Courses

• 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. GRADING NOTICE: This class will 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 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 944: Law and Religion (S)
  This seminar will explore a variety of issues at the intersection of law and religion at the domestic, comparative, and international levels. Particular attention will be given to decisions of the US Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. A substantial research paper will be required. GRADING NOTICE: This seminar 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 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 948: Immigrants & the Law (S)
  Recent census data informs us that there are approximately 40 million immigrants living in the United States. About 11 million of these immigrants are undocumented or otherwise in the country illegally. The rest of the country remains divided on their feelings regarding the immigrant population, with about half believing that immigrants "strengthen the country because of their hard work and talent, while 41% [believe them to be] a burden because they take jobs, health care and housing." This course will investigate the life of an immigrant in American society from a legal perspective. Students will learn how immigrants, both documented and undocumented, interact with various sections of the American system. The goal is to assess various ways in which an individual's immigration status affects access to important rights and benefits accorded to citizens and analyze the legal rationale for existing limitations. We will examine these issues through the use of law review articles, court cases, existing and proposed legislation, newspaper articles, empirical studies, and governmental and private organizational position papers. Topics may include an investigation of an immigrant's access and limitations in primary and secondary education, public benefits, the court system, employment, voting, as well as modes of immigration policing by both federal immigration authorities and state police. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy 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 (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. 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 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 class will meet from 9/3/2013-10/22/2013. ** 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 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 961: Housing Law (S)
  Over the last sixty years housing law has evolved in a number of significant ways. Where once a lease was primarily considered to involve a transfer of an interest in land, it is now considered to involve a relationship framed by contract principles. Consistent with this change, tort law involving rental property is moving from a traditional negligence standard to a more complex standard based upon a duty derived from the implied warranty of habitability. Courts must now determine whether landlords should be held strictly liable in tort for personal injury claims based on defective conditions, inadequate security, lead poisoning, etc. Where formerly a landlord had significant discretion over tenant selection and tenancy termination, a variety of state housing laws and federal/state anti-discrimination laws now place significant limits on the landlord's power and control over these tenancy relationships. Public housing and governmentally subsidized housing has generated much heated debate as well as litigation over such issues as development-based policing authority and the right to evict entire families based upon criminal conduct of one family member. Finally, during the past four years complex title, tenancy, consumer rights and community preservation issues have arisen in the wake of the foreclosure crisis that has swept the nation. This seminar will focus on the various legal, social policy, and practical issues emerging with respect to traditional tenancies, premises liability, public safety in public and subsidized housing, housing discrimination, environmental protection, and control of foreclosed property. Student classroom participation 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. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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 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 and universities 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, including contract law and intellectual property concerns as well as the effect of antitrust, bankruptcy and international law on these transactions. As part of the course, students will engage in mock negotiations of license terms, with the goal of gaining an understanding of how license transactions work. Prior coursework in intellectual property law is strongly recommended, but is not required. The course will not include an exam or paper; instead, the course will be arranged in a workshop format, in which students will negotiate, draft, edit, and revise various license agreements and related documents in response to case studies that are based on actual transactions. ** 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 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 meeting will take place at the Law School -- Date/Time TBA. 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 970: Representing Clients in Civil Actions (S)
  A family and a business struggle with a real death and a real lawsuit. The case is yours. Now what? In this seminar, students will represent opposing parties in a civil action based upon real events involving the death of a college student while on spring break in Mexico. Through discussion, role plays, simulations and out-of-class assignments, students will gain perspective on what's at stake when handling a serious and complex matter in the real world -- from the first client meeting to settlement. The goal of the class is for students to learn the skills they need to be effective counsel in civil actions, including fact gathering, interviewing clients and witnesses, drafting a complaint, preparing interrogatories and responses, conducting depositions, evaluating the strength of a case, and preparing a settlement memoranda. Beyond developing important technical skills, students will develop their abilities to communicate effectively, evaluate options, make decisions, assess risk, exercise judgment, and counsel wisely -- the real skills they will use every day as lawyers. Students will be evaluated based on class participation and written work. 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 971: Taxation of Financial Instruments
  This course is intended as an introduction to the financial characteristics and income taxation of basic financial instruments, consisting most fundamentally of (1) debt, (2) common stock, and (3) options. In each instance we will look at the financial characteristics of the security (after the fashion of an MBA offering in investments or corporate finance), then study the basic tax rules governing each class of instrument. Time permitting we will also look at the treatment of some of the more exotic derivative securities that have come to play so pivotal a role in corporate finance, including forward and futures contracts as well as notional principal contracts. Because the process of discounting is so central to an understanding of financial contracts, the course will begin with a rigorous study of discounting, including a laboratory introduction to the computation of present values using the financial functions of Microsoft Excel. Students who have not yet taken introductory tax should consult the instructor before registering.

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