, symbols, slogans, product design and trade dress. The course also will handle related issues, depending on class interest, such as: trademark's common law roots, false and comparative advertising, parody, the right of publicity, the First Amendment, a comparison of how copyright and trademark treat 'functional' designs, and the question of whether trademarks are, or should be, "property."
• LAW JD 781: International Taxation I: Trade, Investment and Finance
  Tax aspects of international business transactions, both "inbound" and "outbound", with particular attention to fiscal jurisdiction, the foreign tax credit, allocation of income among affiliated companies, treaties, anti-abuse measures aimed at tax haven operations, information reporting and foreign investment in U.S. securities and real estate. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: INTRODUCTION TO FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION is a recommended prerequisite, but required at least as a corequisite. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in the International Tax seminar (JD918) and this course. NOTE: This course (and the final exam) is administered through the Graduate Tax Program (Room 1670). This section is for pre-registration purposes only. Students will be transferred to the Tax section (TX906) of the course during the summer.
• LAW JD 785: Federal Civil Practice (S)
  This seminar will focus on the specific application of the federal rules of civil procedure to pretrial civil practice. Each pretrial phase of a case (from the complaint to the answer to motions to dismiss to discovery to summary judgment) will be unpacked with reference to the applicable civil rules. The idea is to reach the same level of detail in analysis and close reading of the rules as that required of a new litigation associate. This will involve considerations of computation of time, deadlines, pleading rules, Rule 12, Rule 16, Rule 26, the local rules of civil procedure, and the like. The class will proceed with students drafting and discussing the various documents relevant to pretrial procedure. From a prewritten factual scenario, students will draft complaints, answer their colleagues' complaints, move to dismiss their colleagues' complaints, draft discovery documents, move for summary judgment, etc. Grades will be derived from classroom discussion and written product. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** 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 786: American Legislative Practice: Clinic Option (C)
  NOTE: Restricted to students who apply and are accepted into the program. The American Legislative Practice Clinic is a one-semester clinical program (six graded credits), offered in the fall and spring. The in-class 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 clinic gives students the opportunity to develop and apply a variety of legal skills to the legislative process. Clinic participants work on several projects during the semester that highlight different aspects of the legislative process, allowing students to relate and test the theories discussed in class to real life situations.
• LAW JD 787: Crime and Punishment: Philosophical Perspectives (S)
  This seminar will explore a broad range of issues concerning the philosophy of punishment and the substantive criminal law. Topics may include: retributivist and utilitarian justifications for punishment; what should be criminalized; what mens rea or mental state should be required for criminal liability; the moral and legal relevance of the distinction between purposely and knowingly causing harm (not only in criminal law, but also in just war law and theory); whether fortuity or "moral luck" justifies punishing completed crimes more than attempts; justification (e.g. self-defense and necessity) and excuse (e.g. duress and provocation); the meaning and significance of consent in sexual assault and other crimes; the so-called "cultural defense"; the insanity defense (with attention to the free will/ determinism debate); and feminist perspectives on some criminal law topics. The seminar is open both to law students and to graduate and senior undergraduate philosophy students. For law students, no prior background in philosophy is presupposed; for philosophy students, no prior background in criminal law is presupposed. Students will be asked to submit brief written reaction papers concerning the readings on a weekly basis, and a 15-page paper at the end of the semester. For those law students wishing to satisfy the writing requirement, a 25-page 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 788: Contract Drafting
  This course is the foundational skills course within the Transactional Law Program. It teaches students basic principles and skills of drafting and analyzing commercial and transaction agreements, with a focus on recognizing, and addressing through contractual provisions, key business issues in transactions. Although the course will be of particular interest to students interested in a corporate or transactional law practice, since most practicing attorneys will need to work with contracts at some point in their career, the concepts and skills which the course conveys are applicable to virtually all practice areas and specialties. While the course utilizes lectures to introduce various contract concepts and techniques essential for drafting and reviewing commercial and transaction agreements, it requires that students complete in-class exercises and extensive homework assignments as a means of building basic drafting skills and a solid understanding of the structure and operation of contractual provisions in a business transaction. Grades will be based on the graded assignments, good faith completion of ungraded assignments, and class participation. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. NOTES: This class does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This class satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 790: Employee Benefit Plans
  This course provides an overview of the major mandatory and non-mandatory employee benefits--deferred compensation, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and Social Security. An in-depth examination of ERISA occupies approximately 8 weeks of the course. This is a growing and dynamic practice area. We will study qualified plans, plan design, Section 510 (benefits discrimination) cases, COBRA and claims for benefits cases. A three hour final examination is required.
• LAW JD 793: Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants
  This course will examine the theory, practice, and interrelationship of trade secret law and the law of restrictive covenants, including laws governing the use and enforceability of noncompetition agreements. We will explore what a trade secret is, what it is not, how it differs from other types of intellectual property, and how something secret can constitute protectable property. We will investigate how trade secrets can be misappropriated, including misappropriation through one?s memory; whether and in what circumstances trade secrets will be protected, including through the use of noncompetition agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other restrictive covenants; the other purposes served by those agreements; and the strengths and weaknesses of the various laws governing the protection of trade secrets and the use of restrictive covenants. Depending on class interest and time, we may discuss related issues such as the current debate over the use of noncompete agreements and their putative effects on innovation. NOTE: This course 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.
• LAW JD 794: Bankruptcy Practice: Chapter 11 Reorganizations and Sales of Businesses (S)
  This seminar will examine Chapter 11 from the point of view of attorneys for all participants in the process. It is designed to provide the student with knowledge of the uses of Chapter 11, the parties involved in a Chapter 11 proceeding, the substantive law governing Chapter 11 and the Plan of Reorganization process. This seminar will explore the increasing use of Chapter 11 as a vehicle to accomplish the sale of insolvent businesses, the "cram down" of creditors to accomplish confirmation of Plans of Reorganization, executory contracts including those dealing with real estate, equipment and intellectual property and alternatives to Chapter 11. Also to be considered are the impact of changes in judicial, legislative and societal attitudes on the restructuring process. The material will consist of important cases and articles on the subjects to be discussed. Grades will depend primarily on one (1) research paper which will be required of each student. Grades will be adjusted to account for class participation. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This seminar satisfies the 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 796: Global Climate Change (S)
  Governments agree on the goal of UN climate negotiations: stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at a level that will prevent "dangerous anthropogenic interference" with the climate system. Governments also accept the need for "legally binding actions" to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. These goals may be clear, but how are major GHG emitters -- the US, the EU, and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India & China) to agree on concrete measures to achieve these goals? This seminar examines the why and the how: why the goals are vital and whether and how they can be achieved. Our objective is to examine the causes, consequences and prospects for mitigation of climate change, and for adaptation to changing climate conditions. We consider selected key issues of climate science, technology, economics, politics, and law. We examine negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the scientific work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We also examine domestic and regional measures that seek to reduce GHG emissions by putting a price on carbon, or that seek to adapt to a changing climate. Brief response papers on selected climate proposals are required; research papers on topics approved by the instructor are also required. Where appropriate, some research papers may serve as the basis for expansion to the level required for upperclass writing credit. ** 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 799: Topics in Tax Policy (S)
  This seminar will study some of the basic issues in the formulation of a broad-based tax system, including design criteria (equity, economic efficiency, administrability and simplicity); the historical development of the issues in the U.S. (and, to some extent, U.K.) context; and the central issues currently in play, especially the choice between taxing income, on the one hand, or other possibilities (such as consumption or wages); and the wisdom of graduated rates and progressive taxation. Particular attention will be paid to the study of underlying fundamentals (the process of discounting, in particular), and to reading some of the classics in the tax policy literature. PREREQUISITE: INTRODUCTION TO FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION. LIMITED WRITING OPTION: A limited number of students will be able to satisfy the writing requirement with a 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 waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 801: Administrative Law
  LAWSON/WEXLER SECTIONS: This course will examine the nature and functions of federal administrative agencies and the legal controls on agency action. Topics include the status of administrative agencies in the constitutional framework of separation of powers; agency rulemaking and adjudication; and the availability, timing, and scope of judicial review of agency action. BEERMANN SECTION: This course will examine the nature and functions of federal administrative agencies and the legal controls on agency action. Agency action is situated and examined in its political and legal contexts. Topics include the status of administrative agencies in the constitutional framework of separation of powers including the non-delegation doctrine, the President's appointment and removal powers in light of the unitary executive, the constitutionality of the legislative and line-item vetoes, the constitutionality of agency adjudication, and the constitutional (and political) status of independent agencies; agency rulemaking and adjudication including the choice of procedural model and the procedural requirements of the rulemaking model; and the availability, timing and scope of judicial review of agency action including standing to seek judicial review and exceptions to the availability of judicial review. The course also examines different methods of policy analysis such as regulatory impact analysis and cost-benefit analysis. Additional topics include discriminatory enforcement, regulatory delay, judicial imposition of procedural constraints on agencies, the implication of private rights of action from regulatory statutes and the availability citizens' suits. Some attention may be paid to differences between state and federal separation of powers doctrines.
• LAW JD 802: Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law (S)
  This seminar examines the Food and Drug Administration as an administrative agency combining law and science to regulate activities affecting public health and safety. Topics include testing and approval of pharmaceuticals and medical devices; food safety and nutritional policy; biologics and biotechnology regulation; cosmetic regulation; pricing of and reimbursement for drugs and devices; global aspects of pharmaceutical regulation, US and foreign patent issues, and FDA practice and procedure; jurisdiction and enforcement. A writing project involving research on food and drug issues will be required. Recommended Course: Administrative Law. 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.

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